Remodelers leveraging AI tools to instantly evaluate materials and design choices with clients during initial consultations are slashing the traditional design timeline from weeks to mere minutes. Architect, contractor, and author Grace Tsao Mase discussed how AI enhances efficiency in remodeling while emphasizing that human expertise remains essential to decision-making.
There’s real money on the table, with billions in state and local incentives, tax credits, and rebates going untapped because the industry doesn’t dig for them. Contractors can use AI to research them. Mase built an AI platform, HomeRES.ai, to help identify incentives and build them into estimates.
AI Adoption in Remodeling
AI adoption is still early, with many contractors using AI for email and marketing, not field applications. However, contractors can snap photos of problems or walkthroughs and use AI to get instant feedback on what to fix, cutting down on repeat inspections and change orders.
Mase noted that less experienced workers can use AI as an on-the-job training tool, helping them to get up to speed faster, which is important since the industry is short on skilled labor. AI can help them learn from their mistakes and improve their skills more quickly.
In an interview, Mase said that she spends a lot of time researching incentives, including tax credits, grants, and rebates. She wants people to understand the research behind HomeRES.ai and how it can help remodelers find profit in incentives and build stronger trust with clients.
Mase cited a statistic that only 2% of construction companies had integrated AI as of early 2025. A year later, more contractors are using AI, but mostly for email, marketing, and accounting, not for deeper field applications yet. She thinks the industry is still in a transition phase.
Benefits of AI in Remodeling
When Mase sees an issue on a job site, she’ll snap a photo and ask AI to walk her through it. Even with multiple state licenses, there’s a lot she doesn’t know, so when she uploads a picture and asks AI to explain it to her, she instantaneously learns from that. This approach can help newcomers learn faster and quickly ramp up.
Mase believes that AI can help remodelers reframe the conversation with clients around what they actually care about. By using AI to generate images in real time, clients can see what their kitchen can look like, and what used to take four or five weeks of design conversations now takes half an hour.
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According to Mase, the key to successful AI adoption is to start small and have a conversation with the AI tool. She advises remodelers to download AI tools like Claude, Perplexity, or ChatGPT and start talking to them like they would their superintendent, describing a job site issue or a tense conversation with a client and asking for feedback.
Mase also emphasized the importance of protecting privacy from day one by opting out of data sharing in the settings. By taking this approach, remodelers can start to explore the benefits of AI in their businesses and improve their relationships with clients.
The report notes that Mase was inspired to write her book, AI in Residential Construction, after helping a friend who lost their home in a wildfire. She saw how AI could be used to improve the permitting process and reduce the number of iterations required to get a project approved.
By utilizing AI, Mase was able to get her own home permitted within three months, which was a significant improvement over the typical process. She believes that AI can help remodelers deliver better results and build stronger relationships with their clients.
For example, a state insurance commissioner told her that her state had over $20 million earmarked for coastal communities to replace roofs, which can be a major expense for homeowners.
This is a major expense for homeowners, and hardening it gives them a real fighting chance. Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana are among the states working to raise awareness of incentives like that.
Implementing AI in Remodeling Businesses
One way to implement AI is to use it for pre-construction document review. Once documentation is uploaded, AI checks for constructability issues and cross-references against the architect’s, designer’s, or engineer’s work, generating an RFI so those issues get resolved before the contract is signed. This approach cuts change orders and gets everyone starting from the same place.
For example, a contractor who uses an AI platform can give clients good-better-best material options and practical guidance, like converting framing from two-by-four studs on 16-inch centers to two-by-six on 24-inch centers for better insulation and lower lumber, time, and labor costs.