How do you hire
the right contractor?
There's a little‑known system for that.

Contractor Proof

Your renovation isn’t drama for HGTV it’s your money, time, and home on the line.
Yet thousands of homeowners keep making the same costly mistakes.
Use this proven system to shield yourself from hidden risks and time drains while stay in control from first quote to final payment.We love a contractor who can actually bring your vision to life.
But most are terrible with your time and your money.That’s what this system does: it puts you back in charge, so you get great work without the silent extras, vague scopes, or costly surprises you never see coming.Welcome to the Reno Mess Tribe a community of homeowners who are done gambling their savings and now demand certainty in how their renos turn out.

• Get the free Doorbell Rule

22 pages. The screening system that stops the wrong contractor at the door, before anyone sits at your kitchen table. You do not do this alone.

Watch Garrett work
Short, straight answers on hiring, pricing games, and staying in charge of your renovation. New videos every week. Videos will be posted here as they arrive.
Subscribe on YouTube

The tools that keep you in charge
Doorbell Rule (FREE)
Screen first. Meet second. The questions a contractor answers in writing before anyone rings your doorbell, and the answers that make the wrong ones vanish on their own.
The Contractor-Proof Prenup (US$149)
The agreement you put in writing before work starts: scope, payment tied to progress, and real exit ramps if things go sideways. So you are never the homeowner who ends up alone in it.
Get it free
Owners Rep service
What's on your mind?

• Get the Prenup

Speaking contractor

Control and standards

We are your community, here to help you meet the fear and uncertainty of a renovation with respect and non-negotiables. Problems stay small, you stay the calm center, and everyone else takes their cues from your grounded presence.
Welcome to the Reno Mess Tribe: homeowners who are done gambling their savings and now demand certainty in how their renovations turn out.

• Owners Rep service

white glove service · luxury experience

Unlike our virtual services. Here I act exclusively on your behalf
through every phase of your custom build or major renovation.

What an owner's rep actually does
An owner's representative is the one person in your renovation who works for you, and only you. He steps up for you, handles the conflict and the stress with the trades, and sees around corners, because he brings design skill, project management skill, technical expertise, and pattern recognition built over decades in the industry.
Here is why that matters. Everyone else in a renovation is paid by somebody else, or works inside relationships that carry on to the next job. The designer, the builder, the sub-trades, and the suppliers all work together again on the next job, so they are unlikely to call out something they disagree with, because it would cost them future work.
You do the project once. Nobody in that system is paid to stand up for you, and nobody will burn a long-term relationship for a one-time client.
An owner's rep is paid only by the owner. That is the whole point: no commissions, no percentages of products, no future jobs to protect. One person whose only interest is yours.
On very large estates, that expertise costs two to three hundred thousand dollars, paid by the homeowner or the family office, which is why everyday renovations, from a hundred to five hundred thousand dollars, never get it.
The fractional model through Reno Mess Tribe exists to fix exactly that: the same calibre of expertise, shared in group sessions, for projects far below that scale. It is $300,000-type expertise for people with sub-$300,000 projects.

Connect with Garrett inside the community
You do not do this alone. Inside the Reno Mess Tribe community, there are ways to connect with Garrett directly: one-one conversations, and live group sessions where he acts as a fractional owners rep for several homeowners at once.
These are part of what community membership brings, and they are announced to subscribers first. Nothing here is booked on this page, and no session is open for booking today.
The invitations go to subscribers first. Join the letter and you are on the list.
Live sessions and courses are also hosted on Maven, one doorway among these paths.

• Contact Owners Rep

How It Works:

A fulltime in expert or fractional engagement built around your project. I typically work with 2–3 clients concurrently, which means dedicated attention without the overhead of a full-time hire.

Initial Consultation

This is a straightforward, low‑key conversation where I get to know you, your project, and what “brilliant” looks like for this project in real life.We will cover scope, budget, timeline, and the delivery team, then I will ask how you like decisions made, and how you prefer information to show up in your world.Because we are reshaping a very personal space, I want to be sure my values, communication style, and level of rigor feel like a natural fit for you.I will walk you through how I think about construction and risk, and how that turns into the way I negotiate, nudge, and support your builder so the project stays disciplined without becoming adversarial.I do use AI tools behind the scenes to keep moving parts visible and surface patterns early, but judgment stays human and grounded in experience.If we decide to work together, you get someone who sets the rhythm, is comfortable in the office & on site, calmly asks the awkward questions you should not have to ask, and quietly protects your time, capital, and day‑to‑day information flow.

Scope & Contract Review

Before you sign anything, Garrett reviews your GC contracts, architect agreements, and scopes of work.He identifies gaps, ambiguities, and areas where you're exposed — then negotiates on your behalf.

Monthly Retainer Begins

You get a single point
of accountability who reports
only to you.This is a personal service.
You are inviting me into your finances, your home, and often your family’s routines.I work best with clients who:Value calm, direct communication.Want discipline and accountability without shouting matches.Are willing to ask for help and let a specialist run point on the messy parts.My job is to protect your interests without turning your project into a battleground.
I will push when standards slip, and I will also keep relationships workable so the project keeps moving.

Active Project Representation

Garrett manages your GC, architects, engineers, and trades on your behalf. He attends site meetings, reviews submittals and RFIs, monitors budget and schedule in real time, and advises on Procore or Buildertrend project tracking. Every decision is translated into language you can act on.

Closeout & Handover

Garrett manages the deficiency list, final inspections, and warranty handovers. The project closes on your terms, not the contractor's timeline, with full documentation of every decision made along the way.

Experience on the
other sideof the table

I have spent decades advocating for complex clients like you inside the construction industry,
as interior designer, kitchen designer, superintendent, project manager, general contractor and owner's representative.Clients do not need another circus at home, so my role is to create a project rhythm that respects your privacy, your schedule, and the life still happening around the construction.I've had the privilege to collaborate on large estate-scale projects and multi-unit residences with boutique general contractors and international design studios SieMatic and Irpinia Kitchens.I am fluent in AutoCAD, AI and Buildertrend, speaking the language of architects, engineers, and trades, and most importantly - understands exactly how projects go sideways and how to keep them on track.The work is high‑stakes, but my Zen like approach is simple: Asses proactively, clear documentation, steady communication, and a low‑ego, no‑drama processMy clients don't just get a fully invested project manager. They get the person who wrote the Amazon book on contractor-proofing your project.My projects span from Toronto to Miami, include the following destinations: Palm Beach, Singer Island, Naples, New York, Michigan, Maryland, Muskoka, Hockley Valley.HGTV
Globe and Mail
Toronto Life
DOLCE MagazineIf this sounds like the kind of support you want for a seven figure build or major estate project, the next step is a simple conversation.
No pressure, no pitch. Just clarity on whether I am the right person to carry some of this weight with you.

• Contact Owners Rep

Your build. Your interests. Always.