Carlson Projects INC.

Carlson Projects INC. Carlson Projects INC is owner operated with over 20 years of industry experience. Expect integrity! Expect integrity, honesty and nothing but professional work.

06/01/2026

Here's the other thing about trim, especially in a historic house.

We make the trim feel period correct. That means solid poplar, run with a custom knife ground to match the original profile, with a plinth block at the base that everything dies into. Same detail runs through the whole house.

Here's why that matters, because you can't see it in a 30 second clip. Most builders run one by four MDF and call it standard. MDF is fine until it isn't. It swells the first time it meets humidity, it won't hold a crisp profile, and the seams eventually telegraph through the paint. In a hundred year old house that's still moving and settling, that shows up fast.

Solid poplar cut to the original profile holds the detail, takes paint clean, and makes a brand new addition read like it's been part of the house since 1926. That's the whole game with historic work. Nobody should be able to tell where the old stops and the new starts.

We could have run one by four MDF. Everybody would have hated it.

Save this before you sign with a builder who calls trim "standard."

05/30/2026

Performance is never a solo act.
A driver does not win Le Mans alone. They win because of the pit crew, the engineers, and the thousands of hours spent perfecting the machine.

We did not create our process to be a monument to ourselves.
Too many in our field operate on the solely on one individual/owner. They rely on a single mind to govern an infinite number of variables. We want to change the way you live and a reliance on the individual is a vulnerability in our option.

Our role is to find extraordinary people and integrate them into our process and values. When every component of a team functions in absolute harmony ex*****on becomes seamless. Mistakes are corrected quicker every job.

It is the highest compliment when we see our team adored!

05/29/2026

Your last $600,000 project, and your wife still hates the tile.

She got pressured into picking it under a deadline, and that traces straight back to how the job was scheduled.

Here's what's actually going on underneath. Tile, stone, anything specialty order runs weeks out. If your selections aren't locked early, the install date starts making the decision for you. Somebody calls and says we need this picked by Friday or the schedule slips, and now you're choosing a finish you'll look at every single day, in an afternoon, in a panic.

A real ordering process flips that. Every selection gets a decision-by date, set early enough that there's room if a sample comes in wrong or your first pick is backordered. You pick when you actually have time to sit with it and get it right.

So before you sign anything, ask one question. When do you need each of my selections, and what happens if I'm a week late? If the answer is vague, you already know who ends up feeling the pressure.

Send this to the friend who's been "planning" for three years.

Especially for us as remodelers, the highest point in the space is your control. Everything else is dictated off of it.H...
05/27/2026

Especially for us as remodelers, the highest point in the space is your control. Everything else is dictated off of it.

Here's how it goes:

1. Layout and measurements first. Then find the highest point.
2. Lowers first. For us specifically. Some people do uppers first. We don't.
3. Fill pieces in, everything level and plumbed to the laser line.
4. Uppers next. All the fill pieces, all the scribe pieces. Make sure it's nice and tight.
5. Crown. We typically subframe the top of the cabinet to attach it to, then the crown goes on.
6. Doors get adjusted. Hardware drilled with a jig.
7. Appliance furniture fronts have to be plumb, level, and oriented to the rest of the cabinets. Sometimes there's a fill piece between the unit and the cabinet, sometimes a gap. We tell you which up front.

Save this. Cabinet day's usually invisible.

05/23/2026

This is the moment she knew the contractor was lying to her.

She'd heard "two weeks" so many times the phrase had stopped meaning anything. "Next week for sure." "I'll have the guys out Monday." "We just need one more thing." Different packaging, same conversation. By the time you recognize the pattern you're six months in and the project is still open.

Construction is project management. It is mostly project management. Quality work without a system to deliver it on a schedule is just a pretty house that never gets finished.

Before you sign with any contractor, ask the four questions that tell you whether they actually run a schedule:

What software do you use to schedule the project? If the answer is "I keep it in my head," that's your answer.

When you commit to a start date, how do you hold it? Are subs locked? Are material lead times verified, or are you guessing?

How will I get updates? A weekly meeting? A client portal? Or do I have to text you?

When the schedule slips, what is your workflow for telling me?

A contractor with answers to those runs a real schedule. A contractor with charm and no answers will tell you "two weeks" until you stop asking.

If your contractor doesn't have a project management system or a process, run like hell.

Send this to anyone who's already six weeks past "two weeks."

05/22/2026

The worst question you can ask a builder: how much do you charge per square foot?

That number means nothing on its own.

Two builders can both quote you $450/sqft. One of them assumed builder-grade cabinets, $4/sqft tile, base-spec plumbing trim. The other priced what you're actually picking out. Same number on the page. $80k apart by the time you're done.

Cost per square foot isn't a price. It's an assumption. And nobody tells you what assumption they made.

Three things to ask before you sign anything:

What price point/ suppliers did you assume — cabinets, tile, plumbing, lighting?
Did your subs walk this project, or are you working off last year's averages?
What's NOT in this number?

Screenshot this before your next builder meeting.

05/22/2026

This 1926 Kitchen in Lincoln feels like a completely new space already.

Finding that extra foot of ceiling ✨

Let us know if there are some details you want us to talk about next!

05/16/2026

One of our favorite things - when we do work in the neighborhood and the neighbor calls us when they need a project done.

Most of our projects come from referrals, and we are proud of it.

05/15/2026

Contractors mostly suck.

Here's why. There's a lot of unforeseen things they don't factor in — and you end up paying for them.

That is why we have a process to mitigate at least 50% of those.

We have a drawing. We have a plan. We have the subcontractors actually come out and look at the project before we give you an estimate.

It takes more time on the front end. You save it on the back end — especially on a remodel, especially on an old home.

Seeing a more accurate picture first changes things substantially for the life of the project.

Save this before your next builder meeting.

05/14/2026

The higher value project you are working on, the more intentional you should be when you select the person who will manage it for you.

Address

3421 S. 7th, Suite B
Lincoln, NE
68502

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

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