Preparing to Build

Preparing for Construction

Signing an agreement is a real milestone, and work doesn’t begin the next morning. The stretch between signing and the start of construction is where your agreed scope becomes an organized job, and most of it happens without anyone at your house. Here’s what fills that time, and what you’ll handle.

You’ll agree on a start date. We build it around your schedule alongside our current workload, selections, and material lead times. The preparation below happens between signing and the start of construction.

You’ll finalize your selections. Our selections and design coordinator meets you on site when the project calls for it, takes measurements, and works through your choices with you. We check that what you’ve picked fits the space, and that the plumbing and electrical suit it in a kitchen or bathroom. Long-lead items come first in that conversation, because they set your schedule more than anything else you’ll choose.

We’ll pull permits and approvals. What applies depends on your project and where you live, and we’ll tell you which ones your job needs and how they fit the schedule. If your neighborhood or community has its own review process, mention it early so it can run alongside everything else rather than after it.

We’ll book your trades and vendors. We bring subcontractors out to look at the space, get on their calendars, and get quotes in, so the sequence is set before anyone swings a hammer.

You’ll meet your Project Manager. We aim to introduce you as soon as possible after signing. The pre-construction meeting usually takes place in your home about a month before construction and marks the official handoff from project development to your Project Manager. You’ll walk the site together, confirm your final selections, cover dust control and cleanup, and work through the things that are easier to explain standing in the room than over the phone. Long-lead selections need approval earlier so they can be ordered in time.

What you’ll handle

Furniture is the big one. We’re not a moving company, and we’d rather not take responsibility for anything of real value to you. Small pieces we can move out of the way. For a major remodel, plan on getting furniture out and back in. We work with partners who will move it, store it, and help you organize it on the way back, and we can make an introduction.

Tell us how the house gets used. Which rooms, doors, and driveway areas the work will touch, how your household and any pets move through the house safely while it’s underway, and anything about your routine, work-from-home setup, or accessibility needs that should shape the plan. The right setup is specific to your home rather than a generic checklist.

Decide where you’ll be, and when. Your Project Manager will tell you which stretches are hard to live around and how far ahead you need to plan. Who you’ll hear from, and how often covers what to expect from the uncomfortable parts of a remodel.

Before day one

You’ll get a walkthrough of your JobTread portal, where your schedule, selections, documents, and messages live once work starts. How long a remodel really takes explains how the schedule behaves and what moves it.

If something about the plan doesn’t suit your household, raise it now. Adjusting the setup is straightforward before day one and gets harder every week after it.