Frequently Asked Questions

What is Design Build?

Design Build is a process to provide building and remodeling services to clients.

How is Design Build different from other processes?

The Design Build process is the quickest way from conception to completion of a remodeling project. It brings the design and construction elements of a project together in one company. With the same company providing the design and construction, you can know the budget before drawings are ever done and paid for. Generally over 80% of projects designed are never built. There are many reasons for this but the main reason is the design exceeds the budget. Design professionals are paid whether the project gets built or not. Architects and designers main source of income comes from the drawings not the construction.

Over 95% of the projects Lancer designs get built. This is mainly because you know the budget before the designs are drawn and paid for. Lancer's main source of income comes from providing you with what you want; a completed project including the design, rather than thousands of dollars of worthless paper and ink.

Does Lancer do small jobs?

Lancer will do almost any size job you need done on your home.

How big a job can Lancer do?

Lancer can do almost any size remodeling project.

Can I buy my own materials?

When doing business with Lancer you are free to choose what aspects of the project you want help with. If Lancer does provide the materials you will pay contractor price and receive a full three year warranty on those materials.

How does Lancer bill for work?

All service work is billed C.O.D.

All contract work is billed in multiple payments. Small payments to initiate and start are paid when we start the process and reserve a spot in our schedule and when the work starts. Then payments are made when specific tasks are completed. Payments are rarely more than 10% or the total job.

Will Lancer work with my design professional?

Yes. Lancer is here to serve you and will respect any relationship you have with others. Although Lancer designs most of the projects we build, we are consummate professionals accustomed to working with other professionals. The same care and effort used to complete a project of our own design is used to complete any project we are involved with.

Is there a fee for an estimate?

Estimates for contract work are free of charge with the following exceptions:

Insurance Estimates
Estimates used to negotiate a position with others.
Estimates on property not yet owned
Estimates for work considered service in nature
Estimates that require extensive research, exploration and/or troubleshooting

The fees for these exceptions are not enough to cover the cost of the work and are used to only limit requests to serious parties. The fees can most often be applied to any directly related work performed by Lancer.

In most cases these fees will be waived for past clients so long as the work does not involve extensive research, exploration and/or troubleshooting.

How do I get a reference?

Lancer is proud of its excellent references. We will provide references on request so long as the references are used as the final qualifier. We respect our clients' time and privacy and wish to limit the number of calls for references they field. If you have decided that Lancer is the company you would like to work with, so long as up to three of our references check out, we will cheerfully provide them to you.

Does Lancer charge for their design work?

Yes and no. Lancer is not interested in designing things that never get built. All our design work is included in the total price of completing a project. It is factored into the cost but at a nominal rate and a fraction of what a separate design professional would charge. Lancer sees the reward in building a quality project and provides creative and quality design as a way to get there.

What are the advantages of working with a family run business?

The main advantage is that there are a number of people vested in the business. Where some businesses have one or two owners who are invested in the business, almost half of the twenty people at Lancer are related and/or invested in the business.

What does Lancer mean by "Done, Done, and Done"?

There are numerous aspects of a project that can be overlooked or hidden. We call these holes. Many contractors escalate the total cost of the project and make profits from the holes. If you are not looking or don't know where or how to look for the holes you could end up paying much more than you thought you would. Lancer looks to fill all the holes in a project up front. All our quotes include everything from the design and permits to the final coat of paint and cleanup unless otherwise stated. A typical job for Lancer will have a minimal amount of extras - often less than 1% of the total cost - most often which are hidden defects or bona fide changes at the client's request. Extras are always brought to the client's attention and approved by the client before any work is done. You will never be presented with a bill for work you did not approve. The price you pay will be for the work you want and agreed to.

How much of my project will Lancer do directly and how much will be subcontracted?

Finding the right balance between in house and out source work is very important. We feel Lancer has the best balance. All the general work and management is done in house and all the specialty tasks are subcontracted out. This ensures that professionals are doing all the important tasks. There are no "jacks of all trades" here. Painters paint, plasterers plaster. More poor quality work results from individuals doing all the tasks on a job. Some individuals can d o quality work in a couple of disciplines on a small scale but none can do everything well, especially on a large scale.

Lancer typically does all the design work, permits, arranges for inspections, setup, cleanup, management, general labor and service in house. We often do our own rough and finish carpentry, plumbing, heating and electrical in house all done by licensed and experienced professionals.

We most often subcontract specialty trades such as: Tile, plaster, paint, roofing, some siding, masonry, excavation, gutters and fine carpentry. These subcontractors work closely with Lancer and provide us with excellent pricing and service. They are mostly sole proprietors doing their own work and prefer to work with a quality contractor whom will do the management, scheduling and client work. It is a great symbiotic relationship.

What types of warranties does Lancer offer to its clients?

Lancer offers some of the best warrantees in the contracting, remodeling and service business.

Three-year guarantee on all materials provided by Lancer, (manufacturer's warranty may be longer). This guarantee assumes normal wear and tear only and does not include abuse, neglect, acts of God, fire, accidents, flood, tornadoes or accidental or intentional damage and or vandalism.

Limited lifetime warranty on all workmanship performed by Lancer on your home for as long as you own your home. If any workmanship performed on your home by Lancer proves to be substandard Lancer will repair it free of charge. This does not include off-site manufactured products.

Our extended warrantees offer you peace of mind. Where most of our competitors provide the one year warrantee required by law, we provide full three year warrantees on all our material and labor and we provide a lifetime warrantee on all our workmanship performed on your home. If it's not done correctly we will come back and fix it free of charge for as long as you own your home.

We can provide these extended warrantees by ensuring that no shortcuts are taken in terms of the work we do or the materials we use. Anyone can say they do good work; we are willing to stand by that statement for as long as you own your home. In fact, many of the products we use come with lifetime warrantees by the manufacturer.

Before you buy, know what to expect five, ten or even twenty years down the road.