The turnkey door & trim program, rebuilt and re-priced.
A year ago we were 40% high on labor and 70% high on hardware. The bid book closed and you kept what was working. This document explains everything that's different now — and why a second look is worth thirty minutes.
Attn:David Samson · VP Purchasing · Chesmar Homes Dallas Division
Chesmar grew from Houston roots into a serious DFW contender — "neighborhoods of distinction" at an attainable price band. A strong Dallas Division pipeline, the Level-1 spec tier as the workhorse, Environments for Living energy standards. We've been doing our homework.
01
The Product
DFW Level-1 product line. 6'8" hollow-core interior doors — choice of 2-Panel Square Top, Riverside, or Roman Arch. B-322 3-1/4" base with matching C-322 2-1/2" casing. MDF window stool with ogee. 12" bullnose particle closet shelving with full-round rod. No crown. Garage finished too.
02
The Communities
Across the DFW metro — plus the ramp into McKinney, Frisco, and Prosper. Each new community is a vendor-decision moment. We want to be the supplier that makes that decision easier, not harder.
03
The Spec Stack
Currently Kwikset Hancock on satin nickel, handleset + deadbolt at the front, passage/privacy interior. You asked about Kwikset Cove last year and we never got the comparison clean enough. The Hardware section below shows it — plus two new sources we didn't have in 2025.
The Honest Recap
What You Told Us in June 2025
We don't get to skip the conversation we had a year ago. Here it is, in your words, and here's what's changed.
Direct Quote · 6/13/2025
“Thanks for providing the additional level of detail. I could not open the attachment though, can you resend? I can say at first glance the labor side is significantly higher than we are currently paying — 40% on labor and 70% on hardware.”
David Samson, VP of Purchasing, Chesmar Homes Dallas Division · in response to Abel's revised turnkey bid
That feedback was a gift, even if it ended the conversation at the time. It told us exactly what to fix — not "sharpen the pencil," but rebuild the cost stack. Three things changed between then and now:
Change 01 · Labor
Brought Install In-House
In 2025 our trim install was handled by a subcontractor. In 2026 it's Abel's own crew — bringing install in-house is the single biggest reason the turnkey numbers came down 15–21% versus the 2025 bid.
In-house install crew
Change 02 · Hardware Sourcing
Two New Hardware Books
Sure-Loc dealer pricing landed April 2026 via Core Decorative Resource — the mid-tier brand Bloomfield specs across their tiers. A Pamex dealer relationship is now in place as well, with a quote available on request. Four hardware packages priced inside the workbook.
4 packages · 2 new sources
Change 03 · Structure
Turnkey, Not Patchwork
3% management fee called out as a transparent line item. Covers single PO, dedicated PM, QC walk on every house, warranty channel, Aegis Builder Portal access — no surprise charges, no scope creep, no four-vendor invoice reconciliation.
1 vendor · 1 PM · 1 portal
Full Offering
Everything That Comes Off the Truck
Doors, trim, hardware, install — one PO across every category. Your purchasing team coordinates with one supplier, one PM, one delivery sequence. Not four reps, four invoices, four schedules.
01
Interior Doors & Pre-Hang
2-Panel Square Top, Riverside, Roman Arch — Chesmar's three named profiles, all 6'8" hollow-core, FJ AWP jambs, painted hinges. Pre-hung in our Gainesville shop, ready for staged delivery. Specials (8' tall, double-leaf, fire-rated) called out by name with their own lead times — never bundled into a blanket window.
02
Exterior & Front Doors
Fiberglass 6-panel 3080 front (per your Level-1 spec). Patio 1/2-lite with integral blind. House-to-garage 20-minute fire-rated, self-closing. Final-door install on closeout, not on rough — protects the door from the job site.
03
Trim, Casing & Closets
B-322 3-1/4" base + C-322 2-1/2" casing — the profiles in your Level-1 spec. MDF window stool with ogee and apron (skipped on transoms). 12" bullnose particle closet shelving with stained full-round rod. No crown.
04
Hardware Programs
Four packages priced inside the workbook: Kwikset Hancock (your current), Kwikset Cove (upgrade option you asked about), Sure-Loc (our recommended anchor), Pamex (available on request). Satin nickel finish. Pick a package, see the impact. Matched bath hardware in every package.
05
Trim & Door Install
Abel's own in-house install crew. One pre-walk + one QC walk + one punch return included on every house. Garage finishing included. Attic-stair set (25x54 aluminum, 9', 300#, insulated) installed and trimmed out.
06
Patio & Optionals
Patio 1/2-lite with integral blind — the indoor-outdoor moment, available as a community-level upgrade and called out by name on lead time. Custom front-door upgrades on premium plans (longer lead, called out by name). Specials priced individually, never blanket-bundled.
Anchor Unit Pricing
Six Units. Real Numbers.
No black-box "per unit" math. Here are six units that drive roughly 70% of a Level-1 material bill, each at a firm price against BFS retail. The full per-plan version is in the workbook.
−28%
Interior 6'8" HC Prehung
HOLLOW-CORE · 2-PANEL / RIVERSIDE / ROMAN
Chesmar's workhorse spec. Pre-hung at our Gainesville shop. In stock, 1–2 week lead.
Abel Price$118
BFS Retail$165
−10%
Front Door — Fiberglass 6-Panel
3080 · COMPLETE OPENING
Primed, ready for paint or stain. Complete opening. Final-door install on closeout.
Abel Price$575
BFS Retail$640
−26%
Garage-to-House Door
SOLID CORE · 20-MIN FIRE · SELF-CLOSING
Solid core, 20-minute fire-rated, self-closing. Tagged set included.
Abel Price$339
BFS Retail$459
−27%
Base — B-322 3-1/4"
PRIMED · PER LF
3-1/4" primed base, the profile in your Level-1 spec. Per linear foot, firm.
Abel Price$0.69
BFS Retail$0.94
−27%
Casing — C-322 2-1/2"
PRIMED · PER LF
2-1/2" primed casing, matched to the base. Per linear foot, firm.
Abel Price$0.69
BFS Retail$0.94
−32%
Closet Shelving — 1x12 BN
BULLNOSE PARTICLE · PER LF
12" bullnose particle shelving with stained full-round rod. Per linear foot.
Abel Price$1.25
BFS Retail$1.85
Featured Manufacturer
Lynden Door — An Authorized Stocking Dealer
The interior profiles in Chesmar's Level-1 spec hang from a Lynden line. Abel is an authorized stocking dealer — pre-hung in our Gainesville shop on standard 1–2 week lead. No 6-week special-order wait, no special-order vendor between us and your trim crew.
The three profiles named in your Level-1 spec — pre-hung in our Gainesville shop, on the truck the next morning. We carry the configurations Chesmar purchasing actually orders: 2-6-8 and 2-8-8 standard, 3-0 widths on demand, taller options for plan upgrades. No 6-week special-order wait, no special-order vendor between us and your trim crew. Same spec, same QC walk, every house, every plan.
1–2 wksStocked Lead Time
In-HousePre-Hung in Gainesville
DFWAuthorized Dealer
Hardware Offering
Four Brands. One Bid.
Your 2025 feedback was "70% high on hardware." That gap doesn't close by negotiating with the same vendor — it closes by changing the vendor and bringing install in-house. Four hardware programs priced inside the workbook, each at a different style and price tier. Pick the package, lock the bid. Sure-Loc is our recommended anchor — confirmed dealer pricing at Bloomfield-tier quality — and the in-house labor reduction is what answers the 70% gap David Samson flagged in 2025.
Recommended
01
Sure-Loc
Our recommended anchor — Bloomfield-tier finish
Sure-Loc — dealer pricing confirmed via Core Decorative Resource (April 2026); the mid-tier brand Bloomfield specs Sure-Loc across their tiers. The credible Texas-market mid-tier finish, satin nickel, matched bath hardware. from $691 per home — the package we recommend for the Level-1 spec.
StyleTransitional + contemporary
Lead time1–2 weeks
Per homefrom $691 (anchor)
ReferenceBloomfield (across tiers)
02
Kwikset Hancock
Your current spec, priced honestly
This is what Chesmar Level-1 homes ship with today — Kwikset Hancock on satin nickel, handleset + deadbolt at the front. We're including it not to push it but to anchor the comparison. If the right answer is to stay with Hancock and pull only the trim and door scope into Abel, the math still works. No hardware switch required to start a partnership.
StyleTraditional
Lead timeSame day–1 week
Per home$460 (baseline)
ReferenceCurrent Chesmar spec
03
Kwikset Cove
The value tier you asked us to price last year
In your 2025 email you asked for the cost difference between Hancock and Cove plus bath hardware options. Here it is. Cove is the clean, value-tier Kwikset path — same Kwikset distribution, satin nickel, matched bath sets. We pitch this as the value answer when a community wants to hold the line on hardware spend.
StyleTraditional
Lead timeSame day–1 week
Per home$404 (value)
ReferenceYour 2025 ask
04
Pamex
Available on request
Pamex is a private-label production-builder hardware program — the same volume tier the Level-1 spec lives in. We have a dealer relationship in place and can price a full package on request. Quote pending — the dealer multiplier is not yet confirmed, so we present it as available on request rather than a locked number. Style runs traditional and transitional, clean and builder-grade.
StyleTraditional + transitional
Lead time2–3 wks (stocked at volume)
Per homeQuote on request
ReferenceActive TX rollouts
The Math — Per-Home Price
Component
Kwikset CoveValue tier
Kwikset HancockYour current
Sure-LocRecommended
PamexOn request
Entry Handleset
$96.00
$108.00
$152.00
—
Entry Deadbolt
$42.00
$48.00
$64.00
—
Interior Door Knob (passage) ×6
$57.00
$66.00
$96.00
—
Interior Door Lever (mixed) ×4
$54.00
$62.00
$98.00
—
Bath Hardware Set ×2
$120.00
$140.00
$196.00
—
Hinges + Door Stops
$25.00
$26.00
$36.00
—
Garage-to-House Tagged Set
$10.00
$10.00
$49.00
—
Total Hardware / Home (Charleston baseline)
$404.00
$460.00
$691.00
Quote pending
Position vs Kwikset Hancock
−$56 value
— baseline
+$231 anchor
on request
How to read this: Hancock is your current baseline. Cove is the value tier you asked about — clean Kwikset at a lower price point. Sure-Loc is our recommended anchor — confirmed dealer pricing at the Bloomfield-tier finish, a genuine step up in quality. Pamex is available on request once its dealer multiplier is confirmed. The real answer to the 70% hardware gap you flagged in 2025 is the combination of a right-sized hardware package and our in-house install crew — the bid is identical across packages aside from this hardware row. Per-home hardware scales with a plan's door count: the totals above are the Charleston (1,576 sf) baseline; Houston and Portland run higher, and each plan's exact figure is in its workbook.
Try It — Switch the Package
Sure-Loc — per home, across 3 plans
$—
Range spans Charleston (smallest) to Portland (largest) by door count.
Turnkey / home with this package
Charleston—
Houston—
Portland—
Full Transparency
Where Your Turnkey Dollar Goes
No black box. Pick a plan and a hardware package — the turnkey number breaks into its five real components, live. Material, hardware, in-house install labor, the 3% management fee, and DFW material tax. Every dollar accounted for.
Plan
Hardware Package
—
Charleston1,576 sf · turnkey / home
Delivered turnkey — doors, trim, hardware, in-house install, and DFW material tax, with the Sure-Loc package.
MaterialDoors · trim · closets—
Install LaborAbel in-house crew—
HardwareSure-Loc package—
Management Fee3% · single-source—
TaxDFW material—
2025 → 2026
What Changed Since 2025
Same scope, same QC walk — a rebuilt cost stack. Bringing install in-house and right-sizing the hardware package brought every plan's turnkey down. Here it is, plan by plan, against the 2025 bid.
Charleston
1,576 sq ft
−15%
$8,384
2025
$7,097
2026
Houston
2,032 sq ft
−15%
$9,357
2025
$7,970
2026
Portland
2,646 sq ft
−21%
$11,560
2025
$9,167
2026
2026 figures shown with the recommended Sure-Loc package, delivered turnkey with DFW material tax included.
Why Abel for Chesmar
Volume-Tier Builders Care About Different Things
A semi-custom builder cares about a slider lead time. A production builder at Chesmar's tier cares about whether every door across a community shows up the right way, on the right day, with the right hardware. That's our scoreboard.
1–2 Week Lead Times
Default standard material. Specials called out by name (custom front, integral-blind patio, attic stair) with their actual window. Not blanket "3–4 weeks."
Three Plans, Priced Line-by-Line
Charleston, Houston, and Portland priced unit-by-unit, not by black-box square-foot rate. You see exactly what every door, trim run, and hardware set costs.
Drop-Date Accuracy
Drop-date accuracy is the metric we manage. Your PM doesn't have to call us to ask if it's coming — the portal shows them.
One PO. One PM. One Invoice.
Doors + trim + hardware + install. The 3% turnkey fee covers single-point accountability. No four-vendor reconciliation, no "that's not our scope" emails.
QC Walk on Every House
Pre-walk + install + punch return. Not "we ship it and call it done." Sean Phillips owns the QC channel directly.
Builder Partner Rebate
Stacks on top of invoice pricing. No exclusivity required. Tiers by annual spend, with a retroactive all-award rate and written guarantees. Full projection in the workbook.
How We Run a Community
From Quote to Closeout
No black-box "leave it with us" pitch. Here's what every house looks like operationally, from the day plans hit our estimator to the day Sean closes the warranty channel. Three phases, transparent ownership, posted in the portal.
1
Day 0 → Day 7
Quote → PO
Submit the plan via Aegis Builder Portal or email. Quote back in 1 business day on standard SKUs — 48 hours on custom configurations with a confirmed timeline if longer. PO confirmed, materials staged in Gainesville. No silent intake, no "we'll get back to you next week."
2
PO → Drop Date
Build → Deliver
Pre-hang in Gainesville on Abel's own line. Trim staged per community, not per truck. Drop date posted in the portal — your PM sees the truck before it arrives. Delivery sequenced to your build calendar, not to our fleet rotation.
3
Drop → Closeout
Install → QC → Warranty
Abel-employed crew installs — not a sub. One pre-walk, one QC walk, one punch return included in the 3% turnkey. After closeout, the warranty channel routes through Sean Phillips on his direct cell. One number, not a 1-800.
Built In, Not Outsourced
Six Teams You Don't Get From a National Supplier
Every prehung that leaves Gainesville passes a QC walker. Every account has a named PM. Every install crew is Abel-employed, not a sub. None of this is contracted out — which is exactly why the 2026 numbers are different from 2025.
01 · Shop
Manufacturing Shop
Gainesville. Pre-hung in-house on our own line — staged for your build calendar.
02 · Crew
Install Crew
Abel-employed trim crew. In 2025 this work went to a subcontractor; bringing it in-house is where the 2025 labor gap closed.
03 · Logistics
Delivery Logistics
Supervisor-led routing. Drop-date accuracy is the metric we manage.
04 · PM
Project Management
Dedicated PMs. Chesmar would get a named account owner — not "whoever picked up the phone."
05 · Bid
Estimating & Bid
Lead Estimator (Lisa Adams). Every plan re-priced when specs change — with notes on what changed.
06 · CX
Customer Experience
Sean Phillips owns post-delivery. Warranty + punch + escalations route through one channel.
Our shop & crew — not stock photos
Abel-employed install crew on Chesmar-tier homes — trim, casing, and closet shelving going in.
Reference Customers
We've Run This Play For Builders Like You
Production builders, semi-custom builders, $1M+ luxury — the same playbook scaled to the price band. Three active accounts at the same tier or above as Chesmar. Reference call available on request.
Active Partner
Bloomfield Homes
Mid-production DFW builder. Specs Sure-Loc across their tiers — the same hardware book we'd recommend on a Chesmar Level-1 home. Active turnkey program.
DFW · Production · Sure-Loc spec
Active Partner
Toll Brothers
Premium semi-custom, $1M+ price band. 5-day slab line, semi-custom door specs delivered without 3-week penalty. We run their slab-to-hung cadence in Frisco, Flower Mound, and Heath communities.
DFW · Luxury Semi-Custom · Used as credential
Active Partner
Olerio · Shaddock
DFW production builders. Recently onboarded (Q4 2025 / Q1 2026). Full rollout from doors to install crew — the same scope we're proposing for a Chesmar pilot community.
DFW · Production · Full-scope rollout
The Aegis Builder Portal
Real-Time, Without the Phone Calls
Aegis went live April 13, 2026 — the same platform our existing builder partners use today. Chesmar gets co-branded access for free. The point is to take work off your PMs, not give them another login to manage.
Live Order StatusEvery door, trim run, hardware order. Status, ETA, exception flags.
Quote RequestsSubmit specs in portal, quote back same business day on standard SKUs.
Delivery ETA DashboardRoute-optimized scheduling. Your PM sees the truck before it arrives.
Invoice & AP HubOne bill. Simplified AP. Dawn talks to Chesmar AP, not your PM.
Warranty ChannelFile and track punch / warranty in one place. SLA-tracked, not email-tracked.
Plan PricebookYour plans, priced and locked. Spec change = price refresh <24 hr.
Straight Answers
Questions You're Probably Asking
The six that come up first when a purchasing team looks at a turnkey door-and-trim bid. No hedging.
Is this a firm bid?
Yes — firm per-unit pricing, held 30 days. Every line in the workbook is a firm unit price, not an allowance or a placeholder. Lock a community at these numbers and the per-unit pricing holds for 30 days from the proposal date. Specials (8' doors, custom fronts, integral-blind patio) are quoted individually by name — never folded into a blanket figure that drifts later.
Why is it lower than 2025?
Two structural changes, not a teaser. We brought trim install in-house — in 2025 it ran through a subcontractor, and that markup is gone. And we right-sized the hardware package with confirmed Sure-Loc dealer pricing instead of the over-specified book you flagged. Those two moves are the entire 15–21% reduction. The pricing is firm and above cost — it is not introductory pricing that resets after the first community.
What if we keep Hancock?
It still works — hardware is one swappable row. Nothing about this bid requires you to leave Kwikset Hancock. The breakdown above shows the turnkey number with Hancock on every plan; it is a single line you can hold while still moving doors, trim, and install to Abel. Switch the package in the breakdown to see the exact impact — the rest of the bid does not move.
What's in the 3% management fee?
Single-source accountability, called out as a transparent line instead of buried in unit prices. It covers a single PO across doors/trim/hardware/install, a dedicated PM who owns your account, a QC walk on every house, a warranty channel through one person (Sean Phillips), and co-branded Aegis Builder Portal access. No four-vendor invoice reconciliation, no "that's not our scope" emails.
How fast can a pilot start?
One community — or a single plan — on standard 1–2 week lead times. We don't need the whole division to begin. Pick a plan, send us the package, and we quote standard SKUs back in one business day. Material stages in Gainesville, install is scheduled to your build calendar, and you evaluate the cadence on real houses before committing to anything bigger.
Are you Hyphen / SupplyPro-ready?
Yes. The turnkey structure is built for exactly this — a single PO and one consolidated invoice per house instead of four vendor bills, which is what makes a Hyphen / SupplyPro workflow clean on your side. The Aegis Builder Portal carries live order status, ETAs, and the warranty channel, and integrates with your existing PO and AP process rather than adding a parallel one.
Per-Plan Turnkey Pricing
Three Plans. Firm Turnkey Totals.
The three plans David sent — doors, trim, hardware, and install, delivered turnkey with the recommended Sure-Loc package and DFW material tax included. Each plan links to its own page with the full scope gallery and breakdown.
Confidential · Prepared for Chesmar Homes Dallas Division · Firm pricing
One Community. One Plan.
We're not asking for the whole division back. Give us one community — or one plan as a pilot — and let the install accuracy, the delivery cadence, the hardware bid, and the Builder Portal speak for themselves. If the numbers in this document hold up on the ground, we earn the next community on merit. If they don't, you've lost nothing.
