Getting bids from builders
In July, we thought the drawings were finally at the point where we could put the job out for bid. Even though the bid set wasn’t 100 percent complete, we were beyond ready to experience some progress on this project.
Would there still be time to get the house ready for Thanksgiving 2007, our original completion deadline?
July 26 — We met with Local Guy. We see his truck and his signs everywhere. He’s the neighborhood builder and his worksites always look pristine. His projects seem to get completed at a reasonable pace. He left me with a strongly positive impression. He epitomized the mental image I had of a competent contractor.
July 27 — Tall Guy, who looks Dutch to me, is another local with a design/build firm. We’d observed his work, too. A tad pompous, he seemed to know his stuff.
July 31 — Steve-O’s Guy was builder number three. Steve-O is an electrician extraordinaire. We figured that if anyone knew a good builder, he would. And his guy was a viable candidate.
August 4 — Jimmy and Guy #1 met with us. Unlike the other three builders, John seemed unfazed by the site. He’d built in places like Colorado. He showed me pictures of his wife and of his beautiful daughter, who works with him. We bonded. I thought he was also a good candidate for our project.
September 18 — Jimmy and Guy #2 met with us. Why was there a #2? Well, it seems that #1 disappeared. Poof. Gone. Never to be heard from again. Weird, huh? But Paul seemed OK, even though we didn’t get a good sense of his background.
No matter who we picked, we’d need to check references and get a full understanding of how the builder worked with his trades (for example, did his subs get paid on time?) and how long he worked with the members of his crew. We’d want to visit a live work site (was it neat? Or a disaster area?). We’d need to know his insurance checked out. And all the other issues we learned about by being devotees of Mike Holmes’ show, Holmes on Homes.
The main thing was that we were making progress. Or so we thought.
Would there still be time to get the house ready for Thanksgiving 2007, our original completion deadline?
July 26 — We met with Local Guy. We see his truck and his signs everywhere. He’s the neighborhood builder and his worksites always look pristine. His projects seem to get completed at a reasonable pace. He left me with a strongly positive impression. He epitomized the mental image I had of a competent contractor.
July 27 — Tall Guy, who looks Dutch to me, is another local with a design/build firm. We’d observed his work, too. A tad pompous, he seemed to know his stuff.
July 31 — Steve-O’s Guy was builder number three. Steve-O is an electrician extraordinaire. We figured that if anyone knew a good builder, he would. And his guy was a viable candidate.
August 4 — Jimmy and Guy #1 met with us. Unlike the other three builders, John seemed unfazed by the site. He’d built in places like Colorado. He showed me pictures of his wife and of his beautiful daughter, who works with him. We bonded. I thought he was also a good candidate for our project.
September 18 — Jimmy and Guy #2 met with us. Why was there a #2? Well, it seems that #1 disappeared. Poof. Gone. Never to be heard from again. Weird, huh? But Paul seemed OK, even though we didn’t get a good sense of his background.
No matter who we picked, we’d need to check references and get a full understanding of how the builder worked with his trades (for example, did his subs get paid on time?) and how long he worked with the members of his crew. We’d want to visit a live work site (was it neat? Or a disaster area?). We’d need to know his insurance checked out. And all the other issues we learned about by being devotees of Mike Holmes’ show, Holmes on Homes.
The main thing was that we were making progress. Or so we thought.
Labels: Home addition, Remodeling
posted by Caroline LangerDavis at
10:20 PM
2 Comments:
What about the pillow bitter??
By
Anonymous, at 8:33 AM
Handsome though he was, Tall Guy it out of the picture. He suggested we sell this place, buy raw land and hire him to do our dream house from scratch. Um, no thanks. We saw 23 swans outside our window this morning. There's a fire crackling in my hearth. What could be more dreamy than that?
By
Caroline LangerDavis, at 10:26 AM
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