We hired a builder!

On Saturday, May 31, we wrote our first check that will pay for something other than more pieces of paper. We handed $5,000 over to Wasko Construction, LLC, the official builder for Casa de Roo!

It was with immense glee that I shook hands with Stephen Wasko and Alex Schiavone to seal the deal! Permit process permitting, we believe the project can officially begin in July.

This big step was preceded by scores of other steps. Here is a trip down memory lane:

2006

• Coming up with a Manifesto for the project, titled, “Everywhere you look, Beauty!”
  
• Looking for and interviewing architects. (Process beings in February)
  
• Hiring Lakeland Surveying, Inc. to provide a topographical survey. I pick it up with my brother, STo, who is visiting from Ohio. For well over a year, this drawing represents the only value Matt and I receive for money spent on our dream house project. (Drawing dated July 12)


• Writing the first retainer check to the selected architecture firm. (September 11, 2006)
  
• Getting “as built” drawings of our home as it currently stands.

2007

• Drafting, drawing and dreaming, only to find the design is more than double our budget.


• Lopping features off of the house.


• Sending the revised design out for bidding…


• Learning the project is still more than double. (Thus the more elaborate design must have been at least triple our budget.) We also learn from the builders who are bidding that the direction the architecture firm is sending the project is rife with impracticality!


• Taking matters into our own hands by redesigning the house ourselves, using Photoshop.

January 2008

• Discussing the scaled-back design with “Local Guy,” the builder we were pretty sure we’d hire; his estimate is still tens of thousands of dollars over budget—and missing key elements (like carpeting) that make a house a home. (January 11).


• Explaining the project to Steve Wasko and Alex Schiavone, who lack that “deer in headlights” look other contractors and builders seem to exhibit when they see our site. They offer some interesting ideas and practical advice. (January 18)

February 2008

• Losing debt-spending power thanks to America’s credit crunch because the bank has dramatically reduced our HELOC. (February 1)


• Realizing I was seduced by my own dream house Manifesto—and used it to seduce others into seeing my vision (some would say sharing my hallucinations). It was a case of champagne dreams and caviar wishes—on a Krogh’s Brew Pub budget. I learn to embrace the ranch house vernacular.


• Interviewing a replacement architect. (February 4)


• Meeting with Dan Keller of George J. Keller and Sons. He brings samples of roofing, siding and decks, promising: “We can do it all for you.” (February 22)

March 2008

• Hiring Todd Lendt to provide drawings for Casa de Roo. We explain to The Todd that because I follow the principle of, “that which isn't forbidden is allowed,” part of his job is to say “no” to what Matt calls my “hair-brained schemes.” (March 1, 2008)


• Sending a request for bid with a partial set of close-to-final drawings, along with our list of expectations, to “Local Guy,” Keller and Wasko. (March 14)


• Renting a dumpster enables us to begin doing demolition ourselves. (March 15)


• Having only one builder meet our March 24 deadline for bids: Wasko. (March 22)


• Showing The Todd some of our structural concerns; he believes we should hire a structural engineer, which we agree to do following further demolition. (March 28)


• Interviewing Ali (AKA, “The Chem”), a potential builder recommended to us by the father of a friend. We give him an opportunity to bid. (March 29)

April 2008

• Welcoming arrival of the second dumpster. (April 4)


• Showing foundation issues we’ve uncovered to Wasko; Steve suggests we hire a structural engineer and recommends Harry Braich of Apex Group, Inc. (April 4)


• Getting final drawings from The Todd. (April 12)


• Dispersing drawings to Keller, Wasko, The Chem and Local Guy for bidding; also sending a copy to Harry. (April 14)


• Having Harry do first round of structural inspections. (April 17)


• Having Harry do another, more in-depth round of inspections to our home, resulting in the Structural Engineering Report. (April 22)


• Reviewing revised bid from Wasko, which doesn’t include structural work. It is several thousands of dollars more than what we had hoped to spend, but not totally out of the question. (April 26)


• Reviewing estimate from Keller. It lists out all the work to be performed, but doesn’t have a cost breakdown. (Structural issues aren’t included.) We feel confident that his firm would do a good job, and we like Dan; however, the price comes in at about $65,000 above what we had hoped to spend. (April 30).

May 2008

• Discussing the bid from Local Guy, while showing him the work we’d done in terms of demolition. His bid includes cost breakdowns and allowances. The cost, however, is about $115,000 more than what we hoped to spend for the stripped down version of our plans, and that is before he addresses structural issues. The price seemed to be jacked up to cover the “pain and suffering” he believes our site causes, to which we have often remarked (behind his back, of course): “Quit your whining Local Guy.” Even though I like and trust the guy, his firm is not getting the job. I feel strangely sad. (May 2)


• Reviewing the structural bid from Wasko confirms that our problems will require about $25,000 to fix, a price higher than but not that grossly out of line with Harry’s estimate. (May 7)


• Bidding au revoir to The Chem. Since meeting him, he disappeared more than once, making seemingly unscheduled but emergency trips to Florida. He has no business card. While his price on the May 6 bid is low, we wonder: At what cost? For example, his proposal only provides numbers covering labor; he wants us to buy all materials. We’d seen enough episodes of Holmes on Homes to know this isn’t the builder for us. (Mid-May)


• Meeting between Wasko and Matt is very productive. (May 16)


• Insulting our taste seems to be the way Helen thinks she is going to gain us a client. Um, let me back up a moment. I met a guy at a party who had a wife who knew a contractor who installed metal roofs. Seemed like a good contact for us to have. Helen showed up with the potential roofer for a meeting with Matt. Not only was her presence in our home unexpected, her opinions about the décor choices for our home were uninvited.
  
  The way Matt tells it, she made known that our color choices were inappropriate for how she felt we should live. Although our home is currently various shades of purple, she suggested we should be featuring rust. Note: We are not a fan of this color family. We will be installing a standing seam metal roof. She thought this was the wrong approach. Why not Mediterranean-style tiles that are actually made of metal? Note: We don’t like one building material impersonating another. If you are not made of clay, don’t pretend to be. If you are composite decking, don’t sport a wood grain. We are not building a faux château. Matt explained our design would continue to be “cozy modern.” She disagreed with this choice. Meanwhile, her roofing contact failed to bring product samples. Will we be hiring this pair? No, we will not. Especially since they never followed up. (May 16)


• Hiring Wasko for both the structural and renovation work, which ought to make both phases of the project come together seamlessly. Part of reducing costs involves Matt and I doing some of the work ourselves. We are ready to roll up our sleeves! (May 31)