Our Design Build Services offer a streamlined approach to home construction and remodeling by integrating both design and construction processes. This method fosters collaboration, minimizes risks, and ensures a seamless transition from concept to completion.

Design-Build Services in San Diego

Most remodelling projects go wrong in the gap between the person who designed it and the person who built it. Drawings get handed over, the bids come back higher than expected, and the changes that follow are paid for by the homeowner.

Design-build closes that gap. One team designs your project and builds it, under one contract, with one person accountable for the result. Seven Home Improvement has worked this way from the start. CSLB #1078564, licensed, bonded and insured.

What Design-Build Actually Means

In the traditional model you hire an architect, pay for a full set of drawings, then take those drawings to contractors for bids. You find out what your design costs after you have paid to design it. If the bids come in high, you pay again to redesign.

In design-build, cost is part of the conversation from the first meeting. The people who will build it are in the room while it is being drawn, so what gets designed is what can actually be built for your budget. There is no bid gap and no second design fee.

It also removes the argument. When design and construction are separate companies and something does not line up, each points at the other. With one contract there is nobody to point at.

What Is Included

Architectural design and space planning
3D renderings, so you see the finished result before demolition
Interior design and materials selection at our showroom
Structural engineering
Permitting with the City of San Diego and County offices
Construction, with a dedicated project manager
Project management and scheduling across all trades
Final walkthrough, punch list and warranty

We stand behind our work per California CSLB standards: 4 years on workmanship and 10 years on structural.

Whole-Home Remodels

A whole-home remodel is the project design-build exists for. Every room interacts with every other one, the trades overlap constantly, and the sequencing decides the schedule. Split that across an architect and a separate contractor and the coordination becomes the homeowner’s problem.

We take on complete home renovations from concept through completion: reconfiguring layout, replacing kitchens and bathrooms, updating electrical and plumbing systems throughout, and bringing the exterior into line with the interior. One team, one schedule, one contract covering all of it.

Most whole-home clients move out for the duration, which is usually the right call. It compresses the schedule significantly because the trades are not working around a household. Where staying is necessary, we phase the work so there is always a functioning kitchen and bathroom.

How We Price a Project

The single most common frustration homeowners describe about previous builders is not the price. It is that the price moved.

We quote from a written scope. Before construction starts you have a document that states what is included, what is specified, and what it costs. If you change your mind mid-project, and people do, we price the change and you approve it before it happens. Nothing lands on the final invoice that you have not seen and agreed in advance.

Where genuine unknowns exist, we say so upfront rather than burying them. Older homes hide things: undersized panels, failed waterproofing, framing that was never to code. We inspect what is accessible before quoting, flag what we cannot see, and if something does turn up we stop and show you.

City permits and fees are billed separately from construction, because they are set by the jurisdiction rather than by us and they vary by project. You see them as what they are rather than folded into a margin.

Visit Our Showroom

Choosing finishes from small samples is how people end up disappointed. Our showroom lets you see cabinetry, countertops, tile and fixtures at full scale, together, before you commit. You can also browse our virtual showroom online at any time.

What We Build

We take on the full range of residential work, from a single room to a complete home:

Our Process

Consultation. We meet at your home, understand the project and talk about budget openly.
Design and rendering. Layout, elevations and photorealistic 3D renderings from our in-house team.
Selections. Materials, finishes and fixtures chosen with our designers at the showroom.
Engineering and permits. Structural engineering and full permit submission handled by us.
Construction. Managed by a dedicated project manager who is your single point of contact.
Walkthrough and warranty. Punch list completed, then the CSLB workmanship and structural warranty applies.

Construction timelines vary by project type: 3 to 5 weeks for a bathroom, 6 to 10 weeks for a kitchen, 3 to 5 months for an addition, and 10 to 14 months end to end for an ADU including design and permits. Design and permitting for smaller projects run before construction on their own schedule, and your written programme shows both.

What Working With Us Looks Like

You get one project manager and one phone number. Not a call centre, not whoever happens to answer, and not a different person each time you ask where things stand.

You know before construction starts what happens in what order and roughly when. Trades are scheduled against that programme rather than turning up when they are free, which is the difference between a site that moves and a site that sits empty for four days.

Where you are living in the house during the work, we contain dust at the work zone, protect the route in and out, and clean the site at the end of each day. It is a small thing that decides how the whole project feels to live through.

At the end we walk the project with you and build a punch list together. The job is finished when that list is finished, not when the last trade drives away.

Financing

We offer three financing routes: Enhancify, our online financing partner linked from our site; Acorn Finance, built into our estimates; and QuickBooks payment plans arranged directly with us.

Design-Build FAQ

Is design-build more expensive than hiring an architect separately?

Typically not. Integrating design and construction avoids bid markups and the mid-project redesigns that follow when drawings come back over budget. You know the real cost before construction starts rather than after the design is paid for.

Can you work from my architect’s plans?

Yes. We prefer full design-build, but we regularly build from existing plans after a constructability review: a check that what is drawn can be built as drawn, at the cost expected.

Who manages my project day to day?

A dedicated project manager, from permit through final walkthrough. One phone number, one person who knows your job.

Do you handle permits?

Yes. As your licensed general contractor under CSLB #1078564 we prepare submissions, follow them through the City of San Diego or County process, and schedule inspections.

What areas do you serve?

San Diego County.

How involved do I need to be?

As involved as you want. The decisions that genuinely need you are the design and the selections, and both happen early. After construction starts, most clients want a weekly update and a call when something needs a decision. Your project manager handles the rest.

Can you do the design now and build later?

Yes. Some clients design first, get permits in hand, and start construction when timing or financing suits them. Design and permitting are the long lead items, so getting them done early is often the sensible order.

What warranty do you offer?