Franklin’s primary value is practical residential construction judgment earned through years of estimating, permitting, managing projects, coordinating trades, and solving construction problems.
Franklin Lowry brings more than 15 years of hands-on residential construction experience to every review. From estimating and permitting to project management, contractor oversight, real estate investing, and owner representation, his experience helps homeowners protect their time, money, and peace of mind before signing a contract.
Residential construction, renovations, estimating, project management, permitting, and owner representation.
Detailed estimates reviewed, analyzed, negotiated, and refined to help homeowners avoid surprises.
Projects ranging from maintenance repairs and renovations to additions and ground-up construction.
Worked with towns, counties, inspectors, HOAs, surveyors, engineers, and utility providers across numerous jurisdictions.
Experience coordinating subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, surveyors, inspectors, vendors, and trades.
Help homeowners make informed decisions, reduce risk, avoid costly mistakes, and improve project outcomes.
Construction mistakes are expensive. Incomplete estimates, unclear scope, and the wrong contractor can lead to delays, disputes, and thousands of dollars in unexpected costs. My experience helps you avoid the pitfalls most homeowners do not see coming.
The claims, executive, PMP, and real estate background all matter. But the reason homeowners hire CheckMyEstimate.com is construction judgment.
Estimating is not just pricing. It is a written description of assumptions.
Franklin has prepared and reviewed hundreds of estimates. That matters because a strong estimate review requires understanding how the number was built. Labor, materials, subcontractors, allowances, supervision, permits, waste, overhead, margin, schedule, site protection, cleanup, and exclusions all affect the final cost.
When reviewing a proposal, the question is not simply whether the number is high or low. The better questions are: What does this include? What does it exclude? Are the allowances realistic? Is the payment schedule fair? What happens if the scope changes? Who is responsible for permits? Who is supervising the project?
Construction involves more than trades. It involves towns, counties, inspectors, permit reviewers, engineers, surveyors, suppliers, insurance companies, and administrators. Many project delays and cost surprises come from issues that were not discussed at the estimate stage.
That is especially true on lake properties, older homes, additions, major renovations, structural changes, and properties with impervious restrictions, easements, setbacks, stormwater concerns, or survey questions.
You are hiring Franklin’s construction judgment—not a call center, lead-generation website, software report, or contractor referral service.
You work directly with Franklin by email, phone, text, and when appropriate, face-to-face meetings and on-site consultations. No call centers, sales representatives, virtual assistants, outsourced reviewers, or layers of communication.
No contractor referral fees. No commissions. No lead sales. No bidding on projects reviewed by CheckMyEstimate.com.
Every review includes confidentiality and non-disclosure. Your report and project information are not shared without written authorization unless required by law.
Construction projects involve a network of people, documents, approvals, trades, suppliers, and decisions. Understanding how these pieces interact is often the difference between a smooth project and a frustrating one.
Nobody in construction knows everything. The value of experience is knowing when something needs a closer look, who should be involved, what questions to ask, and how to move toward a responsible solution.
I believe there is a solution to nearly every construction problem. Sometimes the solution comes from better planning, better communication, better documentation, better engineering, or better contractor coordination.
Construction is part science and part people. Working with contractors, suppliers, vendors, engineers, inspectors, administrators, and homeowners requires both technical knowledge and practical judgment.
Lake Norman properties often involve site conditions, regulations, and approval issues that do not exist on traditional residential lots. Franklin has extensive experience with Lake Norman waterfront homes, lake-access properties, renovations, additions, outdoor living projects, and complex site constraints.
On lake properties, the lot can be as important as the house. Impervious limits, setbacks, easements, drainage, floodplain concerns, retaining walls, steep grades, stormwater requirements, shoreline conditions, and survey issues and 760 elevation considerations can all affect whether a project is feasible, how it should be priced, and what needs to be reviewed before signing.
Lake Norman waterfront projects often require careful attention to the 760 elevation line and related lakefront constraints. Franklin has experience evaluating how elevation, shoreline conditions, setbacks, drainage, floodplain concerns, retaining walls, docks, patios, pools, and outdoor living improvements can affect project feasibility and approval strategy.
The 760 elevation line can affect how owners think about improvements near the water, outdoor living areas, grading, shoreline work, retaining walls, and project layout.
Waterfront projects may require careful review of surveys, elevations, setbacks, easements, impervious limits, floodplain information, and site constraints before final pricing.
Before committing to a contractor or design, owners should understand which questions to ask surveyors, engineers, designers, HOAs, municipalities, and lake-management authorities.
On Lake Norman, the house is only part of the project. The elevation, shoreline, survey, drainage, and lot constraints can drive the cost and feasibility of the entire plan.