The best contractors I know don't advertise on platforms. The ones making $1M+ per year? They don't want their number online at all. They're booked for months through word of mouth alone. Meanwhile, homeowners are scrolling through Thumbtack at 11pm trying to figure out which 4.7-star contractor won't destroy their kitchen.
Something's broken here.
Every platform that promised to "fix" this made it worse. Angie's List, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, TaskRabbit, etc. They all followed the same playbook. Start free to build the network. Add fees once everyone's hooked. Take 20% from contractors. Charge homeowners for "premium" access. Good contractors leave. Desperate ones pay to play. Quality races to the bottom. Platform sells for billions. Homeowners are left with less than what the yellow pages offerred.
They turned a word of mouth into a $50B toll booth. That leaves the American homeowner less connected than ever before.
Here's what actually happens when someone needs work done. They text their group chat: "Anyone know a good plumber?" Someone responds: "Yeah, my guy Carlos is amazing, let me get you his number." Carlos shows up, does great work, gets paid directly. No algorithms. No bidding wars. No 20% platform tax. Just trust flowing through human networks the way it has for centuries.
A kitchen remodel involves 5 different contractors who mostly communicate through missed calls and text messages. The inspector checks 3 of 12 outlets and calls it "verified." Insurance has one version of what happened, the county has another, the homeowner has receipts in a shoebox.
We don't need another marketplace. We don't need another document processor. We don't need another AI to translate I don't know what to what the fuck. We need to talk better. We need to explain better. We need to be able to tell the client WHY you have an overhead rate. If you're still upselling on materials, that's a bad strategy going forward. Think about it. How many contractors get called and asked "what would you do?" just for the homeowner to turn to thier "handyman" and try to explain what they should do.
The software world got away with something beautiful.
You need a license to:
But you don't need a license to write software. Software that could change the world you live in.
GitHub didn't create programmers or force them to collaborate. It just made visible what was already happening—people building on each other's work. It gave structure to chaos without extracting rent from every interaction. Every contractor maintains their reputation through actual work. Every homeowner has a history of what's been done to their property. Every project creates relationships that lead to the next project. This all exists—it's just not captured in a way that helps anyone.
That's what homes need. Not another platform taking 20% to "connect" people. Not another rating system that turns craftsmen into customer service reps. Not another app claiming to "disrupt" construction.
Track what was done where, by whom, with what confidence level. Let trust flow through actual work history, not paid reviews. Make the invisible networks visible without monetizing them.
Because here's the truth investors need to hear: The market doesn't need disruption. It needs a communcication channel that is clear from all the noise. Every good contractor is already booked. Every homeowner already knows someone who knows someone. The $400B renovation industry runs on WhatsApp and word of mouth—and it works.
The opportunity isn't to replace this. It's to support it. To build the infrastructure layer that makes existing networks stronger, not extract rent from them. To be the protocol, not the platform.
To any VC who get this.. if you want to fund the next GitHub...
The ones who don't will fund the next TaskRabbit... a company born to die.
Your home isn't one thing that gets remodeled. It's thousands of points in space, each with its own story. The north wall got new electrical in 2024. The south wall still has original plumbing from 2001. The floor was replaced in 2019 but the subfloor is original.
Traditional records say "kitchen remodeled." GitHub for Homes tracks Kitchen/Wall-C separately from Kitchen/Wall-D. Each wall, floor, ceiling, and system component knows its complete history. When you query Kitchen/Wall-C, you get every contractor, every modification, every warranty for that specific location.
Your home breaks down into logical chunks. Rooms like Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom. Each room has walls A through D, a ceiling, a floor. Systems like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC run through everything. When you work on Kitchen/Wall-C, that history doesn't affect Kitchen/Wall-A. Different walls, different stories.
This matters because work happens in specific places. The plumber who worked on Kitchen/Wall-C owns that work, not "the kitchen plumbing." Those cabinets on Wall-C have a different warranty than the ones on Wall-D if they were installed at different times.
Two contractors can't work in the same wall cavity. When the plumber puts a pipe at position 24" and the electrician needs position 24" for wire, that's a conflict. Can't merge by picking one—both physically exist. You route the wire above the pipe or move the pipe. New work, not choosing versions.
The system knows construction sequence. You can't install cabinets before walls exist. Can't close walls before inspection. Can't put flooring over bad subfloor. Can't wire through a pipe. Rough work before finish work. Foundation before framing. It's not rules—it's physics.
Water doesn't respect boundaries. A leak at Kitchen/Wall-C/pipe becomes wet drywall in 2 hours. Soft drywall in 6 hours. Mold conditions in 48 hours. Structural damage in 1 week. The leak spreads to the floor, the adjacent wall, the ceiling below.
The system tracks these cascade paths. Every connection point is a potential failure. Where pipe meets drywall, where wire passes through stud, where roof meets wall. These interfaces are where things fail. Track them, and you know what gets hit when something goes wrong.
This spatial tracking means every failure point is documented. Every cascade path is known. Every intervention window is clear. Stop the leak in the first hour, it's a simple fix. Wait a week, it's structural remediation.
Look at your walls. What's inside them? Unless you've opened them recently, you don't know. Could be modern wiring, could be knob-and-tube from 1950. Could be perfect insulation, could be mold. Could be nothing.
The average home is 60% unknown—never looked inside. 25% guessed—probably okay based on other evidence. 15% known—recently seen. Every wall cavity is a mystery box. Opening it costs money and repair work.
Cut a hole in drywall. Now you have a hole. You can't "undo" the hole—you can only patch it. That's new work, not reversing the old work. When two contractors both modify something, both modifications exist. Can't rollback physical changes like code. Every change is permanent history. Conflicts need physical solutions, not version picking.
This forward-only reality changes everything. Branches represent permanent changes. Merges require new work. History is append-only. You navigate forward through consequences, not backward through undos.
An inspector comes to check your electrical. They test 3 of your 12 outlets—25%. Check 2 of your 6 circuits—33%. Glance in the attic for 5 minutes. Say "Pass."
That's not "everything is perfect." That's "the samples I checked were okay, so probably the rest is too." Maybe 87% confident. Maybe less. Same with every contractor signature. They checked their work, not every possible interaction. The plumber verified no leaks today, not no leaks forever.
Concrete takes 28 days to reach full strength. Grout needs 48 hours before you can seal it. Paint needs 4 hours between coats. Wood glue needs 24 hours of clamping. These aren't suggestions. It's chemistry. Grout sealed too early will fail. Concrete loaded too soon will crack.
Time constants enforce scheduling. You can't rush chemistry. The system tracks these requirements and prevents premature work. Try to seal grout after 24 hours, the system blocks you. Try to load concrete after a week, the system warns you.
Failures happen where different materials meet. Pipe through drywall—seal fails. Wire through stud—vibration causes short. Roof meets wall—flashing leaks. Window meets siding—caulk degrades. Different materials age differently. Move differently. Expand and contract differently. The connection points take the stress.
You can't manage a home pretending you know what's in every wall, work can be reversed, inspections are complete, materials don't have chemistry, or connections don't fail. GitHub for Homes acknowledges reality. Most is unknown. Work is permanent. Verification is statistical. Time matters. Connections fail. Plan accordingly.
Branches in GitHub for Homes aren't abstract—they claim actual space in your home. When you create a kitchen-remodel branch, you're locking those physical locations from other work. This respects the fundamental truth: you can't have two contractors in the same wall cavity.
Construction is irreversible. Once you cut a hole, pull a wire, or pour concrete, there's no undo. Every merge is forward-only. Conflicts require new work, not choosing versions. When plumbing and electrical both need Kitchen/Wall-C cavity, and the pipe is at position 24" and wire needs position 24", you can't pick one version. Both physically exist. Resolution requires new work—route wire above pipe or move pipe left 4 inches.
Branches declare their physical territory. Kitchen branch claims all kitchen sections. Bathroom branch claims bathroom. No overlap means both can proceed in parallel. System branch for electrical might overlap with kitchen electrical—requires coordination or sequential execution.
The system shows what's claimed and what's available. Kitchen locked by kitchen-remodel branch. Bathroom locked by bathroom-update. Bedrooms available. Systems partially available. Visual map of your home showing who owns what space when.
The system detects what must happen in what order. Kitchen floor replacement means remove appliances first, access subflooring, check and repair joists, install new subfloor, install new flooring, then replace appliances. Can't skip steps. Physics prevents it.
Some work can happen simultaneously, some can't. Kitchen cabinets and bathroom tile—different rooms, parallel possible. Bedroom paint and garage organization—no overlap, parallel possible. Kitchen plumbing before kitchen drywall—pipes go behind walls, must serialize. Foundation repair before any framing—structure first, must serialize. The system identifies these patterns and optimizes scheduling.
When contractors propose different solutions for the same space, you can't merge them. Original has 1990s cabinets with laminate counter. Contractor-1 proposes full replacement for $25k. Contractor-2 proposes reface cabinets for $12k. These are mutually exclusive physical changes. You choose an approach, not merge them.
Cherry-picking lets you select specific improvements. Bathroom remodel includes new toilet, new vanity, retile floor, retile walls. You can cherry-pick just toilet and floor, skip vanity and walls. But partial work may affect warranties. The system tracks these dependencies.
The key insight: branches map to physical space, changes are permanent, and conflicts require physical solutions. This isn't version control—it's space management through time.
Before work becomes permanent record, it sits in staging. But this isn't a list of files—it's a 3D map of your home showing what's done, what's verified, and what's still unknown. Kitchen/Wall-C has new cabinets, staged and verified. Kitchen/Wall-D has electrical rough-in, staged but awaiting inspection. Kitchen/Floor has tile laid but grout not cured, can't stage yet.
When a contractor says "work complete," what did they actually check? The electrician tested their new outlets. Did they test every outlet? No. Did they check how their work affects the plumbing in the same wall? No. Did they verify the 30-year-old wire in the adjacent wall they didn't touch? Definitely no.
Verification is specific. WHO verified—which contractor, which inspector. WHAT they checked—their work, not everything. HOW MUCH they tested—3 of 12 outlets is 25%. WHEN they checked—confidence drops over time.
Every part of your home exists in one of three states. Known: we've seen it, the cabinet is there, the pipe is copper, the wire is 12-gauge, we have photos and documentation. Guessed: we think we know based on other evidence, no water stains probably means no leak, no sagging probably means joists are okay. Unknown: complete mystery, that wall cavity unopened since 1970, the space under the bathtub, above the ceiling tiles, could be anything or nothing.
Finding out what's unknown costs money. Look behind outlet plate costs nothing but learns little. Thermal camera scan costs $200 to see temperature differences. Open drywall costs $500 to see everything but requires repair. Ground penetrating radar costs $2,000 to see through concrete. Sometimes it's worth finding out. Sometimes it's better to live with uncertainty.
New work starts high confidence. Inspector just checked, contractor just finished, everything works. 95% confident it's good. One year later, still working, no problems—85% confident. Five years later, common failure window—40% confident. Ten years later, past expected lifespan—15% confident. The system tracks this decay. Your 2015 roof inspection doesn't mean much in 2025.
Some things must go together. Dishwasher needs plumbing connection, electrical connection, and mounting brackets. Can't commit just plumbing. Either the dishwasher is fully connected or it's not staged. The system enforces complete units of work.
Only verified work becomes permanent record. But verified doesn't mean perfect. It means contractor signed off on their work and scope. Inspector passed what they sampled. Time requirements met—grout cured, concrete set. No conflicting work—spatial conflicts resolved. Dependencies satisfied—rough inspection before closing walls. The commit includes confidence levels. Kitchen electrical: 87% confident based on 25% sampling. That's honest documentation.
Traditional documentation pretends everything is known, checked, and perfect. Real documentation admits most of your home is uninspected, verification is sampling, confidence decays, discovery costs money, and some risk is acceptable. This honesty enables better decisions about what to inspect, what to discover, and what to accept as unknown.
Every stakeholder maintains their own version of property history. County has permits but not actual work done. Insurance has claims but not maintenance history. Homeowner has receipts but not inspection results. Contractors have their work but not other trades. GitHub for Homes synchronizes these different perspectives into a coherent spatial record.
When repositories sync, they reconcile different perspectives of the same physical space. Municipal shows new electrical inspection. Homeowner shows kitchen remodel in progress. Insurance shows no record. The system merges what it can, flags conflicts that need resolution.
Different sources have authority over different aspects. Municipal is authoritative for permits, code compliance, inspections. Insurance is authoritative for claims, coverage, risk assessments. Homeowner is authoritative for actual work performed, contractor selection. Contractors are authoritative for their specific work and warranties.
When records conflict, authority matters. Kitchen electrical uses municipal record for permit status. Roof damage uses insurance record for claim status. Kitchen cabinets use homeowner record for actual installation. The system respects these authority levels during merge.
Control what spatial information gets shared with each stakeholder. Push kitchen and bathroom to insurance, exclude bedrooms for privacy. Push structural changes to municipal, skip cosmetic work. Push documented work to potential buyer, flag undocumented portions.
Each repository type has specific access patterns. Homeowner can modify all sections with full push and pull rights. Municipal is read-only but can flag permit violations and code issues. Insurance is read-only but can annotate claims and risk assessments. Contractors can modify their assigned sections during their project window.
Homeowner detects damage and records it. Push damage record to insurance repository. Insurance verifies in their repo, checking difference from pre-damage state. Insurance approves and syncs back to homeowner. All repositories eventually align—homeowner records damage and repair, insurance documents claim and payment, municipal issues repair permit, contractor performs and warrants work.
When selling, the complete spatial history transfers. All HomeSections with their histories. Active warranties that transfer. Contractor relationships. The system notifies all repositories—insurance updates policy holder, municipal updates property records, contractors transfer warranty obligations. New owner receives the complete spatial truth.
The distributed system ensures every stakeholder has the spatial history they need while maintaining appropriate boundaries and authority levels. Multiple perspectives validate the same spatial truth. Share only relevant sections with each party. Right source provides right information. Clear process for reconciling differences. No single point of failure for records.
Workflows aren't prescribed—they emerge from physical reality. Room boundaries create natural work units. System updates affect everything. Emergencies demand specific sequences. These patterns repeat because physics and code requirements don't change.
The most natural workflow follows spatial boundaries. Kitchen renovation starts with planning—measure, design, permit. Then demo to remove existing. Then rough work—plumbing and electrical behind walls. Then close—insulation and drywall. Then finish—cabinets, counters, flooring. Finally verify—inspection and punch list.
Dependencies are enforced. Rough work before walls close. Inspection before next phase. Flooring before or after cabinets, you choose. Timeline runs 15-20 days typical. Some work can parallelize—paint while floor cures. Each room renovation follows this pattern because walls must be open for rough work, closed for finishes. The system generates workflows from these physical constraints, not arbitrary rules.
Water, fire, and structural emergencies follow predictable sequences. Immediate response in the first hour—stop water source, document everything, notify insurance. Mitigation in the first 24 hours—extract water, place drying equipment, prevent spread. Recovery after 24 hours—assess damage, demo damaged materials, dry completely, rebuild.
Documentation is critical for insurance. Response speed determines total damage. The system tracks moisture readings, photo documentation, and contractor responses. Every emergency follows this pattern: stop, document, mitigate, recover.
Seasonal and annual maintenance follows climate and wear patterns. Spring means exterior inspection after winter—roof and gutters from snow and ice, foundation from freeze-thaw cycles, AC service before summer. Summer is the exterior work window—paint, stain, seal, concrete repairs, major landscaping. Fall is winter preparation—heating service, weatherization, gutter cleaning. Winter focuses interior—filter changes, planning next year, indoor projects.
The system auto-schedules based on location, adjusts for local climate, tracks for property health score. Patterns emerge from weather cycles and material degradation rates.
When multiple contractors work the same space, coordination is critical. Week 1 is demo where all trades identify needs. Week 2 is rough work—plumber in the morning, electrician in the afternoon. Week 3 is inspection, then close walls. Week 4 is tile work that needs exclusive access. Week 5 is fixtures—plumber morning, electrician afternoon.
Automatic notifications at handoffs. Spatial conflicts prevented. Dependencies mapped. The system choreographs the dance of trades through space and time.
Every workflow emerges from spatial boundaries—rooms are natural units. Physical dependencies—rough before finish. Code requirements—inspection hold points. Material properties—cure times, dry times. Trade sequences—electrical after plumbing. The system doesn't impose workflows—it discovers them from these constraints. Natural patterns that match how work actually happens.
The result is workflows that feel obvious because they match reality. No prescribed sequences, just physics and code creating natural patterns. The home's structure guides the work. Time chemistry sets the pace. Trade skills determine sequence. What emerges is the natural way work wants to happen.