Pricing
How pricing works
What decides the price
In an old house the price follows the condition of what is there, not the square footage. The notes from the house visit tell us which of these apply.
How much of the wood is sound
Height and access: a third-floor window or a gable means scaffolding
Matching: stock lumber or custom-milled, original glass or new
The paint, and the method that has to be used to remove it
Permits, and any review in a historic district
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The estimate lists each job from the fix-now pile, with its scope, allowances and exclusions.
Included: the scope by window, wall or room, materials, named allowances, who is on site, the weeks it takes
Not included: permit fees, an engineer's drawing, conditions found behind a wall, anything on the leave-alone pile
What happens at the house visit
Two of us, about two hours. Clear a way to the cellar and the attic, and tell us what worries you. The visit is paid, and the fee is quoted when you book.
How and when you pay
A deposit as Maine law and your contract allow, then payments tied to stages of the work, not to dates. The last payment is due after the walk-through.
If the job changes
Rot behind a sill, a joist cut for a pipe, an old flue in a wall. We stop, show you with photos and write the change with its price before we go on. Nothing is billed that you haven't seen.
Materials and who buys them
We order the wood, glass, putty, paint and hardware, and the estimate names the allowance. If you'd like to choose a particular glass or finish, tell us at the visit.
No prices here: the condition of your house sets them, and the notes from the visit are how we find it.
Why no averages
Why we don't print an average
An average of old houses is a number nobody has paid. A brick row house with sound sash and a shingled summer place with a leaning porch don't cost the same to repair, even when they are the same size.
So we print what moves the price, and we write the number down after the house visit. If a price here would have helped you decide whether to call, ask Constance for the visit fee first. That is the one number we can give you today.
Ask for the house visit
The visit fee is quoted when you book.