Proactive Construction
Good planning considers how a home will perform as well as how it will look. Andy draws on his experience to identify details that need attention and address potential problems in the plans and construction.
Meet Andy Harding
He'll still be thinking about your project on the drive home.
Andy Harding started Priority One Renovations in 2014, but his years in Nova Scotia homes go back much further. Before running his own company, he worked in flooded basements and fire-damaged houses. Opening up walls showed him what had gone wrong behind them. Those jobs also introduced him to tradespeople whose work he came to know and rely on. Many are people he still works with today.
Andy comes out himself to see your space, listens to how you live, and helps you decide where to spend and where to save. He works on the job himself, alongside the tradespeople it needs. The person you talked through your plans with is there helping put them into practice.
How we work
Working with Andy
Advice you can build on.
Realistic Budgeting
Your goals, product choices and the work involved all shape the estimate. Andy talks through known concerns and what may need further investigation, so you understand what the budget covers and where there are still unknowns.
Informed Product Guidance
Andy helps you weigh product choices against how you want to use your home. That includes thinking ahead about features that would be difficult or costly to add once the work is finished.
Resourceful Problem-Solving
When an idea stretches the budget, Andy looks for other ways to achieve what matters most to you. A different material, layout or approach may offer a way forward.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” Andy says.
“Buy nice or buy twice.”
Andy Harding
For Andy, “buy nice” starts with making the right decisions: a layout that works, knowing where to invest and choosing work and materials that will last. It’s about getting the important things right, so you’re not paying to rethink or redo them later.
How we work
Before the work begins, you work through the details.
The visit, the plan, the estimate and the decisions along the way. See what happens at each stage of working with Andy.
How we workBefore we get started
A few things you might be wondering.
Who will be doing the work?
Andy, and trades he already works with. He comes out for the first look, stays on the job, and brings in the carpenter, plumber, or electrician that part of the work needs. Many of them are people he has called for years. You are not handed from a salesperson to a crew you have never met.
Can I live in the house during the renovation?
Usually, yes. A bathroom or one room can stay contained. A kitchen is harder: plan on no sink or stove for a stretch, and on dust even with the room closed off. If the job is a basement or most of the main floor, Andy will tell you at the visit whether staying is practical. He would rather say so then than have you find out after demolition.
What if you open a wall and find a problem?
Work stops on that part of the job. Old houses hide rot, old plumbing, and framing that is not what the plan assumed. Andy shows you what he found, says what it will take to fix, and prices the change before anyone builds over it. That is the point of the restoration work behind him: he has opened enough walls to know which problems get worse if they are covered.
Do you pull the permits?
Yes, when the work needs them. Requirements depend on the scope of the work and where your property is. Andy checks what is needed before work starts. Priority One applies for the required permits, books the inspections, and makes sure the work meets the applicable requirements. If the job does not need a permit, he will say that too.
Are you insured?
Yes. Priority One carries liability insurance and WCB coverage, and will send proof before work starts. Ask for it. A contractor who will not send both is not someone to have in the house.
How do payments work?
A deposit holds the start date. After that, payments follow finished stages of the job, not the calendar. You are not paying the whole amount up front, and the last payment is due when the work you agreed to is done. The schedule is in the quote, with what each payment is for.
What does an estimate include?
The scope, the allowances for finishes you have not picked yet, and what is not included. A number with no scope is not a quote you can compare. If a choice is still open, the estimate says so, and says what changes the price.
What areas do you cover?
Priority One Renovations is based in the Halifax area and works across Nova Scotia: within HRM, along the South Shore and the Eastern Shore, through the Annapolis Valley, and into Pictou County.
Start the conversation
Make room for what comes next.
A renovation or a new home starts with a conversation about what matters to you.