Questions homeowners ask before a remodel

Nexus supplies the crew, the tools we work with and the workmanship. You buy the materials: cabinets, tile, fixtures, lumber, paint and everything else that stays in the house. Equipment rentals and deliveries are on your side too. You pay the supplier directly, so you see what every item costs and you pick exactly what goes in.

Yes. Once we have measured and agreed on the scope, we give you a written list of what to buy, with quantities and sizes. If you are unsure about a product, send us the link or the model number before you order and we will tell you if it fits the job. You place the order and pay the store.

Yes. Nexus holds an electrical license in South Carolina and does the electrical on its own jobs: circuits, outlets, switches and lighting that a kitchen, bathroom or addition needs. If you have a question about any other trade or license, ask us and we will tell you plainly what we hold and what we do not.

It depends on the work and on your city or county. Many remodels need a building permit, and electrical, plumbing and mechanical work often need their own. Sometimes the homeowner pulls the permit, and sometimes the contractor or the licensed trade does. We go over what your project is likely to need when we quote it, and your local building department has the final say.

Iago Guedes, the owner, is on the job with the crew. He is a mechanical engineer with 7 years in carpentry, and Nexus is family owned. The person who quotes your project is the same person you talk to while it is being built.

In most remodels, yes. A kitchen job means some time without a working kitchen, and a bathroom job takes that bathroom out of use, so plan around it. We tell you ahead of time when water or power has to be off. For jobs that open up large parts of the house, we talk it through with you before work starts.

Demolition and sanding make dust, and nobody can honestly promise none. We close off the work area, cover the floors on the path we walk, and clean up at the end of each day. Tell us about anything that needs extra care, like a nursery or a home office. Ask us how the debris will be hauled off and we will write it into the quote.

It depends on the scope, on what we find once the walls are open, and on when your materials arrive. After we see the job, we give you an expected schedule and tell you right away when something moves it. We do not promise a finish date that depends on things we do not control.

Tell us as soon as you know. We write a change order that says what is changing and what it does to the cost and the schedule, and you approve it before we do the work. Nothing extra gets built or billed on a handshake.

Call us. If the problem is in our work, we come back, look at it with you and talk through the fix. What is covered after the job is the part written in your agreement. The products you bought, such as appliances, faucets and flooring, are covered by their manufacturers, so keep your receipts and warranty papers.

We work in South Carolina, in and around Charleston, Summerville, Ladson, Goose Creek, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Columbia, Lexington, Blythewood and Irmo. If your town is not on the list, call (854) 210-8150 and ask. It depends on the job and the distance.

No. The visualizer is a design study: a drawing of a sample room that lets you compare colors and finishes and see the stages a remodel goes through. It is not a photo of a finished job, not a drawing of your house, and not a quote. You choose and buy the finishes, and Nexus installs them.

The labor: demolition, framing changes, drywall, cabinet installation, tile, trim, flooring, paint and the electrical that goes with it. Stone countertops are usually measured, cut and installed by the fabricator you buy them from, so we set the cabinets level and ready for them. Tell us what you want done and we will say clearly what we cover.

Often, yes. First we find out if the wall carries load and what runs inside it: wiring, pipes or ductwork. A load-bearing wall needs a properly sized beam, usually a permit, and sometimes a letter from an engineer. We tell you what we found before anything gets cut.

Yes, that is how every Nexus kitchen works. Stock, semi-custom or flat-pack, we assemble them if needed and set them level, plumb and fastened to the wall. Open the boxes and check for damage or missing pieces when the delivery arrives, because replacements can take a while.

Start with the items that take the longest to arrive, usually cabinets, countertops and anything special order. Our list tells you what the crew needs first. We prefer to start demolition once the main materials are on site or have a firm delivery date, so you are not living without a kitchen while a truck is late.

Tile and grout do not keep water out. The waterproofing under them does. We slope the shower floor to the drain and waterproof the floor and walls before any tile goes on. Ask us which waterproofing system we plan for your shower, since it goes on your materials list.

Yes, it is a common bathroom job. The drain usually has to change, the floor gets rebuilt with slope, and the walls get waterproofed before tile. We look at the framing and the plumbing around the tub before we give you a firm quote.

Tell us at the first visit. We plan the work so the bathroom is out of use for as short a time as the job allows, and we tell you ahead which days there will be no toilet or shower. Some families arrange to stay somewhere else on those days.

It happens, mostly around tubs, showers and toilets. We stop, show you what we found, and write a change order for the repair before going on. We do not cover damage up, and we do not fix it without telling you first.

The labor from footing to final: framing, roof, dry-in, the tie-in to the house you already have, and the interior finish. Electrical is done under our South Carolina license. You or your general contractor buy the materials, and we tell you up front which trades we do not cover.

For an addition or a new house, in most cases yes. The building department normally asks for plans before it issues a permit, and we need them to quote the labor accurately. If you do not have plans yet, call anyway. We can walk the site with you and tell you what to ask a designer or an engineer for.

That is the goal, and it comes down to details: roof pitch, siding, trim profiles, floor height and window lines. Some older materials are no longer made. We tell you where an exact match is possible and where the closest option will show.

We do the carpentry side of a new house with one crew: layout, framing, roof, dry-in and finish carpentry, plus the electrical. It is labor only, the same as our remodels. The owner or the general contractor supplies the materials and hires the trades we do not cover.

Yes, the quote is free and it comes in writing. We visit, measure and send you the scope of work, what is and is not included, and the payment stages. It states that the price is for labor only and that materials, equipment rentals and deliveries are furnished by you. If something is not written in it, ask before you sign.

Because two kitchens the same size can be very different jobs. The age of the house, what is behind the walls and the layout you want all change the labor. A number given without seeing the house would be a guess, so we come out, look and put a real one in writing.

By stages, called draws. The job is split into milestones that are written into the agreement before work starts, and each payment comes due when its stage is complete. You pay for finished work you can walk through and check.

Only if the scope changes: you add or change something, or we open a wall and find a problem nobody could see. Either way it goes on a written change order that you approve before the work is done. Your material costs are separate and are not part of our quote.