How We Work
Five phases, decisions locked before we build, one project lead and a written update every week.
(971) 274-6599Masters Construction runs every project through five phases: a free 60–90 minute consultation and site walk, 4–8 weeks of design and 3D visualization, engineering and permitting (6–16 weeks depending on jurisdiction), construction, and a walkthrough with punch list and aftercare.
One project lead stays with you from the first call to the final walkthrough, and you get a written weekly update with photos, schedule and budget status. Kitchens typically run 10–16 weeks of construction, bathrooms 8–12 weeks, additions 3–8 months, and whole-home renovations 6–10 months.
Masters Construction is a design-build general contractor serving Portland, Lake Oswego, West Linn, and Vancouver, WA.
Most remodeling frustration comes from process, not craft. Homeowners rarely complain that the tile was set badly — they complain that nobody called back, that the price moved after the contract, that the permit took two months nobody warned them about.
This page is the whole sequence in writing: what happens in each phase, who you talk to, how long it actually takes, and what we hold ourselves to while it's happening.
Design-build means the people drawing the project and the people building it work for the same company. There is no gap between an architect's intent and a builder's price, no second bid round after design, and no one to point at when the two disagree.
It is also why we can hand you a fixed price after design rather than an estimate that floats.
Phase by Phase
Free · 60–90 minutes
Who you talk to: A principal, usually with the project lead who would run your build
We walk the house with you, look at the areas you want changed, and talk openly about scope, structure and money. We measure nothing at this stage — we listen, look at what's behind the walls where we can, and tell you what a project of this shape normally costs in Portland and Vancouver.
You leave with a realistic range and a clear next step, not a sales packet.
4–8 weeks
Who you talk to: Designer, project lead, and you in scheduled selections meetings
We measure the existing conditions, draw the house as it actually is, and develop the plan in 3D. You walk the design before we build it — floor plans, elevations, cabinetry, tile layouts, lighting. Revisions happen here, where they cost hours instead of weeks.
We finish this phase with a drawing set and a specification a subcontractor can bid without guessing.
Permits 6–16 weeks depending on the city
Who you talk to: Project lead, structural engineer, and the permitting jurisdiction
Structural work goes to an engineer, drawings go to the jurisdiction, and the trades price the finished set. Portland BDS, Clark County and the City of Vancouver all move at different speeds, and we tell you which one you're dealing with and what the realistic clock is.
At the end of this phase you get a fixed-price contract with line-item allowances — not a lump sum you can't inspect.
Kitchens 10–16 weeks · bathrooms 8–12 weeks · additions 3–8 months · whole-home 6–10 months
Who you talk to: Your project lead on site, with the same crew through completion
Demolition, structure, rough-ins, inspections, finishes. You get a written weekly update with photos, where we are against the schedule and where we are against the budget. Interior work gets dust containment, floor protection and daily cleanup. Inspections are scheduled by us, not by you.
1–3 weeks after substantial completion
Who you talk to: You and the project lead who has been there since day one
We walk the finished space together and write the punch list down, item by item, with a date next to each. Nothing closes until that list closes. Every contract includes a written workmanship warranty, and we schedule a post-project check-in so small settlement issues — a door that needs adjusting, caulk that moved — get handled rather than forgotten.
What You Can Hold Us To
One project lead from your first call to the final walkthrough.
Every message answered within one business day.
A written progress update every week, with photos, schedule status and budget status.
A line-item estimate with allowances before contract — never a lump sum you can't inspect.
Change orders priced and approved in writing before work starts, never invoiced after.
Interior remodels get dust containment, floor protection and daily cleanup.
We notify neighbors before demolition and heavy deliveries.
A written workmanship warranty in every contract, and a scheduled post-project check-in.
First Major Remodel?
If this is your first six-figure project, the hardest part is not choosing tile — it is knowing which decisions are expensive and which are cheap, and in what order they have to happen.
We spend the consultation and the early design meetings teaching rather than selling: why moving a sink three feet costs more than moving a range, why cabinetry drives both the budget and the schedule, why the permit clock starts later than most people assume.
We will show you the trade-offs in numbers. Semi-custom cabinetry versus full custom. Keeping plumbing where it is versus relocating it. Quartz versus a single-block quartzite slab. Phasing a whole-home renovation into two stages versus doing it in one displacement.
None of those answers are universal — they depend on how long you intend to stay in the house and what you actually care about.
Before you talk to anyone, read our Portland and Vancouver remodeling cost guide. It has the real ranges by room and what pushes a project to the top of each one. Our pricing page explains what our number includes and where you can reasonably save. For project-specific detail, our Portland remodeling guides
cover kitchens, baths, additions, ADUs and whole-home renovations one at a time.
Your Role
You come to selections meetings, handle samples, and choose every finish with our designer. We update the 3D model as decisions land so you can see the cumulative effect rather than approving one item at a time. Expect roughly four to eight working sessions across design, plus site visits during construction whenever you want them.
We present a curated palette — two or three coherent directions rather than a showroom — and you approve at weekly sign-off points. Decisions stay batched and scheduled, so the project needs perhaps thirty minutes of your attention a week. Out-of-town owners and second-home clients usually work this way.
Getting Multiple Bids?
Bring the other proposals. We will read them with you and explain, line by line, where the scopes differ — because two bids that look $60,000 apart are usually not pricing the same project. The gap is almost always allowances, excluded structural work, permit drawings billed later, or a contingency one firm disclosed and the other hid.
We will tell you plainly where another bid is stronger than ours. If a competitor has priced your project well and their scope is complete, that is useful information, and you should have it before you sign anything.
Print this, or bring it up on your phone. Ask all ten of every firm you meet.
Risk Control
Most overruns are not slow crews — they are late decisions and late material. We lock selections before demolition and order long-lead items (cabinetry, windows, stone, specialty tile) during permitting, not during construction. The weekly update shows the schedule so slippage is visible in week three instead of week twelve.
Vague allowances are how a $180,000 kitchen becomes a $240,000 kitchen. Our estimate states each allowance line by line with the actual product class it buys, so when you pick a slab you know immediately whether you are inside the number. Anything outside it becomes a written change order before anyone swings a hammer.
Portland BDS, Clark County and the City of Vancouver each have their own review times, their own triggers for structural review, and their own appetite for older houses. We identify the jurisdiction and the likely triggers at the consultation and build the review window into the schedule rather than discovering it after you've already moved out.
Older Portland and Vancouver homes hide rot, undersized framing, knob-and-tube and failed flashing. We open exploratory areas where we can before pricing and carry a stated contingency for what we can't see. When we find something, you get photos, a priced option and a decision — not a silent line item on the next invoice.
The common failure is a homeowner who cannot get an answer. One project lead owns your build, every message gets a reply within one business day, and the weekly written update exists whether or not anything dramatic happened. Silence is the problem; the update removes it.
Honest Fit
Small single-trade jobs. Replacing a vanity, retiling a shower pan, swapping a countertop. Our overhead carries design, engineering coordination and a dedicated project lead, and none of that earns its keep on a two-day job. You will pay for structure you don't need.
Quick flips. If the goal is the cheapest finish that photographs well before a sale, our specification and our timeline both work against you. We build for people who intend to live in the result.
Lowest-bid shopping. We will not be the cheapest number in a stack of three, and we won't pretend otherwise by stripping the scope to win. If price is the deciding factor, say so early.
In all three cases we will tell you at the consultation and refer you to a good mid-market contractor we would use ourselves. A referral costs us nothing and saves you a month.
Frequently Asked
What Portland and Vancouver homeowners ask before design begins.
Four to eight weeks for most projects. A single bathroom can move faster; a whole-home renovation or a second-story addition takes the full window because the structure, mechanical routing and selections all have to resolve together. Design ends when you have walked the 3D model and approved it, not on a fixed date.
We stop, photograph it, and bring you a priced option before continuing. Older homes in Portland and Vancouver routinely hide rot at wet walls, undersized headers and failed flashing. That is why we recommend carrying a 10–15% contingency. Anything discovered becomes a written change order you approve before work resumes.
Every change is scoped, priced and signed before the work starts. You will never receive an invoice for work you did not approve in writing. If a change affects the schedule, the change order states that too.
Yes. Every Masters Construction contract includes a written workmanship warranty, and we schedule a post-project check-in after you have lived in the space. Manufacturer warranties on appliances, fixtures and materials pass through to you, and we hand over the documentation at closeout.
For a kitchen or a single bathroom, usually yes, with a temporary kitchen or an alternate bath and containment between the work area and the rest of the house. For whole-home renovations and most second-story additions, we recommend moving out — it is faster, safer and usually cheaper than working around an occupied house.
They are built from measured drawings of your actual house and the actual selections you make, so the proportions, cabinetry, tile layout and lighting positions are accurate. Finishes, lighting and furniture are represented rather than photographed, so minor color and texture variance against the real materials is normal — we review physical samples with you in person for that reason.
Sixty to ninety minutes, no cost, no obligation — and you leave with a realistic range and a clear sense of the schedule.
CCB #248237 · Licensed in Oregon & Washington