How We Take Fifteen Percent Out of a Quote in Ninety Minutes

There is a meeting in every project that decides more about the outcome than any showroom visit. The quote is on the table, it is higher than the budget, and everyone has to decide what the project actually is.

“Can you get this to my number without making it worse?”

Usually, and it takes about ninety minutes. At ADS Building & Remodeling we run this session with homeowners in Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Wheaton, and Schaumburg. Here is exactly how it goes, so you can run it with any contractor.

Step One: Separate the Project Into Three Buckets

Every line in the quote goes into one of these, and nothing goes into two.

Structural and hidden. Framing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, ventilation, insulation, permits. This bucket is not for cutting. It is what you are hiring a builder for.

Layout and function. Where things go, how many drawers, whether the wall moves, how big the shower is. This bucket is for careful trimming, because layout changes affect daily life for years.

Finish and selection. Tile, counter material, hardware, fixtures, lighting, paint. This bucket is where 80 percent of savings live, and where regret is lowest, because the room still functions identically.

Step Two: Find the Labor Multipliers

Some choices carry hidden labor. Change these first, because the room looks the same afterward.

• Pattern layouts: herringbone to straight set saves $4 to $8 per square foot in labor
• Mosaic to large format on floors, same story
• Custom cabinet sizes to stock increments: 10 to 25 percent of cabinetry
• Ceiling treatments that require framing, not just trim
• Anything requiring a specialty trade for one small item, because the minimum call-out charge is the same as a full day

Step Three: Test Each Wish Against the Ten-Year Question

For every item in the layout bucket we ask one thing: will you notice this every week for ten years, or will you notice it during the reveal?

Weekly items survive the cut. Reveal items are negotiable. Examples of weekly, from real projects: a drawer bank next to the range, a shower big enough for two people to pass, a bench in the mudroom, under-cabinet lighting, the second dishwasher. Examples of reveal-only: a waterfall counter edge, a mosaic accent stripe, the upgraded faucet finish, decorative corbels.

Step Four: Look for Scope That Can Move to Phase Two

Not cut, moved. The rule is that nothing gets installed now that will be demolished later.

Deferring the powder room, holding off on the built-ins, or leaving the basement bar as a rough-in with a capped supply line and a circuit in the wall. You spend $400 now instead of $8,000, and the future project is a two-day job instead of a demolition.

Step Five: Reprice, Then Stop

Two rounds of value engineering is healthy. Four rounds means the project and the budget do not match, and the honest conversation is about waiting six months or reducing the scope to one complete room instead of two partial ones.

A half-finished kitchen is the worst possible outcome. We would rather build you one excellent bathroom this year than two compromised ones.

A Real Example, $71,000 to $58,000

Kitchen and adjoining powder room in a Glen Ellyn colonial. Original quote $71,000, client budget $58,000.

• Powder room moved to phase two, plumbing left as-is: saved $7,400
• Backsplash from handmade zellige to a straight-set ceramic with a similar face: saved $1,900
• Island counter stayed premium, perimeter switched to a plainer quartz: saved $1,600
• Cabinet run redesigned to stock widths with one custom piece at the sink: saved $2,200
• Decorative pendants deferred, boxes and dimmers installed: saved $900

Untouched: the hood and its duct, the under-cabinet lighting, the new circuits, the drawer banks, and the layout. Final number $57,000. The kitchen photographs identically to the original design, and the powder room happened eighteen months later without disturbing anything.

What We Refuse to Value Engineer

• Waterproofing systems and the flood test
• Ventilation sizing and ducting to the exterior
• Electrical brought to current code in areas we open
• Structural work and the engineering behind it
• Cabinet hardware quality on cabinets you will use daily
• The contingency line

If a competitor’s number is dramatically lower, it is worth asking which of these six they removed. Frequently the answer explains the entire difference.

Common Questions

Is it rude to ask a contractor to cut their price?

Asking us to cut scope is normal and professional. Asking us to do the same scope for less is asking us to do it worse, and any honest builder will say so.

How much can typically come out?

10 to 20 percent without touching quality on most projects. Beyond that, the project itself is changing, which is a legitimate decision but a different one.

Should I get another bid instead?

Get three, formatted the same way. Then value engineer the one whose contractor you trust most. Trust is not a line item and it is the thing you will care about in week six.

Important Note

Savings figures here come from our own projects and are not guarantees. What can be cut from your quote depends on your design and your house. At ADS the in-home consultation and this entire conversation are complimentary.

Quote Higher Than You Hoped?

If a project in Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, or a nearby Chicago suburb came back over budget, do not walk away from it before someone has run this session with you. Most projects have 15 percent hiding in the finish bucket.

At ADS Building & Remodeling, we provide:

• A complimentary design consultation, 3D rendering, and value engineering session
• Itemized scope, so every trade-off is visible before you sign
• A fixed-price quote that doesn’t move after you sign
• In-house crew, permits, and project management from demo to final walk-through

The goal is not the cheapest version of the project. It is the version you would still choose in year seven.