General Contracting in Dallas

In short

Most projects lose something in the hand-off: a designer draws it, someone else builds it, and the details quietly disappear. Jan takes on the general contracting herself — scheduling the trades, ordering and tracking materials, pulling permits, walking the site, and checking the work against the approved plan.

Rooms Jan designed — and built

A general contractor should be judged on finished work, not on promises. These are real projects, photographed before and after.

Before on the left · after on the right

Kitchen before and after: dated counters replaced with granite, glass mosaic backsplash and new appliances — KitchenCounters, tile, appliances

Bathroom before and after: tub and sliding doors replaced with a tiled walk-in shower and bench — BathroomTub out, walk-in shower in

Fireplace before and after: red brick surround replaced with stacked stone — FireplaceBrick to stacked stone

Staircase before and after: refinished treads, new railing and flooring — StaircaseTreads, railing, flooring

Media room before and after: reworked walls, finishes and seating — Media RoomWalls, finishes, seating

Master bathroom before and after: rebuilt tub deck, surround and finishes — Master BathTub deck & surround

What Jan takes on

Trade scheduling and day-to-day site coordination — in the order the work actually depends on, not the order things get remembered.
Material, finish and fixture ordering, tracking and delivery, including the long-lead items that set the whole schedule.
Permits and inspections, filed with the right authority. Highland Park, University Park and the City of Dallas are three separate jurisdictions — see the permits guide.
On-site checks against the approved plan and elevations, at the stages where it matters.
Written change orders, priced and signed before the work happens, never after. The reasoning is in change orders and budget control.
One contact for design and build, and one weekly update: what happened, what is next, what decisions are needed.

Typical scope

Kitchens and bathrooms, media rooms and fireplace walls, built-ins and custom cabinetry, staircases, wall removals and openings, whole-home renovations, and the finishing trades that make the difference at the end. Structural work is done with a licensed engineer where the scope requires one.

Four things that go wrong at the seam

Every one of these disappears when one person owns both the drawing and the build.

With a designer and a builder	Here
The plan gets value-engineered without you noticing — a cheaper cabinet line, a thinner stone, a substituted fixture	Substitutions are proposed to you, with the design consequence explained
Something unexpected turns up behind a wall and the crew decides — sensibly, but for buildability, not for the design	The person who designed the room decides, usually the same day
The tile runs the wrong way and each side says the other misread the drawing	There is no other side
You become the project manager by default	You do not

The full comparison, including where the traditional split is genuinely the better choice, is in design-build vs hiring separately.

From permit to punch list

Step 1

Drawings & selections

Nothing is scheduled until the plan is approved and every selection is made. Unmade decisions are what delay projects.

Step 2

Permits & ordering

Applications filed with the right jurisdiction, long-lead items ordered first because everything else waits on them.

Step 3

Build & inspect

Trades sequenced by dependency, rough-in inspected before anything is covered, work checked against the drawings.

Step 4

Finish & punch

Fittings, hardware, glass and paint — then a thorough punch list in one pass rather than piecemeal.

If you already have a builder

That works too. Jan regularly designs alongside a client’s own contractor — the important thing is bringing her in early, before the layout is fixed and before materials are ordered, because that is when design decisions still cost nothing to change. See remodeling consulting.

Four things that are true here and rare elsewhere

Design and build, one person

Jan designs the space and then runs the build. No hand-off, no two firms blaming each other, and nothing lost between the drawing and the crew.

Drawings before decisions

Floor plans and elevations first, so you see the room before it exists. On paper, changing your mind is free. After the plumbing is run, it is not.

Registered and insured

Chateau Concepts, LLC is registered as a general contractor with the City of Dallas, which requires registered contractors to carry general liability insurance. Certificates available on request.

Since 1997, and personally led

4.9★ from 15 Google reviews. The person you meet at the consultation is the person on site at installation.

Frequently asked questions

Are you licensed and insured?

Chateau Concepts, LLC is registered as a general contractor with the City of Dallas and carries general liability insurance — the City requires registered general contractors to be insured. Certificates are available on request. One thing worth knowing when you compare bids: Texas does not issue a statewide residential general contractor license, so no residential builder in Texas is “state-licensed.” Individual trades such as electrical and plumbing are licensed at state level, and each city sets its own registration requirements. Ask any contractor which city they are registered in, and verify it.

Who pulls the permits?

We do, as part of running the job. You should still be told what was applied for and shown the approved permit. Be cautious of any contractor who asks you to pull permits as the homeowner — it shifts compliance responsibility onto you.

How are changes handled once work has started?

Every change is written, itemized into labor and materials, given a schedule impact in days, and signed before the work happens. Nothing is approved verbally on site. Five small changes at two percent each is ten percent, and it only stays visible if someone is counting.

Can we live in the house during the work?

Usually yes, with containment, protected routes and agreed working hours. Whole-home renovations involving the kitchen and multiple bathrooms at once are the exception — moving out normally shortens the schedule and lowers everyone's stress.

How do payments work?

Payments follow completed work rather than the calendar: a modest deposit to secure the schedule and order long-lead items, progress payments tied to inspected milestones, and a meaningful final payment held until the punch list is genuinely finished.

General Contracting

In short

Rooms Jan designed — and built

What Jan takes on

Typical scope

Four things that go wrong at the seam

From permit to punch list

Drawings & selections

Permits & ordering

Build & inspect

Finish & punch

If you already have a builder

Four things that are true here and rare elsewhere

Design and build, one person

Drawings before decisions

Registered and insured

Since 1997, and personally led

Frequently asked questions

The rest of what Jan does

One plan, one point of contact

General Contracting

In short

Rooms Jan designed — and built

What Jan takes on

Typical scope

Four things that go wrong at the seam

From permit to punch list

Drawings & selections

Permits & ordering

Build & inspect

Finish & punch

If you already have a builder

Four things that are true here and rare elsewhere

Design and build, one person

Drawings before decisions

Registered and insured

Since 1997, and personally led

Frequently asked questions

Guides on this work

Design-build vs hiring separately

Permits, inspections and trades

Change orders and budget control

The rest of what Jan does

One plan, one point of contact