Read this before you call

We walk the house for about an hour, then write the estimate: the scope room by room, what is and isn't included, allowances for what you choose, the schedule and the payment steps. There is no charge for the visit or the estimate. They cover measuring, notes and a written scope; engineering, permit drawings and lab tests are separate and listed first.

Paint from before 1978 may contain lead. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule says a firm doing paid work that disturbs it must hold an EPA certification and follow set work practices, and you get the EPA's renovation pamphlet before we start. We treat old paint as lead paint unless a test says otherwise: we seal off the work area, never dry-scrape or burn paint, and clean up with HEPA vacuums and wet wipes. Small jobs that disturb less than 6 square feet of paint inside, or 20 square feet outside, are exempt, but window replacement and demolition never are. Our certification is on the license and insurance page.

In many houses built before the 1980s, spray texture and 9-inch floor tiles can contain asbestos. We don't scrape or break up either until a lab has tested a sample. If the test is positive, we leave the material alone or you hire a licensed asbestos abatement firm, and we plan the job around that.

Moving or removing a wall, adding a bath, closing in a carport or patio, and new wiring or plumbing all need one. A new floor or fresh paint usually doesn't. We apply through the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department, or your own city, and the fee goes on the estimate at cost.

Maybe not. Many ranch houses built with roof trusses have interior walls that carry nothing, but some have a bearing wall, a block wall or a ceiling that was altered later. We don't guess: a structural engineer looks at it and writes a letter before we cut.

Usually yes. For a floor, a ceiling or a wall we set up dust barriers, cover the air returns and keep the rest of the house open. We plan around the days a room can't be used and tell you before they happen, and the same goes for any day the air conditioning has to be off.

We stop, show you, and put the fix and its cost in writing before we go on. Old wiring, a leaking pipe, termite damage or a cracked slab are the usual finds. Nothing is added to the job without your signature.

It depends on the fix and on the city's permit queue. As a rough guide, a floor or a ceiling is a matter of days to a couple of weeks. A bath or a kitchen wall is a few weeks on site after plans and permit, and a carport or an Arizona room is several. Your written schedule sets yours.

It can, if it is planned that way. A closed-in carport or patio gets insulated walls, good glass and cooling sized for the new space, either from the house system or its own. We tell you at the walk-through which one the house can support.

Our crew does the framing, finish carpentry and tile. Plumbing, electrical and cooling work is done by licensed trades we work with, and they are listed on the estimate.

Delfina, Nicanor and Jayden speak Spanish and English, and Delfina can walk you through the estimate in either. Berta, Lakesha and Ed work in English. You can ask for the estimate in Spanish.

No, we don't arrange financing. Many customers use a home equity line or a loan from their own bank, and we'll give your lender the scope and schedule it asks for.

We don't build new houses, pools or second stories, and we don't do roofs, landscaping or pest work. If your job needs one of those, we say so at the walk-through and point you to someone who does.