Contractors

Architect? Check.

Structural Engineer? Check.

Contractor?

Ewwwww, this is where it becomes no fun. Mom and dad did some construction around 8 years ago, and they had a horrible experience. Based on that experience, we want to make sure that our contractors are local (and therefore easy to track down).

Out of the blue at the end of January, when we first started to think about contractors, we received a call from Voge Construction. We met with their rep on Friday, February 16. It was the perfect first meeting: we had no illusions of hiring them, but got a feel for what/how we should ask questions. Mike, the rep, ballparked 300K for the project and a schedule of 3 months.

A week later, we met with Richie Herman, who came highly recommended by our architect David. Great guys. Seemed very thorough. But with a whopping schedule: Out of the house for 4-5 months. That left me stunned for a while.

Last night we met with a rep from Al Lowe Construction, who came recommended from another Bruin alum. It was a very good meeting, though we were hit with the news that the job may last up to 6 months. Sigh. Under the file-it-under-it's-a-small-world heading: Lowe is the son of our family doctor when I was a kid (he took out my tonsils, ferchrissakes). Lisa wants to look no further... The thing of note is that Lowe thinks we can get the structural drawings done quicker with another guy... we'll see.