Is Ranney Blair Expensive?

We charge based on how much time we spend on your project. During the supply chain crunch and hyperinflation, we found our traditional markup method of pricing was broken. After taking an MIT Pricing Class and discussing the same problem with remodelers around the country, we found the best solution is to price by meeting (during pre-build) or week (during build). We call this method Capacity Based Pricing.

There are a few phases that comprise a remodel project and each carries its own fee; feasibility study, design, and build.

What Does a Feasibility Study Cost?

A feasibility study costs roughly $10,800 and is needed when there is not enough information to provide an accurate price range. We are not able to provide an accurate price range when a structure does not exist and we do not have plans, or when there is ambiguity around the final scope of work.

What’s included in a feasibility study can vary, but this is what is typically involved;

• Land Survey (NOT INCLUDED in the feasibility study price. Typical costs are $1,200-$2,000)
• Architecture with limited revisions ($6,000)
• Stamped Engineer Plans ($2,100)
• 4 Meetings with Ranney Blair: Concept, Review, First Revision, and Second Revision ($2,790)
• If additional meetings are required, the cost is $697 per meeting.
  

What Does Design Cost?

The average custom remodel project costs $7,000 to design plus the cost of the processed scan we take of your home (ranging between $200 and $2,000 based on square footage) and engineering (if required). The cost is based on the amount of time our team will work on your project.

The average design price includes;

• A Canvas scan ranging from $200 to $2,000. This is the processed scan of your home that our Project Developer takes when at the initial home visit. This is how we create a blueprint of your space.
• Concept meeting at your home
• Two design meetings at our office
• Final design meeting back at your home
• A curated selection of material samples in our showroom. Our designers will source additional samples when needed.
• 3D renderings 
• Permittable set of construction documents
• Additional design meetings required due to the size of the project or excess revision requests are $697/meeting.

What Do You Charge to Build?

The normal build cost ranges from $150,000 to $800,000. The total build cost is composed of the materials and labor, a weekly rate that covers our overhead and project execution, and then a percentage of the entire project is applied for profit. 

Here is a breakdown of the different fees associated with your build phase;

• Materials and Labor - this is the actual cost of all materials and labor, without any additional cost
• Contingency fund - a line item that will be added once the design phase is complete. Any unused funds will be sent back to you at the end of the project. The funds are used to cover unforeseen expenses that we cannot reasonably account for or when material prices escalate. We will notify you when money is needed to be pulled from the fund. Typically 10% of your project costs.
• Project Execution - the cost for Ranney Blair to run your project.
• Overhead - the cost needed to keep our doors open
• Profit - the cost for us to grow and invest in a better future

Pricing Advantage to the Client

You are paying for the time we spend on your job, so the more work that can be done during that time (or marginally more time) is essentially done at cost. 

The pricing method’s downfall is with limited scopes of work that take time to complete. While we still feel it is important to cover our time, there are other businesses that can beat our price on these limited scope of work projects using a traditional markup based pricing approach.

A quick example story of how this is beneficial to you:

A client hired us to complete an exterior project for them. During the design phase, the basement they have been wanting to remodel popped up in conversation. The exterior portion of the project by itself was going to take six weeks and the basement alone would take six to eight weeks. By combining the project, the total length of the project is nine weeks, ultimately saving cost on three to five weeks. In a traditional markup pricing method, combining work does not help reduce any overhead costs.

Are You Expensive?

Yes and No. Expensive is a relative term and it carries a different value with different people. 

We charge to cover our time, overhead, and to invest in improving and growth of our company. Other companies will not share our same values, and as a result, will have different costs associated with overhead and investment in the future. 

In our custom remodel division, we have found that we are competitively priced on larger, complex projects. There is not a direct correlation to price, but if we are to force one, it comes out to projects $125,000 and up where we are competitive. The limited scopes of work largely fall under that threshold and a company with a markup method would cost less than us for the same scope of work.