R.E.A. Homes Renovation Process
R.E.A. Homes Renovation Process ensures our clients can transform their existing home into the home of their dreams. We understand that not every renovation project will be a good fit for our niche expertise.
We specialize in substantial, whole home renovations, lower-level finishes, and addition projects in the St. Louis area but mostly near the 270 Corridor in areas like Town & Country, Des Peres, Frontenac, and Ladue. Our mission is to help our clients transform, expand, and modernize their existing living spaces to achieve more comfortable, efficient, and healthier homes.
We select renovation projects with complex needs that demand deep knowledge and experience, to efficiently solve problems, and come up with creative building solutions that keep our clients’ vision alive and well.
Step 1 MUTUAL CONNECTION
Start your search by finding a builder. We are a phone call away and want to select clients with mutual building goals that are looking for true luxury and comfort in their home.
PHONE CALL
NO CHARGE HOME VISIT
INITIAL IDEA COLLABORATION
BUDGET ALIGNMENT
Our first point of contact is typically a quick phone call to connect and briefly discuss the renovation or addition you are envisioning. We are a boutique builder who works with select clients that share our vision for custom luxury work that results in healthier, more comfortable, high-performing homes using best building practices, high-quality materials, and experienced craftsmanship for our renovations. You can trust that we will be transparent about your vision and budget expectations to make sure that we are a good fit for your project from the start. If our values don’t align, we’ll let you know and do our best to refer you to a builder that can better serve you. No matter what, always start your renovation or custom home search with a builder before paying for design plans.
Step 2 PARTNER COLLABORATION
Share your vision with us and our vetted partners so we can make your dreams a reality within your budget.
VISION & DESIGN
PLANNING
RISK MITIGATION
GUARDIANS OF THE BUDGET
Once we are aligned on the high-level vision of the project and budget range, we can bring in trusted partners to collaborate and understand your vision based on your needs and location. When a client shares their vision we want all parties to have a voice at the table. Effective planning helps align the client’s vision and budget with what is realistically possible. Our creative partners help bring your vision into an initial set of design plans that allow us to start the bidding, budgeting, and preliminary selection process.
Step 3 BIDDING
Personalized showroom selections, vetted trade partners, and transparent pricing all lead to a high value renovation.
SHOWROOM SELECTIONS
TRUSTED TRADE PARTNERS
COST PLUS PRICING
HIGH VALUE RENOVATIONS
During bidding we will be selecting preliminary showroom finishes based on the initial design plans so that we can create a budget that you can “take to the bank.” (~90% accurate). Simultaneously, we are uniting our vetted trade partners to help provide budget estimates, workforce planning, and materials to deliver a higher quality finished renovation project. As the builder, our main focus throughout the process is to be the guardians of the budget. We follow the Cost-Plus pricing model which provides our clients a more transparent price that reflects the current building market plus our builder fee. We receive special contractor rates because of the $ volume of our homes and long term relationships we have with suppliers. The outcome is that we pass on this savings to our customers. Transparency in materials, trade partners, and costs means guaranteed quality and the end result will be a higher-value renovation than if you chose a fixed price builder.
Step 4 BUDGETING
A budget presentation does not have to be scary or shocking. Our team collaborates with you to help provide value engineered solutions to keep your goals and priorities in check with your budget.
PRESENT BUDGET
VALUE ENGINEERING
REVIEW UPDATED BUDGET
CLIENT APPROVAL
The budget process is an iterative process and our clients shouldn’t feel like they are locked into a final set of plans and budget. At the Budget stage, we collaborate on high priority and high ticket line items where we can value-engineer alternative solutions to keep the vision and budget in line. R.E.A. Homes decades of experience are what allow us to innovate and come up with creative solutions for your projects. Our clients have a chance to re-prioritize their list of needs and wants and lean on our team to help guide their decision making to the best possible outcome. Once there is full alignment on budget details between our clients we move forward with pre-construction.
Step 5 PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Implement our newly engineered budget that maximizes what is possible within the final architect plan. Give final sign off on the plan and budget so we can prepare the paperwork and permits.
FINALIZE ARCHITECT PLANS
VALUE ENGINEER
FINALIZE PLAN & BUDGET
PERMIT SET READY
During the Pre-Construction stage for a renovation, it’s very normal to have adjustments to the final architectural drawing – this is an opportunity to implement our value engineering ideas into your final design to stay within budget. Once you have given final approval on architect plans and budget, we initiate the lender appraisal process and bring in a third party disbursing company who is in charge of safe and timely payment disbursement from the client to the builder. We are simultaneously working with our trade partners to make your plans ‘permit set ready’ – taking your bid set ready plans from ~90% to 100% ready for city/municipality review and approval. R.E.A. Homes can minimize permitting delays because we are using best building practices to build beyond the minimum building codes and standards to ensure better quality, more efficient homes.
Step 6 CONSTRUCTION
We prep the home for construction, demolish what is old, and build new. Constant communication and walkthroughs are essential to our process to avoid issues at final inspection.
CONSISTENT WALKTHROUGHS
PREP
DEMOLITION
BUILD
Construction is our favorite stage, but we don’t do it alone. We are in weekly (sometimes daily communication) from start to finish with our renovation clients. Consistent walkthroughs keep our clients abreast to what is happening throughout the project. We stay ahead of showroom selections to finalize decisions and place orders for a timely arrival to the home site.
We always encourage our clients to speak up if they have questions or concerns. Ultimately, it minimizes the work that is needed during final inspection and walkthrough so our clients are more satisfied when it is time to wrap up the renovation and move back into their home.
It’s important to note that although it can be easier to communicate with clients when living in, we always recommend that our clients find an alternate housing option during the renovation building process because, no matter the precautions taken, it will be a loud and dusty environment, with limited access to water and electricity at certain times. On top of living in a construction site, it is also creating timeline inefficiencies and can often result in a higher cost from trade partners who will have to work around you. What we have found over time is that the money people think they are saving by living in, is typically negated by higher costs, and creates unnecessary hassles in their everyday lives.
Step 7 COMPLETION
Move in and experience your updated living space. It’s normal to have tweaks after the move-in so an additional walk-thru to fine tune our work to the client’s liking is how we finish strong and leave the customer feeling truly comfortable.
FINAL INSPECTION
MOVE-IN READY
FINISH STRONG
TRUE COMFORT
Moving back in after your renovation should be a pleasant experience. Our key to finishing strong happens throughout the project – constant communication. Our final inspections are more of a formality for our clients. When a job is done and the client is moving back in, it is normal to have adjustments and small changes. We normally follow up with an additional walk-thru to fine tune everything to the client’s liking. It’s important to us that our client’s feel fully satisfied with the work we have done. For us, finishing strong means wrapping up the project with a nice red bow, in a timely fashion so our customers can experience true comfort in their newly renovated home.
