Now what? Now, the not so fun part: hiring contractors. I am reminded of my single days, when I would go on a date, spend some time, ask some questions, and eventually… let him down easy. I got a lot of referrals, at least three quotes for each aspect, hired some, and broke up with more. Now I realize, building a house is a little like planning a wedding: I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know what people I need to hire, so I interview and get pricing, make a decision, and go on to the next. And much like a wedding… this is going to get expensive… fast. We reduced our guest count, er… square footage, so that it is something we can afford, but as always, the cost is probably double what we thought it would be.First, Grading and Septic. We hired Chris Twisselman (christwisselman@yahoo.com) who we originally found on a flyer on a community bulletin board at the end of the road. At that time, Chis was a disker; disking land to keep the weeds down on large parcels of land. He eventually got his contractor’s license for grading and septic. He was the least experienced, but also had the lowest price. In speaking to other contractors who had worked with him, we decided to take a chance and hire the new guy. He got started right away and was finished within the week. We were scheduled to be out of state the day he broke grounds, and we were SO SAD to miss the groundbreaking of our new project. Chris took photos and sent them to me, keeping me up to date on everything he was doing. The gamble paid off, and we are really happy with all his work. Onward to the foundation and framing!
We hired Reberry Construction (reberryconstruction@yahoo.com). Robert Reberry was a very nice guy, and seems very knowledgeable. After meeting with many framing contractors, I really felt comfortable with Robert and my gut wanted to hire him. Of course, with our tight, tight budget, it all came down to money. The good news was, he gave us the best bid. He told me he could start after Christmas, and was on site on December 30 chalking out the foundation, and digging the footings. He also send me pictures of his work (to make sure he was putting the house in the right place). So helpful! And makes us even more excited to see the changes next time we are up.
We went through Elite Building Materials in Simi Valley (bryn@elitebuildingmaterials.com) for doors and windows. I met the owner and his wife, Bryn and Lacey, when we were selling our travel trailer. We got to talking and since he wanted the trailer, and we wanted windows and doors, we worked a trade. It took a little longer to complete the deal because we hadn’t hired a framer at the time we made the deal. My bad. Bryn has been on top of everything, very knowledgeable, and I can trust his judgement. He ended up helping us purchase windows for my parents’ house, and making custom doors for the bathrooms at our sister location: Hartley Botanica. So far, everything he’s done has been beyond expectations. We will DEFINITELY be using him for any future door, window, and moulding purchases. Highly Recommended.
You may ask, “Why don’t you hire a General Contractor?” That would make things SO MUCH easier. We would love to. Much like hiring a wedding planner, a general contractor will plan your entire wedding, er… building. They work with a network of contractors that they trust, and can pull everything together fast. They see it through from beginning to end, so all we would have to do is turn the key and walk in the door. But all this knowledge, coordination, and hard work does not come without it’s price. And just like a wedding planner will likely be 20% of the cost of your wedding, so too will a General Contractor. Since we are building this from our savings account, our budget is limited. I would hate to get halfway through, and run out of money. So, we will take it step by step, and pay as we go. At the end, we will have a house that is free and clear, and a whole bunch of priceless experience. Win-Win, right?! Fingers crossed. The saga continues…