How can I get the most out of a contractor visit? One of the most important parts of picking a contractor or architect is the site visit. (Throughout this article we use the word contractor but almost all of the below applies to meeting an architect as well.) The site visit serves many functions, such as: It gives the contractor an opportunity to see the site, … [Read more...]
Construction Bids: A Guide
You can think of a bid as a precursor to an agreement between you and your contractor — it lays out all of the items, labor, and prices that your contractor is committing to deliver. So getting bids — and reviewing them well — is a crucial part of hiring a contractor. Unfortunately, the process is messy and challenging and often yields different results where each bid is … [Read more...]
BuildZoom Research: A Year in Review
As 2017 comes to an end, we decided to round up some of our favorite studies and reports from the past year. We use public data as well as data from BuildZoom’s national building permit database to better understand the construction market, and this year our work fell into two broad categories: Research concerning urban growth and housing affordability, and how they … [Read more...]
The Best Office Contractors in Los Angeles
As young Los Angeles firms and established corporations seek to forge an identity through their office spaces, local contractors are using traditional materials and finishes in new ways. The contracting firms on this list have been entrusted with delivering on the aesthetics of the city's biggest businesses. … [Read more...]
The Best Restaurant Contractors in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles restaurant scene is evolving faster than ever. As celebrity chefs open everything from opulent dining rooms to taco joints modeled after beach shacks, design and construction have become as important as the menu items in establishing an L.A. eatery’s identity and determining its success. … [Read more...]