McAra Design + Build · Calgary
Calgary home renovations with a fixed price and a finish date you can hold us to.
We also build new homes. Every job is planned by a licensed home inspector, so problems get found before the quote — not halfway through the work.
Fixed price
agreed in writing before we start
Finish date
in the contract, not a guess
Warranty
if our work fails, we fix it
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date. No sales pitch.
The problem
Every quote you get will say the same four words.
- Quality
- Integrity
- On time
- Free consultation
Every renovation company in Calgary claims they do it right. None of them tells you why you should believe it.
Chris McAra spent twenty years writing the reports that show what happens when they don't. A leak hidden behind new tile. A bath fan venting into the attic instead of outside. A kitchen wall torn out without checking what it was holding up. Found years later, by the next buyer's inspector, at the worst possible time.
He's now on the other side of that report.
Two halves of the same job.
Design
Renovations
Kitchens, bathrooms, basements, whole-home. Planned the way we'd inspect it: you're told what needs doing, what can wait, and what doesn't need doing at all — before anyone quotes a number.
Explore renovations →It changes what gets figured out
Most contractors quote you for whatever you asked for. We walk your home the way we'd inspect it and tell you what needs doing, what can wait, and what doesn't need doing at all — before anyone talks about a number.
It changes what it costs
Working efficiently isn't the same as rushing. It means you don't pay for work that didn't need to happen, and you don't pay twice because something behind the wall got covered up instead of fixed.
It changes who you're dealing with
An inspector's whole job is to have no stake in the outcome. Twenty years of that habit doesn't switch off just because the business card changed.
What you get, in writing.
- §1
Priced by an inspector, not a salesman.
We walk your home the way we'd inspect it. You're told what needs doing, what can wait, and what doesn't need doing at all — before anyone quotes a number.
- §2
Fixed scope, fixed price, before we start.
Written scope. Itemized allowances. A locked number. Change orders only if you ask for them.
- §3
A finish date in the contract, not a range.
Start date and completion date, in writing, signed.
- §4
One crew, one sequence, one point of contact.
Paint, floor, mechanical and cabinetry coordinated by the same person from walkthrough to handover. You never chase a trade.
- §5
A home you can live in while we work.
Dust containment. Daily cleanup. Protected floors. A work window you set.
- §6
We fix what's behind the wall.
Moisture, ventilation and mechanical problems get found and solved during the work — not discovered by the next buyer's inspector.
- §7
A workmanship warranty that means something.
If it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
- §8
A weekly update, every Friday.
Photos, what got done, what's next, and where the budget stands. Every week, without you asking.
We put it in writing.
- A fixed price
- agreed before we start, and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
- A completion date
- in the contract, not a range, not a best guess.
- A workmanship warranty
- if it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
Most renovation guarantees are a paragraph of conditions. Ours is three commitments you can hold us to.
New homes carry Alberta's mandatory 1-2-5-10 warranty on top of ours.
The first projects are being photographed.
We'd rather show you nothing than show you someone else's kitchen.
Photographs of our own work go up here as each project finishes. In the meantime, the thing worth seeing is what we check before we start.
What we check that others don't →Design
Whole-Home Renovations
One sequence for the whole house, so the trades don't undo each other's work.
Kitchen Renovations
Layout, cabinetry, plumbing and ventilation planned together before anyone quotes a number.
Bathroom Renovations
Waterproofing and ventilation done to the standard that stops the leak we used to write up.
Basement Development
Moisture, headroom and egress checked before any framing goes in.
Flooring Installation
Subfloor and moisture checked first, because that's what fails, not the flooring.
Interior Painting
Preparation you can see in the finish two years later.
Furnace, Ventilation & Air Quality
The mechanical work most renovators leave for the next owner's inspector to find.
Four steps, and you always know which one you're in.
01
The walkthrough.
Ninety minutes in your home. We look at what you want done and at what's behind it. You get told what needs doing and what doesn't.
02
The scope and the number.
A written scope, itemized allowances, a fixed price and a completion date. Yours to keep whether you hire us or not.
03
The build.
One crew, one sequence, one contact. Dust contained, floors protected, cleaned up daily. Photos and a budget line every Friday.
04
The handover.
We walk it together with a list, the way an inspection walk works. Nothing gets invoiced until the list is signed.
“I want to feel at home again.”
The house is tired and dated and you've quietly stopped inviting people over.
Read more →“I want it to fit the life I have now.”
You're not moving. You want the house to work the way you actually live in it.
Read more →“I want the work to pay.”
You want to know what the work costs and what it returns before you commit to it. The numbers are on the costs page.
Read more →
What we say out loud
We won't be the cheapest quote you get. Cheap quotes get made up later in change orders. If price is the only thing that matters on your project, we're not the right company and we'll tell you that at the walkthrough.
We won't be the slowest either. Efficiency isn't rushing — it's not waiting three weeks on a crew that's busy at someone else's house.
We take fewer projects at a time, on purpose. It's why the dates hold. It also means we sometimes can't start when you want to.
McAra Design + Build is a Calgary renovation and custom home company owned by Chris McAra, a licensed Alberta home inspector with twenty years of experience.
Questions people ask before they book.
- McAra Design + Build gives you a fixed price in writing before any work begins. What moves a Calgary kitchen renovation up or down is whether the layout changes, whether plumbing or electrical has to move, and whether cabinetry is stock or custom. You get the number at the walkthrough, and it doesn't move after that.
Get a free in-home quote.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
What are you planning?
Or call Chris directly: +1 (587) 837-3113