We can tell you
Whether what you want is structurally possible in your house, what the scope would have to include, what we expect to find once things are open, and what that work would cost in a written quote.
Deciding what to do
Renovate, move, or build new?
Three ways out of a house that no longer works. Here is what each one actually involves, and what a builder can and cannot tell you about the choice.
The honest version
There is no general answer
People ask us this constantly, and the truthful answer is that it depends on the specific house, the specific lot, and what you actually want to change. Anyone who gives you a rule of thumb without looking at your house is guessing.
What we can do is set out what each path involves in practice, so the question you take to a realtor, a lender and a builder is a sharper one. We build new homes and we renovate existing ones, so we do not have a commercial reason to push you toward either.
One thing worth saying plainly: a whole-home renovation can come in for less than the cost of moving, depending on the house and the scope, but it can also not. Which it is for your house is a question with an actual answer, and getting that answer is what a walkthrough and a written quote are for.
Side by side
What each path involves
Not a scoring system, just a list of what you are actually signing up for in each case.
| Renovate | Move | Build new | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You keep | Your location, your lot, your neighbours, your commute | Nothing about the current property | Your lot, if you already own one |
| You change | Only what is in scope. The rest of the house stays as it is | Everything at once, to whatever the next house already is | Everything, to a plan you chose |
| Main unknown | What is behind the walls until they are open | What is wrong with the next house until you live in it | Site conditions, and decisions you have not made yet |
| Disruption | You usually live through it | One hard move, then done | None on site. You live elsewhere until handover |
| Compromise | Constrained by the existing structure and footprint | Constrained by what is on the market when you look | Constrained mainly by budget and by the lot |
| Who to talk to first | A builder, for a walkthrough and a written scope | A realtor, and your lender | A builder, plus whoever holds the lot |
Before you decide
Five questions worth settling first
These are the ones that, in our experience, actually decide the answer. Most of them have nothing to do with construction.
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Is it the house or the location?
If the location is wrong, no renovation fixes it. If the location is right and the layout is wrong, that is a problem a builder can solve.
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Is the structure sound?
Renovating around a sound structure is a different project from renovating around one that needs work first. A walkthrough tells you which you have.
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How long will you stay?
Work you will live with for fifteen years is a different decision from work you will live with for three.
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Can you live through it?
Whole-home work with young children or shift work in the house is harder than the same job in an empty house. It is a real cost, even though it is not a line item.
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What are you actually trying to fix?
“The kitchen is too small” and “the house is too small” lead to completely different projects and completely different numbers.
Where we fit
What we can and cannot answer
We can also tell you
When the honest answer is that a renovation is the wrong tool for the problem. We would rather say that at the walkthrough than halfway through a demolition.
We cannot tell you
What your house is worth, what it would sell for, what a renovation would add to its value, or what you can borrow. Those are questions for a realtor, an appraiser and your lender, and they are worth asking before you commit either way.
Start with a walkthrough
We will come and look at the house, talk through what is possible, and give you an honest read, including if the honest read is “not this way”.