Most contractors hand you a paper quote and a phone number. Every HomeStar client gets a private project portal — from first estimate to final walkthrough. Your designer gets access too.
Every HomeStar remodeling client gets a private project portal covering the whole job — a detailed estimate that stays available, a guided selections studio where every choice is tracked against its allowance in real time, live construction phase status, progress photos, electronically signed change orders before any scope change proceeds, and a final invoice with line-by-line allowance reconciliation. If you come in under an allowance, that money is credited back to you rather than kept by the contractor. It works the same on a single bathroom or a whole-home renovation, and interior designers and architects working with us get access too.
Not a line item on a carbon copy. A detailed scope of work you can open any time — every phase spelled out, allowances marked, and options priced separately so you decide what is in and what is out. Photorealistic renderings show the finished space before we swing a hammer. Revisions live at the same link, so you are never comparing three PDFs wondering which is current. It stays available for the life of the project, so when you are mid-remodel asking “was that included?” the answer is one tap away.
When the project is approved, your portal opens a guided selections experience built from your actual scope. Every decision — tile, vanity, fixtures, finishes, color — becomes a card with your exact allowance on it and plain-English math. Go over the allowance and you pay only the difference. Come in under and that money is credited back to you at final invoice. Showroom selections happen in person with our designer alongside you — we work regularly with the Ferguson showroom in Carmel, where we have a dedicated representative who knows our projects, and with Virginia Tile for tile selections. Your appointment shows right on the card. Everything else you can shop from your couch: paste a product link and watch the budget update in real time. Our own recommendations sit on each card so you are not staring at the whole internet.
Every decision date carries its reason: “Decide by Aug 7 — your tile takes two weeks to arrive before installation starts.” No arbitrary pressure, just the honest physics of your schedule. When the last selection lands, the Studio flips into an arrivals timeline so you can watch your tub, tile and fixtures converge on your start date.
Between signing and demo day most contractors go quiet. Your portal lays out the pre-construction roadmap — deposit, design, permits, ordering, scheduling — so you always know which mile marker you are at and what happens next.
Every phase live with dates and real-time status. Inspections, deliveries and walkthroughs visible from day one. “On my way” messages when the crew heads to your home rather than a four-hour window. Messages go straight to the people building your project, with the full history in one thread. Progress photos land in the portal as the work happens.
If the scope changes you see it priced, in writing, and signed electronically before work continues. No surprise invoices. It is in our terms and it is enforced by our software rather than by memory.
Your payment schedule lives in the portal — every milestone tied to real progress. You always know what has been paid, what is next, and what triggers it. Because selections tracked every dollar against every allowance, the final invoice arrives with a line-by-line reconciliation, including any allowance money coming back to you.
Final walkthrough and punch list run through the portal — you flag it, we fix it, you watch it clear. Your warranties live where everything else does: 25 years on Schluter waterproofing, one year on workmanship, documented and accessible for good.
Designers and architects working with us get portal access on their projects — the same selections, allowances, schedule, phase status and message thread the homeowner sees. No working blind to the construction schedule. No discovering a substitution after it is installed. If a specified item goes back-ordered, you see it when we do and you approve the alternate.
We have completed three projects with Dovetail Group on this basis. See how we collaborate with design firms →
A remodel should not feel like handing a stranger your house keys and hoping. It should feel like what it is — a professional team working a clear plan, with you informed and in control the whole way.
The portal runs on every project we take, from a single bathroom to a whole-home renovation. On multi-room work it matters most, because that is where schedule and selections get complicated — see the renovation sequencing guide for how we order the work.
Request a free, no-obligation estimate. Your detailed scope arrives in the portal — readable, itemised, and yours to keep.