Our Process
Turning Ideas into Ideal Spaces
One team, one roof, one accountable partner: design and construction together, from the first conversation to the day the house is yours again.
What Is Design-Build?
One team, one roof, one accountable partner.
Design-build means one company handles both the design and the construction of your remodel, under one roof. You hire one team, and that team answers for the whole outcome: the drawings, the price, and the finished room.
The alternative is design-bid-build. You hire a designer or architect first, wait for drawings, then send those drawings out to builders for bids. When the bids come back over budget (and they often do), the design goes back for revision and the clock starts again. Nobody in that chain owns the result end to end.
HHI Builders is design-build. Design and construction happen under one roof: a design agreement first, then a fixed-price construction contract with no change orders. Because the same team does both, the design is tested against real cost and real construction from the first sketch rather than after it.
What Is Fixed-Price Remodeling?
The price we agree is the price you pay.
Fixed-price remodeling means the number written on your construction contract is the number you pay. Once the scope is settled and that contract is signed, the price does not move because a material cost rose, a trade quoted higher, or the work behind a wall turned out harder than anyone expected. That risk belongs to us. It is what “no change orders” actually means.
It only works in one order: the design has to be finished and the scope has to be specific before the price is fixed. A builder pricing from incomplete drawings is guessing, and the change orders that follow are how the guess gets corrected, on the homeowner’s invoice.
Fixed-price only works because of the work HHI does before construction ever starts. The design and feasibility process is thorough on purpose: walls get opened during design when there is a real reason to, so the estimate is built on what is actually there, not on a guess.
If HHI misses something (a cabinet layout measured wrong, an item left off an order), HHI absorbs that cost. The client never pays for an error HHI made.
That leaves only two things that can change your price after the contract is signed. One: you change your mind after the design is finished. Two: a concealed condition turns up in an area nobody had reason to open during design (termite damage found only once a wall is opened to mount cabinets, for example). Both are rare, and both are named in the contract, not invented after the fact.
This is also why HHI is not the cheapest bid in the room. The number on the contract is the whole price, not a low number meant to get the job that change orders fill in later.
Most builders cannot offer this because they price from an incomplete design and shift the risk of what they missed onto the homeowner's invoice. HHI prices from a finished design, which means HHI carries that risk instead.
Act One · Design
Everything that happens before a tool comes out: what you want, what it will look like, and what it will cost.
Step 1
Discovery
The first meeting happens at your home. HHI walks through the house with you, measuring overall dimensions and each room, using RENDR LiDAR scanning where the home and schedule allow, or laser measures otherwise.
While we walk, we ask about your goals, your budget and your timeline. That conversation lets both sides judge whether the fit is right before anything is signed.
You leave with a next step already set: a presentation meeting at HHI's office, where we give you a cost range broken down room by room. It is a range, not a quote: the detailed estimate and fixed price come later, once the design is finished.
Step 2
Design
During design, you see drawings, 3D previews, and selection boards as the plan takes shape. The design team stays in constant communication throughout, so revisions happen along the way rather than piling up at the end: most projects reach fewer than three formal rounds of revisions.
How long design takes depends on the size of the project. A like-for-like bathroom may need little or no design work, and when it does, six weeks or less. Most projects fall between 10 and 16 weeks. As a general guide, design runs about 6 weeks for projects up to $100K, 7 to 9 weeks up to $200K, 10 to 14 weeks up to $350K, and 16 weeks above that.
The design is not finished until it is priced. That discipline is what makes the design build process at HHI work: the drawings, the previews, and the selections all feed into one detailed estimate, and that estimate becomes the fixed price on your contract.
Step 3
Selections
Selections happen in HHI's design studio, guided by the interior designer. This is where finishes, fixtures, and materials take shape alongside the design itself, so every choice is made with the whole room in view rather than picked in isolation later.
Every selection is locked before construction begins, and each one is written into the build contract. That means materials are chosen, ordered, and scheduled before demolition starts: no home is left open while a decision gets made.
Because selections are locked in before the build begins, they are priced into the fixed price on your contract. This holds for every project, regardless of size.
Step 4
The detailed estimate
The finished design becomes a detailed estimate, and that number becomes the fixed price on your construction contract.
The estimate runs about 30 pages and lists every part and piece we provide for your project, fully broken down, so there are no surprises later. You receive the detailed estimate and the build contract together. You review both, ask questions, and request any changes before anything is final. Signing is electronic, done through the client portal's e-signature.
Act Two · Build
What to expect once construction starts: how you hear from us, and how your home is treated while we are in it.
Step 1
Communication cadence
Communication during construction is constant, not occasional. Every day your project is active on site, a daily job log is posted to your Real-Time Client Portal: whether the work is on track or off, any schedule changes, inspections passed and coming up, and which trades are coming up next. Daily progress photos go up alongside it, so you can see the work as it happens. On days with no site activity, there is no photo: nothing to report, nothing posted.
All messages run through the portal, from the day your design is signed through the end of the build, so the conversation and the job history live in one place.
You have a single point of contact throughout: the project manager handles the day-to-day questions and progress, and the project director is who you talk to about scope and cost.
Step 2
Real-Time Client Portal
Your project has a Real-Time Client Portal: a private, always-current view of the job.
It shows the full schedule, updated daily, so you can see what is happening today and what comes next. Daily photos let you watch the work progress without being on site. Documents, selections, inspections, and payments made all live in the same place, so you are never searching for the latest version of anything. Messages run through the portal too, from the day you sign the design through the end of the build, with a daily job log noting whether the work is on track, any schedule changes, and which inspections and trades are coming up.
Step 3
Site care
We prefer a home be empty during construction, since that is easier on both the house and the people in it. When that is not possible, your home stays protected while the work is underway.
We set up full dust control and floor protection before work begins, so the rest of your home stays clean and undamaged. Crews keep daily tidy-up in occupied homes, moving materials out of the way so you can live around the work without living in a work site. Parking stays in designated areas, and no hazardous materials are left where your family lives.
All of it is laid out plainly at a pre-construction site meeting with the project director, project manager and director of construction, so you know exactly what to expect before the first hammer swings.
Step 4
Timeline honesty
The schedule is built after the build contract is signed. Once there is a contract, trades are scheduled against it, and the Gantt chart in your Real-Time Client Portal becomes the live record of the job.
Delays happen. Inspections can be delayed or fail, and trades can run behind. HHI builds extra time into every schedule and aims to finish early.
When a date moves, you are not left to find out on your own. The change is posted in the portal right away and the schedule is updated, so the Gantt chart you see is always current.
Act Three · Enjoy
The part everything else was for.
Step 1
The final walkthrough
The project director, the project manager, and the homeowner walk the finished home together. Together they create the punch list, and all three sign off on it.
Punch work begins right away and is normally finished within a couple of days. If a particular item will take longer than that, HHI does not take final payment until the punch work is complete.
Anything you notice after you move in goes to the warranty group, who handle requests first-come, first-served, and promptly.
Step 2
Workmanship warranty
For one year from the date of final inspection, HHI Builders will repair or replace, at our option, any defective condition in building materials or workmanship. A defective condition is defined by the Residential Construction Performance Guidelines published by the National Association of Home Builders. Manufacturer warranties on appliances and equipment are passed to you.
One-year workmanship warranty on every project, measured against the National Association of Home Builders' Residential Construction Performance Guidelines.
Step 3
Aftercare
Move-in is not the end of the conversation. At 11 months, we reach out to ask about any unreported issues, so small things get caught before the workmanship warranty year closes. Anything you notice after move-in goes to our warranty group, who handle requests first-come-first-served and promptly. Our communication line stays open after the project is done.
Common Questions
What is design-build?
Design-build means one company handles both the design and the construction of your project, under one roof. At HHI Builders that is a design agreement first, then a fixed-price construction contract with no change orders. Instead of hiring a designer, waiting for drawings, then bidding those drawings out to builders, you work with one team from the first conversation to the final walkthrough. HHI Builders is a design-build remodeler on Hilton Head Island.
How does fixed-price remodeling work?
The design is finished and the scope is written down before the construction contract is signed. That contract then carries one fixed price for that scope, and that is the price you pay. It does not move because a material cost rose or because the work turned out harder than estimated: that risk belongs to the builder, not to you.
How long does design take before construction?
Design typically takes 6 to 16 weeks, and project size is what drives the length. Design runs about 6 weeks for projects up to $100K, 7 to 9 weeks up to $200K, 10 to 14 weeks up to $350K, and 16 weeks above that. A like-for-like bathroom may need little or no design work at all, and when it does, six weeks or less covers it. HHI keeps you in constant communication throughout, so revisions happen as the design develops rather than in separate rounds afterward. That keeps most projects under three formal revision rounds. Design ends with a detailed estimate, which becomes the fixed price on your contract before construction begins.
What happens if we change our mind mid-project?
You can still change your mind, and HHI prices the difference, up or down, before any new work begins. The request goes to the project manager, who brings in the project director to price it with you. HHI then issues a change order either way: a negative change order is deducted from your next draw, and a positive one is normally billed on the next draw, though a large change, like a whole new kitchen with new cabinets and stone, is billed immediately. This sits alongside the no-change-order promise rather than breaking it. That guarantee covers HHI's own scope and HHI's own mistakes. It was never meant to cover a new decision you make after the design is already finished.
See it in a real project.
Every case study on the site follows the same three acts you just read: Design, Build, Enjoy.