The complete finish package
Everything below is self-performed by our own crews. Scopes are listed with their CSI MasterFormat sections so your estimator can match them straight to the spec and the bid form.
Non-structural metal framing
Light-gauge steel framing is where a retail buildout is won or lost. Walls that are plumb, straight, and correctly blocked make every trade behind us faster — and make the fixture set on the last night of the job go without a fight.
Blocking and backing is in our scope. Every fixture, TV mount, grab bar, wall standard, and millwork run gets in-wall backing coordinated off the fixture plan — not discovered at fixture set. This is the single most common scope gap on retail projects and we carry it deliberately.
- Non-load-bearing partitions, 20ga through 25ga
- Demising walls and tenant separation
- Soffits, bulkheads, furring, and chases
- Deflection and slip track, head-of-wall detailing
- UL-listed fire- and smoke-rated assemblies
- Shaftwall and area separation
- Rough carpentry, in-wall blocking and backing
- Hang, tape, and finish to GA-214 levels
- Level 4 standard; Level 5 at critical light and gloss paint
- Abuse- and impact-resistant board at back-of-house
- Moisture- and mold-resistant board at wet areas
- Cement board and tile backer
- Texture and access panels
Gypsum board
We finish to the level the spec calls for and we say which level we bid. Retail sales floors with washed lighting and high-gloss paint need Level 5, and a bid that quietly assumes Level 4 is a change order waiting to happen. We will tell you which one we carried.
Stockrooms and receiving corridors get abuse-resistant board as standard practice — retail back-of-house takes pallet-jack damage that ordinary board will not survive to the first remodel.
Acoustical ceilings
Grid and tile to the reflected ceiling plan, coordinated with the MEP trades' devices so the grid lands where the drawings say it does rather than where it survived.
Many big-box prototypes are open-to-structure. Where that is the case the scope becomes deck prep and dryfall spray-out instead of grid — we bid whichever the prototype calls for and we are explicit about which.
- Suspended grid and acoustical panels
- 15/16" exposed tee and 9/16" tegular systems
- Seismic bracing and hold-down clips per category
- Gypsum board ceilings, clouds, and soffits
- Open-to-structure deck prep and dryfall
Flooring
The most visible finish in the store and the one most likely to fail if the slab was never tested. We prep properly and we document it.
Polished concrete
Grind, densify, and polish to the specified gloss and aggregate exposure — cream, salt-and-pepper, or full aggregate. Sealed and burnished concrete where the spec calls for the lower-cost system rather than true polish.
Resilient
LVT and LVP in glue-down or floating installations, VCT with initial maintenance coat, sheet vinyl with heat-welded seams for food service and pharmacy.
Soft surface
Carpet tile and broadloom, including pattern-matched and directional installations to the finish plan.
Hard tile
Ceramic and porcelain tile, quarry tile at back-of-house kitchens, with waterproofing and crack isolation membranes where specified.
Base & transitions
Rubber and vinyl cove base, reducers, thresholds, and transition profiles. Bid with the flooring so nothing falls between two subs' scopes.
Prep & moisture
Self-leveling underlayment, ASTM F2170 in-situ relative humidity testing, and moisture mitigation systems. Test results documented before a single box of flooring is opened.
On moisture testing: slab moisture is the leading cause of resilient flooring failure and the resulting callback almost always lands on the flooring installer. We test to ASTM F2170 and provide the results as part of the turnover package. If a schedule will not allow for testing, we say so in our qualifications rather than absorbing a risk we cannot control.
Millwork, casework & countertops
Retail prototypes mix shop-built architectural woodwork with factory manufactured casework. We install both, and we field-verify before the shop drawings are released rather than after the millwork arrives at a site that does not match the drawings.
- Architectural woodwork to AWI Custom and Premium grade
- Manufactured casework and modular units
- Solid surface, quartz, and laminate countertops
- Cash wrap, service desks, and counters
- Finish carpentry and trim
- Shop drawing review and field verification
- Prime and two finish coats to the sheen schedule
- Dryfall spray at exposed deck and structure
- Epoxy and high-performance coatings
- Vinyl and specialty wallcovering
- FRP panel systems
- Corner guards, crash rail, and wall protection
Painting & wall protection
Paint is the finish the customer actually sees, and in a store it takes abuse from day one. We spec-match sheens exactly and we install the wall protection that keeps the paint looking new past the first quarter.
Where the ceiling is open to structure, deck and structure spray-out is coordinated to happen before the MEP trades' final rough-in so we are not cutting in around finished ductwork.
Doors, frames & hardware
The DFH package is small in dollars and enormous in schedule risk — a missing hardware set holds a certificate of occupancy hostage. We manage the hardware schedule and keying as a tracked long-lead item from award.
- Hollow metal frames — knock-down and welded
- Flush wood and hollow metal door leaves
- Hardware sets, closers, exit devices, keying schedule
- Interior glazing, borrowed lights, and mirrors
Division 10 specialties
The accessory scope that gets forgotten at bid and found at punch. We carry it as a defined package so it is priced, ordered, and installed on schedule.
- Toilet compartments and partitions
- Toilet and bath accessories
- Interior room ID and ADA/Braille signage
- Fire extinguishers and cabinets
- Lockers and window treatments
Fixture & FF&E installation
The last scope before the store merchandises, on the tightest window of the whole job. Because the same crew framed the walls, the backing is already where the fixture plan needs it — there is no handoff gap between the sub who built the wall and the sub who hangs off it.
We receive, warehouse, stage, uncrate, and assemble owner-furnished fixtures, and install to the fixture plan and planogram. Damaged and short shipments are documented and reported the day they are found, not the week the store is supposed to open.
- Gondola runs and end caps
- Perimeter fixtures and display walls
- Wall standards, slatwall, and pegboard
- Cash wrap and checkout counters
- Showcases and fitting room build-out
- Stockroom shelving and racking
- Store resets and fixture reconfiguration
Selective interior demolition
On remodels, re-images, and second-generation space we remove the existing finishes ahead of our own work — partitions, ceilings, flooring, millwork, and fixtures — with dust containment and protection appropriate to whether the store is trading.
Demolition on an occupied store is scheduled to the overnight window and the space is returned sales-ready before opening. Existing conditions that differ from the drawings are reported immediately with photos, because in second-generation space they always do.
What we do not do
A sub who is vague about exclusions creates a gap someone else pays for. Here is ours, stated plainly.
| Scope | Our position |
|---|---|
| Mechanical, electrical, plumbing | Excluded. We coordinate with the MEP trades but do not perform their work. On direct-to-owner projects the owner contracts MEP separately. |
| Fire sprinkler & fire alarm | Excluded. |
| General contracting & permits | Excluded. We are a trade contractor. The GC or the owner holds the permit and the building department relationship. |
| Structural, roofing, site work | Excluded. |
| Exterior storefront & glazing | Typically excluded and carried by a glazing specialist. We install interior glazing and mirrors. Ask if you want it priced. |
| Firestopping | Bid as a defined inclusion or exclusion depending on your breakdown — we will state which on the bid form. |
| Epoxy & urethane cement floor systems | Available on request; often carried by a coatings specialist. We will price it if it is in your package. |
| Exterior signage | Excluded. We install interior room ID and code signage only. |
Every bid we issue states its inclusions, exclusions, qualifications, and clarifications in writing. If your project splits scopes differently than the table above, send the breakdown with the invitation and we will bid to your structure.
Have a package you need covered?
Send the plans, the spec, and your bid form. We will tell you exactly what we can carry.