No surprises behind the walls.
I started BuildLab because I was tired of watching something simple become complicated.
A homeowner calls three contractors. Two show up for the walk-through and never follow up. The third quotes a number that feels too good, disappears for weeks, and resurfaces with change orders no one saw coming. Somewhere in that process, a beautiful home ends up built badly - or worse, not at all.
BuildLab is the studio I wish those homeowners could have hired. I work hands-on, out of a shop in Bedford, NY. I design the spaces, mill the millwork, sequence the trades, and answer the phone. Everything that happens on a BuildLab project happens because I decided it should - not because a sub showed up early or cheap.
Three commitments.
Most contractor promises are meaningless: "quality craftsmanship," "on time, on budget," "family-owned." Everyone says them. These three are different - they're specific, and you can hold me to them.
I'll tell you how it is.
No underbidding to win the job. No overbidding to pad the margin. The number in the contract is the number you pay, and it's based on a scope you and I agreed on. If something legitimate comes up mid-project, we sit down and talk about it — before any work happens, and before any invoice changes.
I'll keep you informed.
Weekly photo updates from the site, whether or not anything exciting happened. Phone calls returned the day you make them. No ghost weeks. No "I've been slammed, I'll get back to you." You always know where your project stands.
When something comes up - we fix it together.
Old homes have secrets. Rotten joists under the tile. A waterproofing job from 1983 that wasn't really a waterproofing job. A stud bay that isn't where the drawings said it would be. My job is to find these things, explain them clearly, and figure out the right move with you - not hand you a change order and disappear.
"If something is worth doing, it's worth doing carefully."
Every BuildLab project runs on a six-step process - Visit, Design Options, Contract, Sketch, Build, Final. But the process is the scaffolding. The pitch is simpler than that: I'll do the work the way I'd want someone to do it in my own house.
If that sounds like the kind of contractor you've been looking for - or the opposite of the contractor you had last time - let's talk.