Holy stressful. With all of the quotes in it was time to go over them with a fine tooth comb and try and compare apples to apples. It was pretty much impossible. To make the final decision easier we broke the project into two phases and are asking 2 builders to quote on the main construction phase. Because we don’t have drawings or clear plan for finishes yet, most of the finishing estimate is total guesswork anyway. Assumptions about flooring and cabinets can make a significant difference to final costs.
The first phase would be the design, permits, and lift of the house as well as the following:
- completion to primed drywall
- exterior doors and windows
- rough in plumbing to shut-offs,
- completion of wiring with basic fixtures
- reinstallation of furnace & hot water
- Rainscreen on addition and basement exterior walls.
- Sprinklers in basement and kitchen (we have to assume this will be required)
The finishing will be a second phase. This will include cabinets, flooring, and fixtures. We feel that this approach lets us work during the design phase to create a more detailed finishing plan and make better budget decisions. We would make our final decision on phase two once the house is back down and we get a better idea of how much money we have to work with and how much we might have to do on our own. We recognize that in the initial phase there could be challenges with the lift, excavation, and foundation that swing the budget dramatically and could affect our finishing budgets.
We have eliminated two builders easily enough.
- $150,000 kitchen was out because they obviously mistook us for someone else. Their scope budget was the vaguest of the bunch as well with very few details. Their process is to do the budget after you sign the contract. Despite the bottom end of their range being in budget we just felt that there was too much risk there. It was also the only company that sent a consultant out. All other builders we dealt with an owner so it didn’t really feel like a fit for us.
- The second outfit not to make the cut was way out of our price range. Like way. We have seen lots of their work and it is all high quality. They specialize in homes like ours and older so are super qualified on character and heritage renos, but also used to working with folks in a different snackbracket. They also included a bunch of stuff in their quote that we had said were going to handle. I guess they are not used to clients trying to save a few bucks with some DIY but it was pretty clear in our scope so was disappointing they missed it. If we are going to pay anyone $20K for painting my basement, i’ll fly the offspring home from Montreal, feed her for a few weeks and send her home with $15K in her pocket and keep the change.
We have a third candidate that is on the edge. He also included a bunch of work that Sarah and i plan to complete but since he is close and gave us a really clear breakdown, we are giving him a chance to adjust his quote to align with our two main candidates.
We did get out for a walk and found two more reference covered decks. We particularly liked this one that featured a chandelier.
Classy deck!