Ultimate Arbiter of Value

How do you like our new formal title? We're signing a contract that says that's who we are, so it must be so.

I guess I should backtrack a bit.

One of the reasons the blog updates have been few and far between this spring is because we've been saving our energy and our money for our biggest project yet - remodel the breezeway into an indoor space (we even "resolved" to do it for New Years).

Well it turns out that even though we were willing to part with several tens of thousands of dollars, in the scheme of things this is a "small" job and we were having trouble getting contractors to follow though on providing us estimates. We have four design/builders come out, plus one architect, between February and April and finally got them all to give us their proposals about two weeks ago, after a lot of, well, the only real term for it is nagging. Not the best feeling when one is about to hire one of these people.

So it's been a long slog.

But, I'm thrilled to say that we found someone to work with. He was the cheapest, the most highly recommended among the design/builders, the nicest, and the most prepared with ideas and literature on various options. He is also LEED certified, almost obsessive as we are about energy savings and using low/no VOC paints and products, and opts to reuse components when possible to reduce waste and cost.So we are confident that we made a good decision (or, at any rate in case this is a "jinx" scenario, certainly the best decision we could given our options).

In the end, the apparently small scale of the project led us to decide that we did not need a separate architect, given that we were working within an existing footprint. That lowered the cost significantly and let us get a more realistic number up front (rather than forcing us to pay the architect's not-insubstantial fees and only THEN start pricing out contractors).

At this point, we've met with the design/builder who did rough measurements and provided a very rough proposal and estimate. Then we met with him again to go over more specific details, after which he provided a more detailed mock-up. Then we met with him along with some subcontractors (specifically an electrician and carpenter, with input from the heating guy who couldn't attend but has already worked with us and knows our house). This week, we'll meet with him again to select actual products that will influence the cost, and THEN we will get the final estimate and start work. Our goal is to be done by the end of August.

Oh, and our official "title" at the top? On the memorandum of understanding we signed with our design/builder, he noted that all parties will reach an agreement on the appropriate balance of cost, quality, and speed to determine the best value, and that we, the homeowners, are the "ultimate arbiter of value" on the project. Can't resist a title like that.

Next time I'll tell you a little more detail on exactly WHAT we are doing with the breezeway.