The example: ÉQUERRE, a design-build contractor in Montréal
ÉQUERRE is a design-build contractor in Montréal we invented to show what we build for this trade — every page above works. Dither · one-bit drawings that resolve into photographs.
What a contractor website has to do
Before anyone lets a contractor take their kitchen apart, they want to know three things: that you have done this kind of job before, roughly what it will cost, and whether that number will hold. Most contractor sites answer with a gallery of finished rooms and a form that asks for a name and “tell us about your project”, and the enquiries that come back are tyre-kickers with no budget in mind.
A contractor website has a few jobs: show real jobs by type and budget, put the signed price next to the final cost, explain the process so the homeowner knows what happens when, and turn an estimate request into a brief with the scope, budget and timing already in it. Where the law asks for it, it does all of that in two languages.
That is what we build for contractors, builders, renovation and design-build firms. ÉQUERRE, above, is the example: a Montréal design-build firm in French and English, whose projects each show the price signed against the final cost, whose process can be scrubbed week by week, and whose estimate request asks for a budget band before anything else.
In Québec, a business website counts as a commercial document that must be available in French, with fines of $3,000 to $30,000 a day for a company’s first offence.
Source: CFIB, Québec Law 14 (Bill 96)65% of homeowners say they are more likely to call a roofing contractor who shows pricing.
Source: Roofing Contractor and Owens Corning, 202691% of homeowners rate online reviews as important when choosing an HVAC contractor.
Source: ACHR News / Clear Seas Research, 2024 (n=400)
- 01
Before and after, honestly
Each room shown as it was and as it is, so the work is the proof, not a stock kitchen.
- 02
The signed price against the final cost
Every project with what the client signed for and what they paid, and the average gap across all of them. Nothing builds more trust than a number that held.
- 03
Jobs sorted by type and budget
Kitchens, extensions, basements and whole houses, filtered by budget band, so a homeowner finds a job like theirs at a price like theirs.
- 04
The process, week by week
Survey, design, permits, build, handover: what happens at each stage, how long it takes and what the client decides, before they sign.
- 05
Estimate requests with a budget attached
Scope, budget band, timing and postcode, asked in three short steps, so every request is a job you can price, in an area you serve.
- 06
Licensed, local and bilingual
Your licence number, the areas you work in and, where the law asks for it, the whole site in both languages.
The example, page by page
01Design-Build
The practice, with each “before” drawn as a one-bit dither that resolves into the finished room as you hold it.
02Projects
Projects filtered by type and budget, each with the signed price against the final cost.
03Process
The job from survey to handover, drawn as it builds while you scrub the weeks.
04Estimate
A three-step estimate request: scope, budget band and timing, with the postcode checked against the areas served.
05Contact
The office, the licence number and a map of the boroughs the firm works in.
Estimates with a budget attached
Built to bring in estimate requests with a budget and a timeline attached. A visitor who has seen the jobs and the process arrives knowing roughly what it costs, which saves the site visits that go nowhere.
How we build it
- Days 1–3
Your jobs
The projects to show, their photographs and numbers, and the way your process actually runs.
- Days 4–10
The pages
Every page designed and written, in both languages where you need them.
- Days 11–14
Live
The estimate request, translations and lead routing connected, tested, and launched.
What a contractor website costs
$3,600–$5,200
11–14 days to live · fixed price, agreed before we start · branding included
What moves the price
- How many projects to show
- A second language throughout
- Estimate requests routed to your inbox or CRM
- Before-and-after imagery prepared
After launch, hosting, uptime, security and monthly reporting run from $250 a month: a monthly retainer, never a contract term.
Questions we get asked
How much does a contractor website cost?+
Ours run from $3,600 to $5,200, fixed and agreed before we start. The range is set by how many projects we show, whether the site runs in two languages, and where estimate requests need to go.
How long does it take?+
Eleven to fourteen days from the first call to live. The slowest part is usually gathering photographs of past jobs, so we start on that first.
We do not have professional photos of our work. Is that a problem?+
No. Site photographs taken on a phone can be graded to look consistent, and the before-and-after treatment works best with honest pictures anyway.
Do we have to publish our prices?+
You choose what to show. Showing the signed price against the final cost on finished jobs is the strongest thing a contractor can publish; budget bands on the estimate form do the rest without committing you to a quote.
Can the site be in French and English?+
Yes. Every page, form and message runs in both, with the visitor’s choice remembered. In Québec, where the law requires French for businesses, French comes first.
Is ÉQUERRE a real firm?+
No. ÉQUERRE is a Montréal design-build firm we invented to show what we build for contractors. Every page works as a design you can try; the estimate requests and routing are what we connect to your business at build.
