Tuesday, February 17, 2004
1st Days Blog, Frustration 101
Ok Here we go ! Just thought that I would express my "FRUSTRATIONS" by letting all of you out there know what its like to build a new house from scratch!
Well, in reality I am a little behind the ball here as I actually started the process of planning the house in July 2003.
In the beginning
We were discussing upgrading our country house and felt that for about $100,000 Canadian we would be in a position to add a large extension to our existing country house and upgrade it to a full time/year round home. This would enable us to sell our other property and work from our country house, as I had recently started my own internet based business www.metawatch.ca and no longer needed to be in the city to go to work daily.
The First Drawings, but not the last....
I set to creating an existing drawing of the house so I could create an add-on that could be quoted on by various contractors. I found a great little design program called 3D home architect and started the process. Measuring the house, each room, elevations etc....
After this initial process, time came to review the drawings and upgrades with the little lady of the home.... I am now at revision 200+ with no known limit in site to changes......
The first Project Plan
To make the process of bidding easier for the contractors I felt I could build a project plan detailing all of the steps necessary to perform the upgrade. This would also allow me to develop a time scale for the project length....
So what was on this list.... Simple
a) Raise the house
b) Re-Build Foundation (Add Basement & Plumbing)
c) Add Extension to house
d) New Well
e) New Septic System.
f) New Floors
g) New Walls
h) New Ceilings
Getting the picture.....
Well it ended up being a 200 step process when each of the above areas were broken down....
The First Spreadsheet
Well being this well planned out individual, I had to create a detailed project plan where we could review all estimated costs and track expenditures. (Over 200 Line items)......
The First Quotes
As I mentioned earlier, we had started this process in July 2003, (In QUEBEC, CANADA) where the contractors take off for Vacation in the end of July.....
Franglais
Oh, did I forget to tell you that we don't speak French, and virtually all contractors in Quebec are Francophone. Yup, one little more complication to add to the mix.... We decided to do as the locals do and we asked for local reputable contractors to quote on the job.... Well they all spoke French...
Not to be swayed by this little language problem I decided that my broken French and their efforts to speak English (Which were pretty good) in comparison would overcome any difficulties we may encounter....."Are you laughing yet ?"
September 1st Quotes Continued
Yup, almost 2 months have passed since we sent out a quote package to multiple contractors, with the hopes of starting to build in October 2003. 1st of all, every contractor laughed and started their responses by I hope you are not intending to build this year !
None the less we marched on hopeful that we would prevail.
Quote Review
Well, 1st of all 50% of the contractors had decided to quote on building a new house and the other 50% decided to quote on the additions we had asked for......
Remember our hope up upgrading for 100K. Well that went out the door in about 5 seconds.....
We had a mixed review, where those contractors who initially said they would perform the upgrade came back and said that they felt a rebuild was in order.....
Hmm.. Looks like a re-build was in order......
No Problem, I just updated my spreadsheet, and continued to move toward finalizing the costs.
Why not give our old house away and save demolition costs ?
OK, why give all this demolition money to contractors, who will probably sell me back my own wood from the first house to build a second house ? We'll give our house away to one of our neighbor's, as good Samaritans, and maybe along the way save a few $ in demolition costs. Hmm.... well our neighbour jumped at the idea, only to find out moving costs (200Ft) for the house and foundations costs and land surveryor cost would probably put the total cost for a free house in excess of $60,000.... Well not such a great deal eh ? (Rebuild costs for the house were running in the order of $120,000....
Land Surveyor
OOPS, forgot to mention the new house is to be built on waterfront property, where the water levels vary each year due to a "DAM" located 1.5 km upstream. This means we needed to have a flood plane drawing created showing both 20 year and 100 year flood levels. Onto this plan was added the location of a new well, septic system, and house location. All of which had strict requirements with reference to distances and locations from each other as well as water and neighbours.
Building permits
OK, its 23rd of September and we have successfully met all pre-requisites for the local building inspector and have obtained out building permits for House upgrade, Well, and septic System. Valid for 1 year from date of issue.......
Kitchens and Bathrooms & Carpets, and Heating and...
Well, the local contractor gave us a list of his favorite local contractors for the above, and all we needed to do was to drop buy and pick out our favorite items for kitchens and baths...Etc...
Well since they don't give you quotes on the spot, as you are dealing through a contractor, we pick out our items we are accustomed to and voila (Our house costs just went up $35,000 )
Building Delayed
Well I mentioned earlier that no one wanted to build until next year and that's the case. The one contractor who provided us the low bid came though and has decided to start tearing down the old house in Mid March (15th), 2004
The Great Internet Search
Well after version 200+ on the interior drawings I had made (Very extensive including every outlet etc...) I decided that there must be something better than this squared block house I had built. When looking at the drawing the house looked like a rectangle with absolutely no aesthetic value.
Virtually a block house !
OK, even though I had spent the last 4 months of my life toiling over these drawings and room sizes as well as the negotiations with the contractor, I said I have a few months before we begin, so why not take the time to review what some real architects have done.
Oh MY GOD ! There are some really beautiful homes out there ! Yes, no I went through every imaginable web site and house drawing (1000s) trying to find the perfect home..... Guess what I found ! Almost an exact copy of the home I am currently living in, a little smaller, (We Wanted That) and can be purchased (Drawings) for a price cheaper that that of getting a local architect to draw up our modifications we had asked for...... Great...... Now all we need to do is get the contractor to agree to build this new house for the same price, and get new building permits, and get new quotes for Kitchen and both, and heating, and .........
Don't freak out the Contractor
Now that we were thinking of changing the plans from a modest rebuild of the same building to a complete tear down and re-build operation 4 weeks before the contractor was/is to start working we needed a strategy to keep these guys happy so they don't pull out. First and foremost was to enlist the aid of a Francophone speaking friend (Thanks Rene) to ensure that what we were about to communicate wasn't mis-represented and didn't freak them out. Second was to ensure that the message was written in French (Translated) and 3rd, it was sent via registered mail. (It just seemed like we needed to register this important message).
Plan Executed
The plan worked perfectly, the contractors seemed a little confused, that we were still working on the old drawings and quotes, but asking them for pricing for this new house.... So, here we go, on the path to a new house build without having firm pricing. What the contractors recognized was that these wacky Anglophones had managed to select plumbing and kitchen cabinets that they would have never dreamed could have cost so much, and now 4 weeks later have decided to throw out 6 months of work and start a new house rebuild project. (What they did next was very smart.... We now have a cost plus contract versus a fixed price contract !!! Go Figure )
The beginning of the end.. Drawings en route....
Well I have just begun the process of house build # 2. Ordered the drawing last week from NEBRASKA and am tracking their location via UPS 1Z68x0956841686937 . Track them if you wish along with me.... http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/index.jsx.
Updated Surveyor Drawings
Well the surveyor needed a perimeter measurement of the house so I sent him a email yesterday, after waiting 2 days to get a copy via fax from the contractor. We are trying to get the drawings finished before Wednesday, as the city Building inspector who needs to approve them to get a building permit only works 1 day per week ! Got a call this morning letting me know that they only got the cover sheet. (In reality , it was 1 tiff file with 2 pages) but I sent them a FAX rather than educating them about Tiff file and MS fax viewers.
Oh where oh where has my contractor index gone !
I have now spent 3 hours looking for the list of all of the contractors we need to visit to get everything done within 1 month before they start construction. The file is lost and I need to get the contractor to send me another copy... SH...It...
Distance is everything
Did I tell you I live in Ottawa and am building the house 150 KM away... SO everyone I need to see and talk to is a 1.5 hour drive away !
Ok Here we go ! Just thought that I would express my "FRUSTRATIONS" by letting all of you out there know what its like to build a new house from scratch!
Well, in reality I am a little behind the ball here as I actually started the process of planning the house in July 2003.
In the beginning
We were discussing upgrading our country house and felt that for about $100,000 Canadian we would be in a position to add a large extension to our existing country house and upgrade it to a full time/year round home. This would enable us to sell our other property and work from our country house, as I had recently started my own internet based business www.metawatch.ca and no longer needed to be in the city to go to work daily.
The First Drawings, but not the last....
I set to creating an existing drawing of the house so I could create an add-on that could be quoted on by various contractors. I found a great little design program called 3D home architect and started the process. Measuring the house, each room, elevations etc....
After this initial process, time came to review the drawings and upgrades with the little lady of the home.... I am now at revision 200+ with no known limit in site to changes......
The first Project Plan
To make the process of bidding easier for the contractors I felt I could build a project plan detailing all of the steps necessary to perform the upgrade. This would also allow me to develop a time scale for the project length....
So what was on this list.... Simple
a) Raise the house
b) Re-Build Foundation (Add Basement & Plumbing)
c) Add Extension to house
d) New Well
e) New Septic System.
f) New Floors
g) New Walls
h) New Ceilings
Getting the picture.....
Well it ended up being a 200 step process when each of the above areas were broken down....
The First Spreadsheet
Well being this well planned out individual, I had to create a detailed project plan where we could review all estimated costs and track expenditures. (Over 200 Line items)......
The First Quotes
As I mentioned earlier, we had started this process in July 2003, (In QUEBEC, CANADA) where the contractors take off for Vacation in the end of July.....
Franglais
Oh, did I forget to tell you that we don't speak French, and virtually all contractors in Quebec are Francophone. Yup, one little more complication to add to the mix.... We decided to do as the locals do and we asked for local reputable contractors to quote on the job.... Well they all spoke French...
Not to be swayed by this little language problem I decided that my broken French and their efforts to speak English (Which were pretty good) in comparison would overcome any difficulties we may encounter....."Are you laughing yet ?"
September 1st Quotes Continued
Yup, almost 2 months have passed since we sent out a quote package to multiple contractors, with the hopes of starting to build in October 2003. 1st of all, every contractor laughed and started their responses by I hope you are not intending to build this year !
None the less we marched on hopeful that we would prevail.
Quote Review
Well, 1st of all 50% of the contractors had decided to quote on building a new house and the other 50% decided to quote on the additions we had asked for......
Remember our hope up upgrading for 100K. Well that went out the door in about 5 seconds.....
We had a mixed review, where those contractors who initially said they would perform the upgrade came back and said that they felt a rebuild was in order.....
Hmm.. Looks like a re-build was in order......
No Problem, I just updated my spreadsheet, and continued to move toward finalizing the costs.
Why not give our old house away and save demolition costs ?
OK, why give all this demolition money to contractors, who will probably sell me back my own wood from the first house to build a second house ? We'll give our house away to one of our neighbor's, as good Samaritans, and maybe along the way save a few $ in demolition costs. Hmm.... well our neighbour jumped at the idea, only to find out moving costs (200Ft) for the house and foundations costs and land surveryor cost would probably put the total cost for a free house in excess of $60,000.... Well not such a great deal eh ? (Rebuild costs for the house were running in the order of $120,000....
Land Surveyor
OOPS, forgot to mention the new house is to be built on waterfront property, where the water levels vary each year due to a "DAM" located 1.5 km upstream. This means we needed to have a flood plane drawing created showing both 20 year and 100 year flood levels. Onto this plan was added the location of a new well, septic system, and house location. All of which had strict requirements with reference to distances and locations from each other as well as water and neighbours.
Building permits
OK, its 23rd of September and we have successfully met all pre-requisites for the local building inspector and have obtained out building permits for House upgrade, Well, and septic System. Valid for 1 year from date of issue.......
Kitchens and Bathrooms & Carpets, and Heating and...
Well, the local contractor gave us a list of his favorite local contractors for the above, and all we needed to do was to drop buy and pick out our favorite items for kitchens and baths...Etc...
Well since they don't give you quotes on the spot, as you are dealing through a contractor, we pick out our items we are accustomed to and voila (Our house costs just went up $35,000 )
Building Delayed
Well I mentioned earlier that no one wanted to build until next year and that's the case. The one contractor who provided us the low bid came though and has decided to start tearing down the old house in Mid March (15th), 2004
The Great Internet Search
Well after version 200+ on the interior drawings I had made (Very extensive including every outlet etc...) I decided that there must be something better than this squared block house I had built. When looking at the drawing the house looked like a rectangle with absolutely no aesthetic value.
Virtually a block house !
OK, even though I had spent the last 4 months of my life toiling over these drawings and room sizes as well as the negotiations with the contractor, I said I have a few months before we begin, so why not take the time to review what some real architects have done.
Oh MY GOD ! There are some really beautiful homes out there ! Yes, no I went through every imaginable web site and house drawing (1000s) trying to find the perfect home..... Guess what I found ! Almost an exact copy of the home I am currently living in, a little smaller, (We Wanted That) and can be purchased (Drawings) for a price cheaper that that of getting a local architect to draw up our modifications we had asked for...... Great...... Now all we need to do is get the contractor to agree to build this new house for the same price, and get new building permits, and get new quotes for Kitchen and both, and heating, and .........
Don't freak out the Contractor
Now that we were thinking of changing the plans from a modest rebuild of the same building to a complete tear down and re-build operation 4 weeks before the contractor was/is to start working we needed a strategy to keep these guys happy so they don't pull out. First and foremost was to enlist the aid of a Francophone speaking friend (Thanks Rene) to ensure that what we were about to communicate wasn't mis-represented and didn't freak them out. Second was to ensure that the message was written in French (Translated) and 3rd, it was sent via registered mail. (It just seemed like we needed to register this important message).
Plan Executed
The plan worked perfectly, the contractors seemed a little confused, that we were still working on the old drawings and quotes, but asking them for pricing for this new house.... So, here we go, on the path to a new house build without having firm pricing. What the contractors recognized was that these wacky Anglophones had managed to select plumbing and kitchen cabinets that they would have never dreamed could have cost so much, and now 4 weeks later have decided to throw out 6 months of work and start a new house rebuild project. (What they did next was very smart.... We now have a cost plus contract versus a fixed price contract !!! Go Figure )
The beginning of the end.. Drawings en route....
Well I have just begun the process of house build # 2. Ordered the drawing last week from NEBRASKA and am tracking their location via UPS 1Z68x0956841686937 . Track them if you wish along with me.... http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/index.jsx.
Updated Surveyor Drawings
Well the surveyor needed a perimeter measurement of the house so I sent him a email yesterday, after waiting 2 days to get a copy via fax from the contractor. We are trying to get the drawings finished before Wednesday, as the city Building inspector who needs to approve them to get a building permit only works 1 day per week ! Got a call this morning letting me know that they only got the cover sheet. (In reality , it was 1 tiff file with 2 pages) but I sent them a FAX rather than educating them about Tiff file and MS fax viewers.
Oh where oh where has my contractor index gone !
I have now spent 3 hours looking for the list of all of the contractors we need to visit to get everything done within 1 month before they start construction. The file is lost and I need to get the contractor to send me another copy... SH...It...
Distance is everything
Did I tell you I live in Ottawa and am building the house 150 KM away... SO everyone I need to see and talk to is a 1.5 hour drive away !
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