We/I talked to a few builders before we found the guy that built our house. Some of the builders I would let build my house. Others, I would not let build a bird box. One place I grew up was in a new subdivision so I got to watch and walk around houses at all stages of construction which was a real education.
When we were looking at building on our land, all options were on the table, even though I had a gazzilion house sketchs. We looked at modular, SIP, ICF, log homes, a 6x6 PT kit design, Yurts(yes Yurts), etc.
We ruled out modular because the form factor was restrictive for what we wanted to do AND the price was not any better than stick built. You can design around the modular form factor but you have to be clever and really you are constrained by the box. If the house is outside the box thinking, modular keeps you in the box.
We spent quite a bit of time looking at modular and were then looking at log home and a "kit" home that was made locally out of 6x6 PT wood. The PT was CCA and there were already whispers about it being replaced. While I think the scare of CCA wood is way over blown, having a house built of the stuff was asking for resale he..ll. Furthermore, the designs offered, while very energy efficient, were NOT money efficient. We had talked to the designer and he had a house being built so we went to take a look. On the way we stopped at a log home company, took one look, and we were done with them.
Next stop was the PT kit home where we talked with the designer for about 30 minutes. I had all but ruled out this mess but figured we should take a look and verify our thoughts. Twas a good thing we did go and look. We ended spending 2-3 hours talking with the builder for the house and we just clicked. As we left the building site, we look at each other, and we both said, "Did we just find a builder?" :laughing::laughing::laughing:
I went back a week later and spent more time with the builder and long story short he built our house. He became a family friend. :shocked::confused3::laughing::laughing::laughing: THAT does not happen very often does it!
If you cannot get along with a builder, no mater how good they are, walk away. If you have any doubt about the builder's honesty, walk away. You are going to be spending quite a bit of time, and a large some of money with the person, so you have to like and trust them.
Our builder, gave us a price that was based on contractor grade material. He made his profit on that price. If his fixture was $20 and we wanted one that cost $60, we paid the difference and he did not mark up the price. This worked well for us since we were buying the plumbing, lighting, appliances, etc.
Later,
Dan
