Everything in the Remodel Decision Kit, listed before you buy
11 files, about 214 pages, 28 dimensioned drawings and 647 fields you can type into. Below is the whole index, file by file, with the page count and the field count for each one. Nothing is held back for after the payment.
| File | Format | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| File 1 The Decision Timeline | PDF, 33 pages | The order the decisions have to be made in. Six phases, five points after which a change stops being a conversation and starts being a demolition, and the lead times suppliers actually published on the dates shown. |
| File 2 Measurement and Clearance Sheets | PDF, 40 pages, 14 drawings | The numbers a designer works to, so you can read a plan. Aisles, landing areas, clearances and heights, each one drawn and each one carrying the document it came from. Comes with a fillable measuring sheet. |
| File 2a Measuring Sheet | Fillable PDF, 7 pages, 119 fields | The survey to take before anyone draws your room. Type into it or print it and take a pencil. Walls at two heights, both diagonals, every opening, and the questions that are not yours to answer. |
| File 3 Appliance and Fixture Fit Sheet | Fillable PDF, 20 pages, 148 fields | Catches the thing that does not fit, before it is ordered. One card per appliance and per fixture, with the dimension that bites on each one, and the blanks for the numbers on your own spec sheet. |
| File 4 Cabinet Order Check | Fillable PDF, 13 pages, 117 fields | The order, line by line, against the drawing. Thirteen fields decide what arrives: hinge side, finished ends, fillers, panels, interior finish. A field nobody fills in is a part the factory chooses for you. |
| File 5 Countertop, Sink and Vanity Top Approval | PDF, 14 pages, with a signing sheet | The drawing you sign before the slab is cut. Seams, overhang, edge, cutouts and the holes. Every hole is cut once, from a drawing you approve, and after that the top is stone with holes in it. |
| File 6 Before the Walls Close | PDF, 24 pages, 4 drawings | The few days when everything is still visible. Hood ducts, fan sizing, valve height and the depth that comes back, blocking and waterproofing. Questions to ask, addressed to the person who answers them. |
| File 7 Scope of Work | PDF and Word, 19 pages | One document, so three quotes price the same job. Give it to every bidder unchanged. Trade by trade, with the allowances set by you so the same number appears in all three quotes. |
| File 8 Quote Comparison Workbook | Excel workbook, 4 tabs | Shows you the lines nobody priced. Three quotes against one list of work. The cheapest quote and the cheapest project are often two different bidders, and this is the file that says so. |
| File 9 Contractor Interview and Reference Check | Fillable PDF, 12 pages, 70 fields | Questions that get real answers. What to verify on your own state register before the call, what to ask on it, the reference call word for word, and the three of them side by side. |
| File 10 Payment Schedule and Change Order Log | Excel workbook plus a 6 page guide | What you paid, what you owe, what each change added. Milestones from your own agreement, every change in writing, allowances against what they actually cost, and how far ahead of the work the payments are. |
| File 11 Punch List, Closeout and Warranty Binder | Fillable PDF, 12 pages, 99 fields | Finish without leaving money on the table. The walkthrough as a method, the list it produces, and the records you will want in year two when something needs a part. |
What you get on top, if you want it
Two extras exist and both are optional. Neither is hidden, neither is a trick, and the kit is complete without either.
Lighting, Outlet and Plumbing Plan Pack (PDF, 14 pages, 4 printable grids, 19 USD, offered at checkout)
Scaled grids for the plan and the elevations, one symbol legend, and the questions to mark on them before the electrician and the plumber are on site.
Renovation Money Tracker (Excel workbook, 4 tabs, 29 USD, offered once after you buy)
Budget by category, your own contingency, the cash flow calendar, and the one number at the end: what it really cost against what you set out to spend.
What is deliberately not in it
The most common complaint about a download in this category is that it was not what the buyer expected. So here is the other list.
- A contract
- The kit never writes one. File 7 describes the work so that a contract can be written by the people qualified to write it, and so that three quotes can be compared at all.
- A code check
- Nothing here tells you what your building department requires for your property. Code figures are labeled as coming from a model code, and you verify them where you live.
- Instructions for electrical, gas or structural work
- Not a single page explains how to do any of it. Those are jobs for a licensed professional, and the files say so where they come up.
- A design service
- Nobody looks at your room. The kit gives you the figures a designer works to, so you can read the plan you are shown.
- Software, an app or a subscription
- Files. You download them, they are yours, nothing expires and there is no account.
- Prices for your project
- No cost estimates and no promises about money. Durations and lead times appear as ranges published on stated dates, which is a different thing.
- A ruling on what your building department requires
- Code figures are marked as coming from a model code and are always sent back to the authority where you live. That is true wherever you read the kit.
How to open the files
- The PDFs open in any PDF reader. The fillable ones are best filled in Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free, because some browsers and the default Mac preview do not save every field type reliably.
- The workbooks are .xlsx. They open in Microsoft Excel, in Apple Numbers, in Google Sheets and in LibreOffice. Every formula is standard and there are no macros, so nothing has to be enabled and nothing can run.
- File 7 also comes as a Word document, because a scope of work is a thing people edit.
- Every PDF comes in a Letter and A4 edition, and both are designed to print in black and white.
Where the figures come from
66 published documents from 39 publishers, each one named beside the figure it produced. Built from published planning guidelines and manufacturer documentation. Nothing in it was reviewed or endorsed by a certified designer, a licensed contractor or a trade body, and the sources page gives you the documents instead, so the checking is yours to do.
One payment. Instant download. No account, no subscription. All sales are final. Every file is delivered the moment you pay. How that works.