Monday, April 12, 2004
Kitchen Update
I had indirectly approved their last quote submitted but needed to approve the last few items (Sink tops, material, design, and sink(s) included, Glaze colors, Knobs, Kitchen Door design).
After a few tense moments (I.E. They tried to denote that integrated sinks were not included in Vanity tops) we agreed to all outstanding items. In the end there was a compromise of approx $3K where I felt they were over charging but this in retrospect to the $7K saved on the auction. Overall it allowed us to get the Granite countertops I wanted..... A lot of negotiations, but it appears the Auction process and subsequent negotiations netted a savings of about 4K......
Heating System
I saw it coming, the quote as expected was higher than estimated by about $1,700.... They had submitted 2 quotes, one for the furnace and one for the "Chimney". The Chimney quote rounded out between 1,600 and 2,000......
After a brief review of furnace models (Oil) I recognized that if you purchase a high efficiency furnace they don not require a vertical chimney as they are so efficient at retaining the heat that an exterior wall vent is all that is needed....I promptly sent the contractor back to the drawing board, and told them to quote a high efficiency furnace.....(No Chimney !)
What no Windows !
Sorry for the delay in updating the site. A lot has been going on this past week. We dropped into town twice to see the progress and pick up some more quotes (All higher of course, than estimates).... We started to see the first signs of a real house developing with the basement walls being completed, 1st Floor, and 1st floor walls going up. When I reviewed the site in detail and entered the basement I took a long gander at the view from the basement and even took a few pictures.
Unfortunately, when I returned home to review the pictures, a small detail was missing from the basement. (NO WATER FACING WINDOWS , beside the sliding door !) I was freaking out, as we had added a sliding door with 2 adjacent windows in our updates. This seemed to me to be more than a little detail to overlook, and this prompted a wild rush of adrenalin, and a thousand images of all of the other small details they may be overlooking....!!!!! So I reviewed every photo I had taken, to explore every nook and cranny of our new house. A few cracks of light here and there but no other major deficiencies. I quickly phoned our contractor to enlighten him to this small detail, at which he denoted it wasn't a mistake. Hmm... I pondered.... What do you mean its not a mistake.....He mumbled something about needing to see alignment with the above windows, etc... A bunch of $^#%$&^ ( I knew I needed to set this guy straight and quickly, so at 03:00a.m. I prepared ,unknown to the contractors, to prepare to visit the building site in Montreal.) I arrived at 07:30 & waited to 08:30a.m. for them to show up at which time I presented them with a 3 page update to quotations we would like to see amended, as well as to provide a lecture on honesty, truth and to find out what really happened to my 2 missing windows.... After a long drawn out explanation it finally slipped that when they were doing the basement he didn't have the quotes for the windows with him, and so wasn't aware of the actual window size. So he just left the full wall there to come back and modify it later once he had the drawings....Since I have a COST + contract..... Sounds like future discussions over price will be forthcoming.......
Pictures Picture Pictures
Ok Ok, Everyone wants to see pictures so here goes !
Basement
Floor
1st Wall
2nd Wall
View from water looking up
View from 1st Floor Looking out at water
4 Walls complete (1st Floor Exterior Wall Complete !)
View from Water 2 (1st 4 walls complete)<br>
Sunrise Save picture to desktop to view completely
I had indirectly approved their last quote submitted but needed to approve the last few items (Sink tops, material, design, and sink(s) included, Glaze colors, Knobs, Kitchen Door design).
After a few tense moments (I.E. They tried to denote that integrated sinks were not included in Vanity tops) we agreed to all outstanding items. In the end there was a compromise of approx $3K where I felt they were over charging but this in retrospect to the $7K saved on the auction. Overall it allowed us to get the Granite countertops I wanted..... A lot of negotiations, but it appears the Auction process and subsequent negotiations netted a savings of about 4K......
Heating System
I saw it coming, the quote as expected was higher than estimated by about $1,700.... They had submitted 2 quotes, one for the furnace and one for the "Chimney". The Chimney quote rounded out between 1,600 and 2,000......
After a brief review of furnace models (Oil) I recognized that if you purchase a high efficiency furnace they don not require a vertical chimney as they are so efficient at retaining the heat that an exterior wall vent is all that is needed....I promptly sent the contractor back to the drawing board, and told them to quote a high efficiency furnace.....(No Chimney !)
What no Windows !
Sorry for the delay in updating the site. A lot has been going on this past week. We dropped into town twice to see the progress and pick up some more quotes (All higher of course, than estimates).... We started to see the first signs of a real house developing with the basement walls being completed, 1st Floor, and 1st floor walls going up. When I reviewed the site in detail and entered the basement I took a long gander at the view from the basement and even took a few pictures.
Unfortunately, when I returned home to review the pictures, a small detail was missing from the basement. (NO WATER FACING WINDOWS , beside the sliding door !) I was freaking out, as we had added a sliding door with 2 adjacent windows in our updates. This seemed to me to be more than a little detail to overlook, and this prompted a wild rush of adrenalin, and a thousand images of all of the other small details they may be overlooking....!!!!! So I reviewed every photo I had taken, to explore every nook and cranny of our new house. A few cracks of light here and there but no other major deficiencies. I quickly phoned our contractor to enlighten him to this small detail, at which he denoted it wasn't a mistake. Hmm... I pondered.... What do you mean its not a mistake.....He mumbled something about needing to see alignment with the above windows, etc... A bunch of $^#%$&^ ( I knew I needed to set this guy straight and quickly, so at 03:00a.m. I prepared ,unknown to the contractors, to prepare to visit the building site in Montreal.) I arrived at 07:30 & waited to 08:30a.m. for them to show up at which time I presented them with a 3 page update to quotations we would like to see amended, as well as to provide a lecture on honesty, truth and to find out what really happened to my 2 missing windows.... After a long drawn out explanation it finally slipped that when they were doing the basement he didn't have the quotes for the windows with him, and so wasn't aware of the actual window size. So he just left the full wall there to come back and modify it later once he had the drawings....Since I have a COST + contract..... Sounds like future discussions over price will be forthcoming.......
Pictures Picture Pictures
Ok Ok, Everyone wants to see pictures so here goes !
Basement
Floor
1st Wall
2nd Wall
View from water looking up
View from 1st Floor Looking out at water
4 Walls complete (1st Floor Exterior Wall Complete !)
View from Water 2 (1st 4 walls complete)<br>
Sunrise Save picture to desktop to view completely
