How Payment Works

The State's contractor board sets three rules for a home improvement contract. The down payment cannot be more than ten percent of the contract price or a fixed amount set by the State, whichever is less. The contract must carry a detailed, written payment schedule. And payments to the contractor cannot run ahead of the value of the work performed or the materials delivered, apart from the down payment.

Our agreements follow those rules; the five checks before you commit to a rebuild contractor show you how to read any contractor's schedule against them.

At signing: the down payment. You approve the written scope and the agreement before any work starts. The down payment comes at signing.

During the build: progress payments at named stages. Each stage is work you can see. On a bathroom, the stages run demolition, rough plumbing and electrical, inspection, waterproofing, tile, then finish, and I hold the work until the matching inspection passes. On a new house, they run demolition, foundation, framing, roof and envelope, systems, insulation, drywall and finishes, each with its inspection.

At the end: the final payment, on completion. The building department signs off on the final inspection, we walk the job together, and the punch list closes.

Under California law, a subcontractor or supplier who goes unpaid can record a mechanics lien on your home even after you have paid the builder. The State's contractor board describes the guard: a signed conditional release before each payment, then, after you pay, an unconditional release signed by each party paid. By law, you may hold the next payment until you have the unconditional releases for the last one.

On rebuilds, I hand over lien releases as each stage closes. Ask for them on any job; they are yours to keep.

If the scope moves, the change goes in writing and you approve it before work continues. No verbal changes. When opening a wall shows rot, a failed pan or old pipe, I stop, photograph it and show you. The repair is priced as its own line, and work continues after your written approval.

We accept checks, bank transfers and major credit cards. Financing options are available for qualified homeowners. You apply in your own name and choose what fits your household.

The estimate is free and done on site. It comes back as a written scope with the trades broken out and the milestones named, so you can lay the payment schedule beside the work it pays for. How a job runs from the first walk to close-out and the one-year workmanship warranty are on their own pages; what clients say is here. Call (949) 558-9738 to book the first walk.