How Southeastern Renovation stacks up.

How to compare Charleston remodeling contractors

Most homeowners collect three bids and then find the bids are not comparable. One priced a tiled shower pan and another priced a fiberglass insert. One carried an allowance for cabinets and another named a specific cabinet line. One included the permit and another left it to you. The number at the bottom of the page is the least informative thing on it.

The comparisons above put us next to a specific competitor on things that can actually be checked. Below is the same checklist in general form, so you can run it against any bid you are holding — including ours.

1. Verify the license yourself

South Carolina publishes contractor licenses through the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Look the company up by name, confirm the license is active, and confirm the classification covers the work you are buying. Ours is CLG.127339, and you can search it at llr.sc.gov rather than taking our word for it. Ask every bidder for a certificate of insurance as well, and check that the coverage dates run through your build window and not just through the week the bid was written.

2. Ask which contract model the bid is written under

A fixed-price contract names one number for a defined scope. A cost-plus contract bills actual cost plus a fee, so the final figure is not known when you sign. Neither is dishonest — they suit different projects — but comparing a fixed-price bid against a cost-plus estimate as though they were the same document is how budgets go wrong. We write both, and which one we recommend depends on how completely the scope can be defined before demolition. Our fixed-price contracts carry three documented exceptions that can change the price: an owner-requested change, a selection above the written allowance, and a concealed condition found once a wall or floor is open. Each is handled in writing before that work proceeds. The terms are set out on the fixed-price guarantee page.

3. Ask who actually performs the trade work

Southeastern Renovation contracts the job and runs it. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical work is performed by licensed trade subcontractors, and those trades pull their own trade permits under their own licenses. That is the normal structure in South Carolina, and it is worth asking any bidder to describe it plainly. If a company cannot tell you who is doing the electrical work, you do not yet know who is doing the electrical work.

4. Compare allowances, not totals

Allowances are the placeholder dollars a bid carries for items you have not chosen yet — tile, plumbing fixtures, lighting, hardware, countertops. A bid can be made to look cheaper simply by carrying thin allowances. Put the bids side by side and read only the allowance lines. Where one carries less for tile than the others, that gap is not a saving; it is a decision deferred to you, at your expense, in month three. Our cost guides break renovation budgets down by scope tier so you can see what drives a number before you sign anything.

5. Read the warranty and its exclusions

Warranty language varies more than price does. Ask what is covered, for how long, who honors it, and what voids it. We carry a 1-year workmanship warranty; manufacturer warranties on the products installed run separately and on their own terms. A longer number in a competitor's marketing is worth reading in the contract before it is worth weighing in the decision.

6. Check they have worked under your review board

Across much of the Lowcountry, and in the York County suburbs, the building permit is not the only approval standing between you and a start date. Historic districts, island design review boards and neighborhood architectural review committees each have their own submittal package and their own meeting calendar. A contractor who has been through your specific board before will stage that submittal alongside design rather than after it. Our approval guides cover the boards we submit to, and each town page names the permitting authority for that town.

7. Then look at the work, and at the people

Once the paperwork checks out, what remains is judgment. Read the reviews. Look through the planning gallery to see whether the finish level matches what you have in mind. Read how we run a job, so you know what the working weeks look like from inside your own house. A renovation is a long relationship conducted at close range, and the bid does not tell you much about that part.

Want this comparison run on your actual project rather than in the abstract? Send three fields and Jared will walk the space with you. Request an estimate, or call (843) 718-8177. Licensed in South Carolina, CLG.127339.