There are two ways to run a major remodel. One was designed for commercial projects with professional owners and deep contingency budgets. The other was designed for how real homeowners actually live. Here's the honest comparison, from a company that's done both since 1959.
The old way: design-bid-build
You hire a designer. They draw your dream. You take the drawings to three contractors for bids. The bids come back wildly different — because each contractor interprets the drawings differently and prices the gaps in their own favor. You pick one, and when construction starts, every gap between the drawing and reality becomes a change order. The designer blames the builder; the builder blames the drawings; you pay the difference.
The design-build way
One company designs your project and builds it under a single contract. The people pricing the work sit next to the people drawing it — so every sketch is checked against real costs as it develops. When you approve the final design, you're approving a real number, not a hope.
Where design-build wins
- Budget honesty: designs are priced as they develop — you never fall in love with a $150k drawing on an $80k budget
- Speed: design and construction planning overlap; permits and material orders start before the last selection is made — typically saving 1–3 months
- One accountable name: no designer-vs-builder finger-pointing; one company owns the result
- Fewer change orders: the builder helped design it, so the surprises are designed out up front
Where design-bid-build still makes sense
If you already have complete, professionally detailed plans and you enjoy managing the bid process, competitive bidding can work — especially on simple, well-defined scopes. We're happy to build from your plans, and we'll bid honestly when you bring them.
Why it fits Reno right now
Skilled construction labor in Northern Nevada is scarce — schedules slip when projects depend on chains of subcontractors who've never met. Banner's design-build projects run on our own licensed crews (plumbing C-1, electrical C-2, carpentry C-3), which is exactly why our schedules hold when others don't.
What design-build looks like at Banner
- Free consultation — your goals, your real budget
- Design rounds you approve, each priced as we go
- One contract covering design through final walkthrough
- Built by our own trades, led by one project lead
Talk it through
Bring us the idea — a kitchen, a master suite, the whole house. We’ll show you what design-build would look like for your project, free: (775) 787-1966.