One licensed contractor for the whole job, a written scope with exclusions, and a permit in their name with the Town.
Whole-home remodeling is where the worst stories live: the contractor who took the deposit and vanished with the house half open, the six-week job that became six months, the change orders that doubled the price. Every one started with a vague scope and a big deposit. When you call this site about a bigger job, an open floor plan, a finished basement with a real bathroom, a second-floor addition, we connect you with one licensed general contractor who works across northern Westchester and Putnam, writes a scope that says what is and is not included, pulls the permit in their own name, and gets paid by milestone. Call (914) 228-6746.
Three months into what was supposed to be six weeks and the contractor has basically disappeared, walls open, no permit, deposit gone.
Milestone payments mean money stops when work stops. The permit is in the contractor's name so the town knows who is responsible. And the referral came through here, so they answer to us too.Every week another "unforeseen issue" and the final bill was a hundred thousand over the worst case.
A written scope with exclusions and allowances, and a contingency you agree to up front. Change orders are priced and signed before the work, and you can say no.A kitchen and bath done without permits, then a fine, then a sale held up at closing.
The contractor pulls the permit for the whole job with the Town of Yorktown or your town, schedules the inspections, and the certificate of completion is yours at the end.The contractor runs one large job at a time to completion and states the crew size and the schedule in the contract. Cabinet and window lead times are dates in the contract, not surprises. You see progress against milestones, and you pay against them.
A scope that lists rooms, tasks, allowances and exclusions, a stated contingency for what is inside the walls of a 1970s house, and written change orders you approve first. Nothing gets added to the final invoice.
Westchester home improvement license number on the contract, certificate of insurance from the insurer, recent local jobs you can ask about, and a permit pulled in the contractor's name. You check all four before a dollar moves.
Whole-home work is priced from the scope, not the square foot. What moves it, and what is listed:
| Opening the plan | Beam sizing and an engineer for a bearing wall, plus the permit. A non-bearing wall is a fraction of that. |
|---|---|
| Finished basement | Framing, insulation, egress, and the bathroom with an ejector pump is the expensive part. |
| Additions and dormers | The most permit-heavy work; survey, plans, zoning check. Priced only after plans exist. |
| Kitchen plus bath together | Sequenced so the house keeps a working bathroom and a place to cook. |
| Contingency | A stated percentage for what is inside the walls, agreed up front, spent only with your signature. |
| Deposit and milestones | A fraction to start, then payments as rooms complete, the last after the punch list. |
The estimate is a scope document with a total, exclusions, allowances and the contingency. You take a week with it.
The whole-home jobs that come up here are the same three: opening the closed kitchen to the dining and living rooms of a colonial, finishing a basement properly with an egress window and a real bathroom, and adding a second-floor dormer or a master suite to a cape or split-level. Each touches structure, which means a permit with the Town of Yorktown and usually an engineer's letter. Septic houses get a check that the system can take the extra bedroom or bath. Older houses turn up cast iron drains, knob-and-tube in the attic, and asbestos tile under the kitchen vinyl, all handled as written change orders, not surprises.
Tell us the room, the town and what is bothering you. A person answers during business hours at (914) 228-6746.
Kitchens and whole-home work go to one licensed contractor, bathrooms to another. Each one works in your town, not from a call center.
The contractor visits, measures, and gives you a written itemized estimate. You are under no obligation to book.
Compare it, ask questions, take your time. If you book, the contract and the work are between you and the contractor.
Many of the articles on this site are about handyman work. Small jobs that do not need a permit go to the same contractors when they are between big ones, and are priced per visit.
For an addition, plans come first. The contractor will tell you when you need an architect and when a good drafter and an engineer's letter are enough.
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Ask for the Westchester County home improvement license number and check it, ask for a certificate of insurance sent from the insurer, ask how many jobs are running at once, and refuse any contractor who suggests skipping the permit or wants half up front.
The deposit is sized to materials and payments follow milestones, so the loss is limited by design. And because the referral came through this site, call us at (914) 228-6746; we follow it up.
For a house from the 1960s or 70s, a stated ten to fifteen percent for what is inside the walls, agreed up front and spent only with a signed change order.
For anything structural, electrical, plumbing or affecting the exterior, yes. The contractor pulls it in their own name and the certificate of completion protects you at resale.
One call, one licensed general contractor, one written scope with the exclusions and the contingency on the page.