One thing we did do is find a builder. We have retained Rex Engel of Engel Construction. He has worked with our architect for about nine years, and the people we talked to who have used him raved about him.
Once we had Rex, we were able to start figuring out accurate cost estimates for the design that Linda Chapman, our architect, had drawn up. Unfortunately, those cost estimates came in well above what we had budgeted. In fact, in order to achieve what we want from the house, the renovation cost is starting to approach the cost of building new. There are also some issues with the house settling after it was originally built. This has led to some foundation problems that would need to be fixed as well as producing a slight slope to the entire house toward the front corner. Last week we brought Rex and Linda back to the house to take a closer look at the foundation and try to estimate the costs of fixing these problems. We also asked Rex to give us an estimate to simply build the place new from scratch. We are still waiting for those estimates to come in. In the meantime, I have spoken again with the bank about financing the building of an entirely new house. We hope to hear back about that this week.
It's been discouraging to see the costs escalate so high. But, we'll forge ahead and see where we come out.
I suppose you could call it a huge learning curve Simon. However, I think if you post your experiences with costs it will help other people making the same sort of decisions. Mum
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