What we take on
The work we take on, and the work we don’t.
Kitchen and bath updates, carpentry, doors, flooring, decks, and the repairs that have been waiting. Ricky Powers has run his own crews for 30+ years and he walks every job himself. Below is what we do. Further down is what we don’t, because you should hear that now and not after you’ve spent three weeks planning around us.
One crew, and the same one every day.
Work on a house has a way of turning into a coordination job for the homeowner. One outfit for the cabinets, somebody else for the floors, and you’re the one chasing them both and hoping neither one blames the other. We work the other way. Whatever we take on is the same crew, the same standard, and the same person walking it: Ricky.
Thirty-plus years on houses in this area means we’ve seen most of what an older Florida home hides behind a cabinet. It also means we know where our line is. We’d rather do a smaller job right than stretch into work that isn’t ours.
Kitchen updates
New cabinets, new counters, and a room you like walking into again.
The kitchen is where everyone ends up, and when it’s worn out you feel it every single day. We update the parts you see and touch: cabinets, countertops, backsplash, tile, flooring, paint, trim, and hardware. The sink, the range and the dishwasher stay where they are, and the new fixtures go back in the same spots.
Bath updates
The bathroom nobody wants to use, made right again.
A bathroom shows its age faster than any other room in a Florida house. We handle the finishes: vanity, tile, flooring, paint, trim, mirror, and the fixtures swapped where they already sit. Tile set straight, grout lines that line up, and the caulk done properly so water goes where it’s supposed to.
Additions: what the job actually involves
Not work we take. Here’s how to think about it anyway.
An addition isn’t a bigger version of an update. It’s a new piece of building tied into the one you already have: footings, framing, a roof that has to meet the existing roof, and inspections along the way. The permit path drives the schedule more than the framing does, and it isn’t the same in Tampa, unincorporated Hillsborough, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Each of those runs its own building department.
So the first call is to yours, not to a builder. Ask what they require on the permit for added square footage at your address, and ask before anybody quotes you. It costs you a phone call and it tells you who you’re actually shopping for. Types of home additions walks through the shapes an addition can take, and adding on versus buying a bigger house is worth reading before you commit to either.
Decks: repair, resurfacing, and ground-level builds
The deck you already have, brought back. Or a new one at ground level.
Florida sun and rain are hard on a deck. Boards cup, fasteners back out, and the walking surface goes gray and splintery years before the frame underneath gives up. We replace boards and rails, resurface a deck whose structure is still sound, and build new ones that sit at ground level. Material choice matters more here than it does up north, because the wrong pick fails fast in this climate. See the best decking materials for Florida.
Whole-house projects: how to think about one
Not work we take. Read this before you hire anybody for it.
A whole-house project isn’t a stack of small jobs. It’s one permitted job with a schedule, trades that have to run in the right order, and a house you’re either living through or moving out of for months. The finishes are the easy part. The sequencing and the inspections are what decide whether it lands on time, and anybody who quotes the whole thing in an afternoon hasn’t looked at it hard enough.
What to expect from a whole-home remodel lays out the stages in order. If you’re still deciding whether to do it at all, remodel or move is the honest version of that math.
Ask us, and you’ll get a straight answer.
Kitchen and bath updates, carpentry, doors, flooring, decks, and repairs are the work we do most. If there’s something on your house that isn’t on this list, ask anyway. Sometimes it’s a yes.
When it’s a no, you get a plain no and a pointer toward whoever handles it, same day. After 30+ years in the trade, the jobs we turn down are most of the reason the ones we take stay on schedule. What we won’t do is take work we shouldn’t and figure it out on your house.
The same standard, whatever the size of the job.
- Ricky walks every job himself. He’s on the project, not just on the contract.
- One point of contact. On the work we take, you’re not chasing several different outfits.
- Your home protected daily. Floors covered, dust contained, site cleaned at the end of every day.
- An honest written proposal. Clear scope, real numbers, trade-offs named up front.
- The little things finished. We walk the punch-list with you and don’t lose interest at 95%.
Not sure which one you need?
That’s normal. Most homeowners start with a rough idea, not a finished plan. Tell us what’s on your mind and we’ll help you figure out the right scope. We’d rather have an honest conversation than sell you something you don’t need.
Where we work
We’re based in the greater Tampa Bay area and we work across it. Below is a page per town for the work we take on there. Additions and whole-house projects aren’t on these lists because they aren’t ours to take, and what they involve is further up this page. If you don’t see your town, ask, and we’ll tell you straight whether you’re in our range.
St. Petersburg
Brandon, Riverview & Lithia
Wesley Chapel
Common questions about the work we do
- Do you take on small jobs?
- Small jobs are most of what we do. A door that won't latch and a full kitchen update get the same standard: Ricky walks the job, your floors get covered, the site gets swept at the end of the day, and we walk the punch-list with you at the end. If what you need isn't on our list, ask anyway. Sometimes it's a yes, and when it's a no you get a straight no and a pointer toward whoever handles it.
- Will one crew do the whole job, or do I have to line up several?
- The work we take on, we do with our own crew, so you have one point of contact and nobody gets handed off partway through. If your project turns out to be one we're not the right crew for, we say that up front rather than folding it in and figuring it out on your house. And on anything that needs a permit, call your building department and ask who they'll accept to do the work. That answer is theirs to give, and it's worth having before you sign with anybody.
- Can you work on an older Florida home?
- Yes, and it's a big part of what we do around here. Older houses hide things: wiring that isn't up to current code, tired plumbing, soft subfloor, the occasional bit of water damage nobody finds until the cabinets come off. We'd rather raise that with you up front than surprise you with it on a Tuesday. Whatever turns up, you hear it from us when we find it, not after it's become your problem mid-job. See remodeling an older Florida home.
- Do you build additions?
- No. An addition is a permitted structural build: footings, framing, and a roof tied into the one you have, inspected along the way. Your county or city building department can tell you what they expect on the permit and who they'll accept pulling it, and that answer tells you who you're shopping for. What we do is the work inside the walls you already have, from cabinets and counters to tile, floors, doors and trim. See types of home additions if you're still working out what you need.
- What about outdoor space?
- Decks, and mostly the deck you already have: replacing boards and rails, resurfacing where the frame is still sound, and building new ones at ground level. We don't take elevated decks or anything bolted to the house, because that's structural and permitted work. Material choice matters more here than most places, since sun and humidity are hard on the wrong pick. See the best decking materials for Florida.
Tell us about your project.
Let us know roughly what you’re planning and where you are, and we’ll let you know honestly whether we’re the right crew for it. We keep our schedule small on purpose, so we can do every job right.