I Help Residential Remodelers Add 3–5+ Net-Margin Points Without More Leads.
After years inside remodeling companies, I learned your profit problem isn't marketing. It's leaking margins, absorbed scope, and jobs that don't finish at the margin you bid.
Recently: helped a residential remodeler go from $1.1M in revenue with thin margins to $3M+ at 30%+ gross margins.
The Same Conversation, Every Time
Every remodeling company I've worked inside has told me the same thing:
“We just need more leads.”
And every time, once I got into the numbers, the problem wasn't leads. It was profit systems.
The work was there. The revenue looked fine on paper. But the bank account told a different story. Markup was based on gut feel. Scope changes were getting absorbed. Estimating mistakes repeated project after project because nobody compared actuals to estimates. And production started in chaos because everything lived in the owner's head.
They didn't need more jobs. They needed the jobs they were already running to actually pay what they should.
The Company That Changed How I Think About Profit
On paper they were doing fine. In reality, they were working like crazy for single-digit net and constant fires.
A few years ago I walked into a full-service residential remodeling company doing about $1.1 million a year across roughly 12 projects. Kitchen and bath remodels, whole-home renovations, additions. A solid book of work.
Gross margins were below 10%. On seven figures of revenue, the company was keeping roughly $110,000 in gross profit. The owner was working 60-hour weeks and couldn't figure out where the money was going.
I started digging into the numbers. Here's where the profit was leaking:
The pricing was wrong.
A $35/hour wage was actually $47/hour once you loaded taxes, insurance, workers’ comp, and benefits. Every hour estimated at $35 was losing $12 before the crew picked up a tool. Markup was running at 1.5x on a $2M pipeline. Once we calculated true overhead — rent, trucks, office staff, insurance, licenses — we realized the company was losing money on half its projects and didn’t know it.
Scope changes were getting absorbed.
“Can we move the vanity 12 inches?” sounded simple. That one request touched plumbing, electrical, flooring, cabinetry, and countertops. A $200 client request turned into $2,000–$3,000 in absorbed labor and material. It happened on nearly every project. Nobody wanted to have the conversation, so the company was eating $3,000–$7,000 per project in changes like that. Across 12 projects, that’s $36,000–$84,000 a year in free work.
Estimating gaps were invisible.
General conditions — dumpsters, supervision, temporary utilities, site protection — were always underestimated. Trim labor ran over on every single project. Paint prep hours were never right. But nobody compared estimates to actuals, so the same mistakes repeated job after job. The estimating system was teaching itself to lose money.
Every bid cost $3,400 and nobody tracked it.
At roughly $85/hour fully loaded and about 10 hours per bid — site visit, measurements, design time, proposal writing — each bid cost about $850. With a 1-in-4 close rate, each closed project carried roughly $3,400 in acquisition cost before we picked up a hammer. That’s $68,000 a year in free work that never showed up on any line item.
Production started in chaos.
Crews showed up on day one without complete specs. One missing document — a door schedule, a tile layout, a paint selection — meant $1,400–$2,000 in idle crew costs while someone scrambled to find the answer. One undocumented client change meant $500–$5,000 in rework. A few fire drills and one rework incident and you’re looking at $5,000–$10,000 per project in costs that never appeared on any estimate.
Eight Systems. One at a Time.
I didn't bring in a consulting framework or an off-the-shelf program. I built eight systems inside that company — one at a time, in a specific order:
- 1The Profit Planner — true overhead burden, loaded labor rates, and the real markup required to hit target margins
- 2The Scope Recovery System — word-for-word scripts for scope changes so nothing gets absorbed
- 3The Profit Leak Finder — compare estimated vs. actual costs so the same mistakes stop repeating
- 4The Estimating Accelerator — pressure-test every estimate before it leaves your desk
- 5The Pre-Con Profit System — stop bidding for free and start getting paid to plan
- 6The Selection Control System — lock every decision before production starts
- 7The Fire-Proof Handoff — every crew starts day one with complete specs, zero fire drills
- 8The Project Profit Scorecard — a way to grade every project and see what’s actually working
By the time all eight were running, every project was priced right, estimated tight, scoped clean, and handed off without a single fire drill.
Inside the Profit Accelerator, we install these eight systems one at a time so your profit doesn't depend on you white-knuckling every job.
The result: $3M+ in revenue, 30%+ gross margins, and over $900,000 in annual gross profit.
Same market. Same trades. No extra leads.
Those eight systems became the backbone of the Profit Accelerator I run now.
Curious what this would look like in your business?
In about five minutes, the free Remodel Profit Leak Scorecard shows you whether you're closer to this “before” or “after” — and where your margin is actually leaking on the jobs you already have.
- ✓See your Remodel Profit Readiness Score (0–100)
- ✓Get an estimate of your annual profit leak from pricing, scope, estimating, and production
- ✓Know if you have a leads problem or a profit system problem
Why I Built Remodel Coach
After we fixed that company, I started seeing the same pattern everywhere: solid remodelers, busy calendars, and profit slipping through pricing, scope creep, estimating gaps, and production chaos.
I built Remodel Coach to help other contractors install those systems without spending three years figuring it out on their own.
This isn't a marketing agency. I'm not going to sell you leads or run your ads. This isn't a general business coaching program. I don't work with roofers, plumbers, or landscapers.
I work with residential remodeling contractors who are doing the work but not keeping the money. And I help them fix the profit systems that are bleeding it out.
The Profit Leak Scorecard is how we find those same leaks in your business, in about five minutes.
Who I Work With
Residential remodeling contractors doing $500K to $5M+ a year who are busy — but not as profitable as the work says they should be.
- Revenue looks fine on paper, but the bank account tells a different story
- Markup is based on gut feel, not math
- Scope changes get absorbed because the conversation feels uncomfortable
- Nobody compares estimates to actuals, so the same mistakes repeat job after job
- Production starts with a phone call instead of a plan
- The owner is the bottleneck — everything lives in their head and nothing is written down
If that sounds familiar, you probably don't have a leads problem. You have a profit system problem. And that's exactly what I help fix.
Start Here
If you're a residential remodeler doing roughly $500K–$5M a year and the money doesn't match the workload, start with the Remodel Profit Leak Scorecard.
In about five minutes, it shows you where your margin is leaking on the jobs you already have.
Not ready yet? Join Remodel Profit Weekly instead →