Builder C

We met up with Builder C at our property, by his request.  That was actually pretty fun because we got to show him our property and he really got to understand where we were going to build and how our home would sit on the property.  It definitely gave him a much better understanding of the project over Builder A or B.  Builder C was recommended to us by my dad – one of his good friends used him to build a home in the San Juan Islands and raved about him.  In fact, Builder C builds a lot of homes on the San Juan’s but also does some work around Seattle as well.  He started his career 32 years ago in the northwest as a carpenter, became a finish carpenter, and started his own general contracting company because he felt that he could do a better job than the generals that he was working for.  Although he subs out some of the trades, he still completes a lot of the work himself and will basically act as both the general contractor and a sub on the project. It’s apparent that he stays 100% focused on the project he’s working on – only taking on one project at a time.  He’s there every day ensuring that things are done correctly, keeping in mind the project as a whole.

Schedule

We didn’t discuss how Builder C manages the schedule – but we would definitely be meeting weekly or more with him on site to discuss the schedule, budget, and the construction progress.  The time he estimates it will take to build our house is about 12 months.  That’s more than Builder B but the same as Builder A.  The difference between Builder A & C is that C would be taking his time and building a lot of the house himself which takes longer, and Builder A would be subbing all of the work out to crews of people.

Contract & Cost

He took a full sized plan set home with him and in the next few weeks he will put together a preliminary budget for the house.  His contracting was a little difficult to understand, but from what we gather, it’s cost + percentage.  He figures out a true budget ahead of time though and will stay within that budget though. He doesn’t charge for change orders, unless it’s something outrageous.  We definitely like that he doesn’t nickel and dime us on every little thing. Builder C did say that generally his projects are approximately $150-$200 per square foot.

Deposit

Builder C doesn’t charge a deposit if we wanted to work with him.  But he’s actually deciding if he wants to work with us as well!  Over the next few weeks he’ll think about taking on a year long project that’s not in the San Juan’s and see if that’s something he wants to do.  I get it – who wouldn’t want to spend boatloads of time on the San Juan’s…it’s gorgeous up there!  So we’ll see how it progresses, if we like his budget and if he chooses to work on our house.