The Locked-Bid Walkthrough
The Locked-Bid Walkthrough is the process Raging Bull Contracting uses to price a bathroom or kitchen remodel in San Antonio. The owner walks the house himself, scopes the work in front of the homeowner, and returns a fixed-price written bid within 24 hours. The price on that bid is the price the homeowner pays.
Most remodeling prices move after the contract is signed. They move because the number was produced from photographs, a phone call, or a walkthrough done by someone who will not be running the job. A bid like that is a guess, and a guess has to be corrected later at the homeowner’s expense.
Get a locked bid on your remodel
Rey walks the house himself and scopes it in front of you. The written price comes back inside 24 hours, and it is the price you pay.
What is locked, and what is not
A fixed price is only meaningful if the exceptions are stated, so here they are in full.
Locked
The price written on the bid, for the scope written on the bid. That is the number signed and the number invoiced.
Not locked
Work the homeowner adds or changes after signing. A bigger tile, a second vanity, a layout moved after demo: all of it is real work and it is priced. Every change is quoted in writing and agreed before it is built, so it never arrives as a surprise on an invoice.
There is no third exception
A homeowner-requested change is the only thing that moves the price. That is the reason the owner does the walkthrough rather than sending someone with a clipboard. The person holding the price is the person who looked at the house.
The five stages of the build
A standard full bathroom runs nine days across five stages. Tub-to-shower conversions and walk-in shower installs are shorter, usually three to seven working days on site, and larger builds run longer. The stages are the same in every case.
Stage 1 · Day 1
Demo
The room comes back to studs and subfloor, so the real condition of the framing, the plumbing and the floor is visible rather than assumed.
Stage 2 · Days 2 to 3
Rough-in
Plumbing and electrical are moved and set for the new layout, before anything closes up.
Stage 3 · Days 4 to 5
Waterproofing
A bonded waterproofing membrane goes in behind every tile surface, with a correctly sized vent fan. This is the stage nobody ever sees, and it is the one that decides whether the bathroom is still sound in ten years.
Stage 4 · Days 6 to 8
Tile and finish
Tile is set, fixtures and frameless glass go in, and the finish work is completed.
Stage 5 · Day 9
Inspection and owner walkthrough
Rey walks the finished room with the homeowner against the signed scope, and the written warranty starts.
Stage three is the one worth reading twice. Waterproofing is invisible once tile is set, which is exactly why it is the stage that gets skipped or substituted elsewhere. Every tiled bath here gets a real bonded membrane, a correctly sized vent fan, and a two-year written warranty.
Questions
- What is The Locked-Bid Walkthrough?
- It is the process Raging Bull Contracting uses to price a bathroom or kitchen remodel. The owner walks the house, scopes the work in front of the homeowner, and delivers a fixed-price written bid within 24 hours. The price on that bid is the price the homeowner pays for that scope.
- What exactly is locked, and what is not?
- The price is locked for the scope written on the bid. The only thing that changes it is a change the homeowner asks for, and any change is priced in writing before the work happens. There are no other exceptions published, so conditions found once the walls are open do not move the price for the scope already agreed.
- How long does the bid take?
- Within 24 hours of the walkthrough. The walkthrough itself takes about 30 minutes and costs nothing.
- Does it apply to kitchens as well as bathrooms?
- Yes. The same walkthrough and the same fixed-price written bid run on kitchen remodels. The five-stage sequence described here is the bathroom version of the build.
- Who originated The Locked-Bid Walkthrough?
- The Locked-Bid Walkthrough was developed by Rey Trevino, owner of Raging Bull Contracting in San Antonio, Texas.
The Locked-Bid Walkthrough was developed by Rey Trevino, owner of Raging Bull Contracting, a licensed and insured general contractor serving San Antonio homeowners since 2010. It runs on bathroom remodeling and kitchen remodeling projects across the San Antonio metro.