Before you commit tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to a residential contractor, have an experienced licensed general contractor review the estimate, scope, contractor, and risk.
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.
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.
Most homeowners do not get into trouble because they are careless. They get into trouble because residential construction is complicated, the information is uneven, and many important details are not obvious until money has already changed hands.
People hire contractors based on trust, personality, online reviews, neighbor recommendations, or a price that appears reasonable. Those things matter, but they are not enough. A friendly contractor can still write a vague estimate. A highly rated company can still use unrealistic allowances. A beautiful website can still hide weak documentation. A low bid can become the most expensive option once missing scope becomes a change order.
The purpose of CheckMyEstimate.com is to slow the process down before you sign. The goal is not to scare you away from good contractors. The goal is to help you understand what you are agreeing to, what is missing, what is unclear, what should be verified, and what questions should be answered before the project starts.
Buying a car is relatively easy to compare. One model can be compared to another model with the same features. Construction is not like that. Two contractors can walk the same house, price the same kitchen, and produce two completely different estimates because they are not actually pricing the same assumptions.
One contractor may include permits, drywall repair, demolition, protection, disposal, cleaning, and realistic allowances. Another may exclude several of those items. One may use employees. Another may use subcontractors. One may have the owner on site. Another may assign the project to a superintendent you have never met. The bottom-line number tells only part of the story.
Choose the path that fits your project.
For homeowners comparing bids, preparing to sign, or worried something is missing.
For owners acting as their own GC who need help with bids, budgets, permits, and sequencing.
For sellers deciding what to repair and buyers evaluating renovation risk before purchase.
Construction experience comes first. The rest of Franklin’s background strengthens the review: claims analysis, executive leadership, project management, real estate ownership, and direct communication.
NC Unlimited Licensed General Contractor with hands-on residential project experience.
Project management discipline for scope, schedule, budget, communication, and risk.
Personally bought and sold more than 75 properties and owned dozens of rentals.
Former federal claims analyst and former Vice President managing large operations.
The site includes practical guides, case studies, statistics, and examples to help you understand the risks before you sign.
Read robust anonymized case studies showing missing scope, permit issues, weak contracts, and owner-builder challenges.
Organized guides for contractor due diligence, common mistakes, complex lots, and owner-builder planning.
Most issues are easier to solve before deposits are paid, permits are pulled, materials are ordered, and leverage is lost.
When you hire CheckMyEstimate.com, you work with Franklin from start to finish. No middlemen, no call centers, no sales reps, no virtual assistants, and no outsourced reviewers.
You communicate directly with the person who reviews your estimate, answers your questions, and helps protect your investment.
Send questions, documents, and updates. You get a direct response from Franklin.
Talk directly with Franklin when you need clarity, guidance, or a second opinion.
Quick questions or updates? Text Franklin directly for fast, personalized communication.
When it helps your project, Franklin can meet face to face on site to walk the space and evaluate conditions.
You deal with Franklin—not a rotating team or someone reading from a script.
Every review is protected by confidentiality and NDA terms. Your documents stay private.
Most homeowners renovate or build only a few times in their lives. Contractors, subcontractors, inspectors, suppliers, and permit offices deal with construction every day. That creates a real information gap.
A homeowner may be asked to evaluate contractor qualifications, insurance, payment terms, scope, allowances, change orders, permits, engineering, selections, supervision, schedule, warranty terms, and subcontractor management without having meaningful experience in any of those areas.
One misunderstanding can cost thousands—or even tens of thousands—of dollars. That is why an independent second opinion before signing can be so valuable.
For many homeowners, a renovation, addition, or custom home is one of the largest financial decisions they will ever make outside of buying the property itself.
Kitchen remodels can reach $50,000 to $150,000+ depending on scope, cabinetry, appliances, layout changes, and finishes.
Additions often involve six-figure decisions because they may require foundations, framing, roofing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, engineering, and finishes.
Whole-home renovations can range from $150,000 to $1,000,000+ depending on condition, structure, systems, finishes, and site constraints.
Custom homes and major lake-property projects can exceed $750,000 to $2,000,000+ depending on size, land, design, and complexity.
Many people spend more time researching a phone plan than reviewing a six-figure construction contract. A second opinion before signing is often one of the highest-return decisions an owner can make.
Most clients do not hire CheckMyEstimate.com because a contractor is bad. They hire because they want to make a better decision before committing major money.
For many homeowners, this is a fraction of one change order.
A $495 review equals roughly one-third of one percent of a $150,000 project.
Missing scope, weak allowances, unclear permits, and bad payment terms can become expensive quickly.
The value of the review is not only finding a problem. Sometimes the value is knowing which questions to ask before a problem becomes expensive.
Omitted permit fees, engineering, temporary protection, flooring transitions, finish carpentry, appliance installation, final cleaning, haul-off, and disposal can cost thousands.
Unclear scope, weak documentation, unrealistic allowances, and ambiguous responsibilities often become change orders after the owner has less leverage.
Choosing the wrong contractor can be the most expensive decision in the entire project. Contractor due diligence helps reduce that risk before signing.
The question is not whether you can afford a review. The question is whether you can afford to make a six-figure construction decision without one.
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.