ChicagoLisboa
The room you have.
The room you meant.
Design-build renovation for people who want the number before the mood board. Nineteen years, 412 finished renovations, 91% delivered on or before the contracted date.
- 19 Years, Illinois and Portugal
- 412 Renovations finished
- 91% On or before the contracted date
- 68% Work from past clients and their neighbours
Licensed and insured in Illinois and Portugal · $2M liability · 2-year written workmanship warranty
Most renovation quotes are a guess with a logo on it.
You have three bids. They differ by $60,000 and none of them says why. One is a single page. One has an allowance for finishes with no number attached. The one in the middle feels safest, which is exactly how people end up $80,000 over on a kitchen.
The gap is not dishonesty. It is that almost nobody prices a renovation before they understand the building. We do it in the other order, and we charge for that step, because it is the step that decides everything after it.
A fixed scope is not a lower price. It is a price that does not move.
- Bid 1$74,000
- Bid 2$102,000
- Bid 3$134,000
$60,000 unexplained
Six phases. You always know which one you are in.
- 01/ Survey
- 02/ Scope and budget
- 03/ Design and selections
- 04/ Permit and pre-construction
- 05/ Construction
- 06/ Close-out
The Friday photo log is not a courtesy. It is how you catch a problem in week 6 instead of week 14.
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01/
Survey
1 week
We measure the building, open one wall if we have to, and find the waste line, the structure and the panel capacity.
You get A measured drawing and a defect list. Yours to keep, even if you stop here.
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02/
Scope and budget
2-3 weeks
Every line item priced against the survey. Allowances stated as ranges with a decision date.
You get A fixed-scope contract. No line left unpriced.
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03/
Design and selections
3-5 weeks
Layouts, elevations, and every finish chosen before demolition, not during.
You get Drawing set, selection schedule, and the order dates that matter.
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04/
Permit and pre-construction
2-6 weeks
Permit filed and tracked. Long-lead items ordered. Site protection built.
You get The construction schedule, phase by phase, with dates.
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05/
Construction
5-22 weeks
One project manager. A photo log every Friday. The same crew from start to finish.
You get A weekly written update. Draw requests only against completed phases.
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06/
Close-out
1 week
Punch list walked with you, not sent to you. Warranty documents, manuals, as-builts.
You get A two-year written workmanship warranty.
Anyone can photograph a finished kitchen.
Every renovation site on the internet shows you the destination. The frames pinned across this page are the other half: the room as it was on the morning we measured it. Original units, a floor that had been relaid twice, a bathroom fitted in 1974. They are unflattering and uncorrected, and each one is the reason the number beside it is the number it is.
If a contractor will not show you the room before, ask what is missing from the price.
What this actually costs.
Ranges, not "contact us for pricing". If your number is below the bottom of a range, we will say so on the phone instead of after a survey you paid for.
| # | Service | Chicago | Lisboa | On site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Whole-home renovation | $180,000 - $650,000 | €900 - €1,750 / m² | 14-22 wk |
| 02 | Kitchen | $65,000 - $145,000 | €28,000 - €70,000 | 7-11 wk |
| 03 | Bathroom | $35,000 - $78,000 | €16,000 - €42,000 | 5-8 wk |
| 04 | Additions and extensions | $220,000 - $520,000 | €1,400 - €2,300 / m² | 20-30 wk |
| 05 | Historic restoration | Scoped per building | Scoped per building | Varies |
| 06 | Attic, basement and ADU | $95,000 - $240,000 | Scoped per building | 9-16 wk |
| 07 | Energy retrofit | $40,000 - $160,000 | €22,000 - €95,000 | 6-12 wk |
years, in writing
- Two years on workmanshipIn writing, both markets. Five years structural in Portugal, statutory.
- One project manager, namedThe person who surveyed your building is on site during your build.
- Draws against finished phasesWe are never paid for work that is not standing in front of you.
- A missed date is on usIf we miss a contracted date with no change order behind it, the delay is ours.
What people say when the dust is gone.
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They brought a mortar sample to the second meeting and explained why the last contractor had made the facade worse. When the bed joints turned out to have failed on a third elevation, Marcus sent photographs, three options and what each did to the schedule the same day. We picked the middle one and still finished on the original date.
Kenwood Elena R. Kenwood greystone, whole home, 2025 -
We got four bids. Datum's was third out of four on price and the only one that explained the difference. We called about a kitchen; they tested the circuits on the survey day and showed us why that was the wrong first move. Twenty-two weeks quoted, twenty-two actual.
Cascais Sofia & Rui T. Cascais villa, kitchen and rewire, 2025 -
The Friday photo log sounds like a small thing. It is not. We were living in Boston through the whole job and never once had to ask how it was going.
Wicker Park David K. Wicker Park coach house, ADU conversion, 2025 -
Pombalino buildings frighten most builders and they should. Datum brought an engineer to the survey, not to the crisis.
Estrela Inês F. Estrela, structural renovation, 2025 -
Our project ran three weeks late because the steel showed up late. They told us the day they knew, not the week it mattered. I would rather hear bad news early from these people than good news from anyone else.
Oak Park, before Tom & Priya M. Oak Park bungalow, kitchen and addition, 2024 -
The survey cost €2,200 and we did not hire them for another eight months. When we came back they honoured the scope. It priced out within 4% of the original.
Príncipe Real Miguel A. Príncipe Real, full apartment, 2026
Nineteen years of the same crew getting older together.
Datum started in 2007 with two carpenters and a truck, in a market where half the renovation firms in Chicago were about to disappear. We got through it by being the company that finished what it started, which sounds like nothing until you have watched the alternative.
We opened in Lisboa in 2019 because two of our clients bought there and asked us to. We work on buildings older than the United States and we brought a structural engineer with us on the first survey. We have not stopped doing that.
- 24People
- 11Here more than eight years
- 2Cities, one standard
Where we work
Chicago and near suburbs
- 01Chicago
- 02Oak Park
- 03Evanston
- 04Wilmette
- 05Winnetka
- 06La Grange
- 07Hinsdale
- 08Naperville
Lisboa and the Cascais line
- 01Lisboa
- 02Cascais
- 03Estoril
- 04Oeiras
- 05Sintra
- 06Almada
Questions people ask before they sign.
How much will my renovation cost?
The ranges on this page are real and they are wide, because a kitchen in a 1911 two-flat with a cast iron stack is not the same job as a kitchen in a 1998 build. After the survey you get one number with the scope attached to it, and that number does not move unless you change the scope.
How long does it take?
Whole home, 14-22 weeks on site. Kitchen, 7-11. Bathroom, 5-8. Add 2-6 weeks for permits before any of that starts. We contract to a date and we hit it 91% of the time.
Can we live in the house during the work?
For a single bathroom or kitchen, usually yes, and we build dust containment and keep one functioning bathroom. For a whole home, no. We will tell you that before you sign, not in week three.
What happens when you find something behind the wall?
You get photographs, at least two options, the price of each, and the schedule impact of each, before anyone touches it. Nothing gets done and billed after the fact. That is a written term, not a promise.
Why does the survey cost money?
Because it takes two people a day and produces a measured drawing, a defect list and a priced scope. A free estimate is a sales call that has to be recovered somewhere later. We would rather charge $2,400 up front than build it into the tile.
How do payments work?
10% deposit at contract. After that, draws against completed phases only. We are never paid for work that is not standing in front of you. Final payment after the punch list is walked with you.
Are you licensed and insured?
Illinois roofing contractor #104.017842, Chicago general contractor #TGC-104882, IMPIC alvará #91744 in Portugal. $2M general liability and workers' comp on every trade on site. Certificates go out with the contract, unprompted.
What if something fails after you leave?
Two-year written workmanship warranty in both markets, plus the statutory five-year structural guarantee in Portugal. You call the project manager who ran your job, not an office.
Start with the survey, not the sales call.
One day on site. A measured drawing, a defect list and a priced scope, yours to keep whoever you hire. $2,400 in Chicago, €2,200 in Lisboa.