Home Building - Dealing with Vendors

There seem to be two completely different types of vendors.  No gray areas were encountered:  either we liked them or we hated them.  Below I break down each type.

We get the distinct impression many these vendors don't work for us.  Cases in point:

• The majority of them are open fewer hours than a bank.  Most of them are done for the day at 4:30PM.  They don't open any earlier than 9:AM. 
• The first tile vendor we spoke to was rude on the telephone and totally inflexible on setting a schedule.  We changed tile vendors.
• We initially burned through our appliance budget with a 40% overage.  This was mostly due to a misunderstanding that a refrigerator was not included.  The builder asked the vendor to work with us to get the costs lower.  This involved recommending appliance models that were cheaper, and with fewer capabilities, rather than looking for additional discounts.  Perhaps we weren't realistic with our expections, but we were, and are, in the middle of an historical recession.  We made concessions, but the vendor never did.  We have shopped around, and have found ways to save approximately 10% with a different vendor;  perhaps the first vendor will re-consider.
• The worst by far was the lighting retailer.  The first sales representative we were met did a poor job of taking notes, as we watched him scribble down part numbers in the margins of his order form.  Predictibly, the first pass at the order was way off.  There were incorrect model numbers and there were correct model numbers with incorrect prices.  After exchanging this order form via email about four or five times, I finally asked for another representative to handle our account.  This second representative met me at the home under construction and we proceeded to walk through the home with the order.  Finally, I thought, we were on the path to getting this thing squared away.  Of course, there ended up being an issue with the order again.  This was addressed by Kim going to the showroom to pick out the one light that seemed to be giving this rep such a problem.  Done now?  Of course not, as there was a problem with one of the prices and we blew through that budget by about 25%.  I will be at the house when those boxes arrive to doubly-ensure the order is correct as delivered.

On the other hand, the skilled labor has been excellent.  Cases in point:

• Can you screw up a footer for the foundation?  We won't know for several years.  But the foundation is quite straight and looks strong enough to be a fallout shelter.  It is 12" thick all of the way around and has some steel re-enforcement.  Bolts for the wall bases were cast in to the concrete, allowing the floor joists to be bolted to the foundation walls.
• The carpenters were Amish.  Their work is amazing.  Everything was square and straight from the beginning.  They swept and cleaned up at the end of every day.  No trash in or out, no abandoned nails laying around.  We had seen one of their other unfinished homes, and knew we needed them for this project.  They did not disappoint.
• The electricians were very flexible.  They were sure to stick to code.  They offered subtle advice without seeming to be over bearing.  
• The roofers and drywallers were messy, but competent.
• The trim carpenters were very focused on detail.  They did everything we requested, and more.  One of our less conventional requests was to build dressers in to the closets.  I have this noble goal of having every bit of my clothing stored in the closet, so I was going to need drawer space.  We purchased 3 basic dressers from a local unfinished wood furniture store.  The carpenter incorporated them in to the closets along with built in shelving and the look is seemless.  
• I worked with two other vendors to set up cable television, network cabling, video and intrusion security, and a whole house audio system.  I will save those items for another post.
• The cabinet shop was the most professional of all the vendors.  They were completely comfortable working with us in person (on Saturdays!!) or via email.  They employed software that could render for us two-dimensional illustrations of our planned cabinet selections for all rooms.  Minor changes could be turned around in minutes.  They made excellent suggestions when we had issues with room design and so forth.  This was the single area where we actually came in under budget.
  

So, perhaps the vendors believe they won't see you again after the home has been completed.  Perhaps the skilled labor believes you'll use them on a future project if you're happy with their services.  I don't know the answer, but do know who I might recommend (or not) in the future.

Teaching a Teenager how to drive

I actually believed I would not have this opportunity in life.  How wrong was I? 

The oldest has typically strong desires to learn to drive a car.  Unlike myself, her motivating factor appears to be solely the independence that an automobile delivers.  When I was her age, I just liked the idea of piloting a machine, any machine.  Car, boat, lawn mower, it didn't matter as long as I got to put it through its paces.

I heard early on how her paternal grandfather offered to let her drive (and prior to doing so legally - who hasn't done that?).  I guess he had her in tears within five minutes.  I hereby strive to never be the cause of that.

My early lessons with the teenager have been gently corrective in nature.  I just look at the one thing she is most struggling with, and suggest how it could be done easier.  That was, until I watched her run the car in reverse.  Now I know how I hit that tree in my parents old driveway three or four times before we moved.  Why did I believe it fine to look forward while traveling in reverse?  So, I have to remind her each time to look over her shoulder has she eases the car back.  We'll get there.

One thing that seemed to help her greatly was to look where she wanted to go.  It just seemed to me she focused on a spot in the road about twenty feet ahead, even in the turns. 

There was a time I thought I would be able to teach her how to drive with a standard transmission, since we have one in our family.  One evening while I was driving, I suggested she put her telephone down for a moment in order to watch me shift.  I then proceeded to run through the gears as we left an intersection.  She then asked "so, you press that thing with your foot before you move this thing?".  Well, yes, I replied.  She said okay, and went back to her telephone.

As I said before, her motivating factors don't match mine from 35 years ago.  But we'll get there.

Building a Home

My wife and I are in the process of building a home.  We were married about 18 months ago, and currently live in my home where I have been for 22 years.  Things are tight and we're in need of space.  This small home was perfect for me, but it just doesn't accommodate our lifestyles today.

We're also in need of a better location.  Her daughters attend schools in a district approximately 30 minutes from our home, and the traffic is not light. 

I have managed to accumulate things through the years.  We now have three cars (for two drivers?), three motorcycles (for one rider?!?), a ski boat, a motorcycle trailer, a fish, and four dogs. 

So, in no particular order, we needed a lot more space in a specific school district with a fenced yard.  With the real estate market in shambles, we were positioned well with adequate down payment funds to look for existing homes as strong buyers.  We looked at dozens of homes using on line resources, and toured several of the houses that seemed as if they met our needs.  In the end, we found a floor plan we liked, but not in the right location.  We found a few homes we liked in the right location, but always lacked whatever it would take to lead us to make an offer.

We also found a neighborhood with large lots, perfect location, and reasonable rules on fencing.  The lots were owned by a builder who preferred to build for us, rather than sell a lot to us out right.  We spent hours in his model homes that were built, or being built, on spec.  One was nearly finished, and magnificent.  Another was framed and under roof, and the craftsmanship on the framing was amazing.  At that point, we thought strongly about this builder, and set about putting together a floor plan that met our needs.

As we thought about floor plans, we had a few basic parameters from which to work.  We wanted a great-room arrangement with no traditional living room.  We wanted a first-floor master suite.  We wanted a space where dogs could be isolated while we were gone.  We wanted plenty of light to enter the home from all four sides.  I wanted an over sized garage.  My wife wanted a loft where the girls could entertain.  I believed our budget dictated a limit of 3,000 square feet.

Using these parameters we searched through two or three floor plan books that we purchased at a local book mart.  As can be expected, most plans are aimed for the 90th percentile, and none came with a space to isolate dogs or a particularly over sized garage.  We dog-eared three plans that came close, and took them to an architect.

The builder's architect was an old racquetball foe, so we already had a good relationship.  Using our plan books and parameters, we made several revisions to preliminary plans through the ensuing months, and eventually landed on something that met all of our needs.  I thought there were a couple of awkward aspects of the plan, but trusted the architect to do his work.

As we started to work through the contract, we began meeting with some of the vendors that would be involved.  At some point we made a verbal commitment to the builder, and by early June, 2009, a hole had been dug on the lot we had chosen.  Yes, it is true, the contract was not signed, and no down payment had been made (other than an initial check to the architect).

The "hole" represented an end point to much of the planning process, and a beginning point to the next part of this odyssey.  And though there was no ink on paper at that point, the hole also represented an emotional attachment to the project, and somewhat of a moral obligation to see it through.  It made me nervous.