Ok – some of you asked for the whole story. Here it goes.We live in a small southern town. Our builder is about 40 yrs old , his dad was a premier builder and he grew up building. He is definitely the best builder in our area. He has done extensive renovation work for us and we have never been anything but very pleased at the results. THE HOUSE is 5500 sf. He quoted us 175 to start but now says it will be 200 per sf. He gave us a detailed list of remaining costs which were ridiculously high. If we did it all, the house would be near 250 per ft. My husband met with another builder we know in another nearby town to ask for advice. He was apalled at some of the figures. FOr example , we were planning a pool house ( guest house – apt for our moms or married children) 500 sf and about 500 underneath like a basement ( not finished – just place to store lawn mowers etc.) He quoted 200,000$ to build that!!!!! THe other builder said he could do it for 52,000$. Quite a discrepancy. I’m sure they weren’t comparing apples to apples on every part. Also, building a pigeonaire ( not sureof spelling) – just a brick square structure to enclose a pump. Using our house brick and roof. He quoted $24,000 for that!!!Oh my goodness!!
We do not have a written contract. Just a verbal agreement. I know that was not smart. THis is our first experience of building a house. And with all past experience with our builder, just felt like we could trust him to make it all work. (Yes, I’m the naive homeowner you mentioned).
We are going to make painful choices now. Decided to cut hard wood floors from 10″ to 6″ boards, choose pine interior doors instead of cypress. Trying to decide about using fake beams ( core covered in old wood ) insteaD OF solid wood. I’m waiting for estimate from my tile source for bathroom tile and countertops.
I really want to cut this down. Hate watching my husband so stressed out. I regret choices made earlier. I really appreciate the advice and insight I am finding on this site. THanks for any further help.
Replies
thsi should probably be posted with your other thread,i'm sure you could get some feedback .larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.