How Revival Home Renovations Brings Honesty Back to the Craft With Transparent Cost Plus Pricing

One of the most common questions homeowners ask is the simplest: “Why can’t a contractor just give me a straight price?” It’s a fair question. It’s an honest question. And it’s one every family in East Tennessee has asked at some point while trying to improve their home. Renovations are stressful enough without feeling like you’re being misled, upsold, or kept in the dark about what things will really cost.

At Revival Home Renovations, we build our business around one response: Transparency builds trust. And trust is the foundation of all good work.

Before we explain how our Transparent Cost Plus Pricing works, it helps to understand why clear pricing has been such a challenge for contractors across generations.

A Tale as Old as Craftsmanship

Human beings have been building shelters for thousands of years. Whether you look at Egyptian brick-smoothed homes, Roman stonework, or the timber structures surrounding the Temple of Solomon, the truth is this: Construction hasn’t changed as much as people think.

• Walls are still framed with wood.
• Roofs still rest on trusses.
• Stone still weighs what stone weighs.
• Lumber still behaves like lumber.

In fact, we have entire cost-indexing systems, like the RS Means tables,that have tracked labor and materials for decades. The cost per foot of framing lumber, drywall installation, or roofing shingles only shifts with the markets. The process itself has hardly changed at all.

So if the methods stay consistent…
And the labor rates stay relatively predictable…
And the materials are documented down to the nail…

Why can’t a contractor tell you what the job will cost?

The answer is simple. And it’s the part homeowners aren’t told often enough.

The Hidden Truth: We Can’t See Behind the Wall

In new construction, pricing is straightforward because everything starts from scratch. But renovations? Renovations are archaeology. You never know what the last guy did.

• Maybe he wired the outlet correctly.
• Or he used the wrong size breaker.
• Maybe he buried a junction box behind drywall.
• Perhaps he cut a structural beam to run a plumbing line.
• Maybe termites have been enjoying your sill plate for twelve years.
• Or worse—maybe everything looks fine until the wall comes down.

Renovations are the great unknown until demo day.

A contractor who gives a flat, fixed price on a renovation is doing one of two things:

1. Taking a gamble, hoping nothing goes wrong
2. Overcharging you preemptively “just in case”

Neither of those honors the homeowner. Both approaches lack integrity. Neither aligns with the Revival way. You shouldn’t have to pay extra for problems you may not even have. And we shouldn’t have to eat extra costs for add ons discoverd later. Resonable people understand this. So long as the costs are transparent.

There not only had to be a better way. This is one and it’s been know for deades too. Cost plus pricing.

Reviving The Solution: Transparent Cost Plus Pricing

(Cost of materials at retail + cost of labor) × 1.20 = Your Quoted Price

That’s it. It’s as clear as math on a slide rule. Why 1.20? That 20% margin covers our overhead:

• Insurance
• Liability coverage
• Tooling
• Fuel
• Vehicle maintenance
• Administration
• And the business costs required to operate legally and responsibly

Other contractors hide those expenses in bloated line-items, mysterious “miscellaneous charges,” or inflated material pricing. We don’t do that. Instead, we show the cost plainly. You see what we see. You pay what we pay—plus a simple, flat 20% markup. No games, gimmicks, or “gotcha” moments. Just honest pricing for honest work.

Why Homeowners Love Cost Plus Pricing

Most people don’t have a problem paying for quality. They have a problem paying for mystery. It’s the mystery transparent cost plus pricing solves:

1. You Never Overpay for Materials: We don’t mark materials up by 50% or 100% like many contractors do. You get full retail price transparency.

2. You Only Pay for Work That Actually Gets Done: If a wall is in great shape and demo reveals no issues, you don’t pay extra “just in case.” If surprises arise, you’ll see the real cost not an inflated cushion.

3. You Understand Every Dollar: There’s a reason shady contractors avoid itemized detail. Numbers expose truth. We’re not afraid of transparency. We welcome it in our workmanship, and we welcome it in our billing. It’s your money. It’s your home. We’re here to help you covert one into the other (and sometimes back again.)

4. You’re Kept in the Loop Every Step of the Way: If something big is discovered (think termites, mold, rot, or electrical hazards) we:

• Document it
• Photograph it
• Explain it
• And discuss options with you before we proceed

No unilateral decisions or hidden charges. No “final bills” that don’t match the estimate.

Your Cost Plus Pricing Estimate Is Our Best Prediction – Not a Trap

Our Free Estimate is the most accurate projection we can give with the information available. It’s our educated, experienced expectation of what the work requires. But the final bill is based on:

Nothing more. Nothing less. When expectations match reality, trust grows. And we’re in the trust-building business.

A Better Way to Build

At Revival Home Renovations, we believe transparency is a form of honesty, and honesty is a form of ministry. Our work is our witness. Our craftsmanship is our signature. And our pricing is part of our commitment to doing things right.

People are tired of wondering whether their contractor is taking advantage of them. They’re tired of feeling in the dark. They’re tired of being burned by hidden fees, rushed jobs, and corner-cutting.

We hear that pain. We’ve lived that pain. And that’s why we built a better system.

Transparent Cost Plus Pricing doesn’t just rebuild homes. It rebuilds faith in the process. And in today’s world, that’s a renovation worth making. Contact Us today to get started.