Choosing a builder

Over the summer, Anthony met with four different construction companies, all who would take responsibility for the overall project by employing subcontractors. Of the four companies, two were large contractors and two were smaller contractors (there are pros and cons to both sizes). Anthony also met with the original local builder who had already provided me with two quotes, and asked him to provide an updated quote based on the exact spec we put together.

Each contractor spent a couple of hours at the house with Anthony and two of them (the smaller contractors) provided a full quote for the job. One of the large contractors gave a quote for their management fee along with a very rough estimate of costs, but wouldn't expand on that unless the management fee was paid, and the other large contractor didn't provide a quote. I wanted a full quote so both of the larger contractors were ruled out first. The positive side of working with a large contractor would have been their high level of professionalism and lower level of input required from Anthony, however there would also have been very little flexibility to adjust or modify things once work began (flexibility being the positive side of working with a smaller contractor).

The local builder decided the job wasn't for him as he had reservations about signing a contract, which isn't the way he's used to working. Since I purchased the house he has been a big part of my journey, recommending many of the people I've worked with and popping over to fix things that have gone wrong with the house. It's a difficult situation as I know he spent a lot of time and effort putting together the previous quotes, and I trust he would have done a good job, however I realised over time that it's important for me to work with a contract in place especially as the renovation work is going to cost much more than I first expected. As I met the local builder when I first purchased the house and he recommended the architect, it was difficult situation from the start - it would have been much easier if I had selected an architect first, put a contract in place and then found a builder once I knew exactly what I wanted.

So this left two quotes to choose between. In the end it was a fairly easy choice as one of the quotes came in much higher than the other, and although the contractor who sent the higher quote would likely have needed less input, this wasn't worth the extra amount of money to me. The contractor I chose, PACA Construction, is open to adjusting things along the way and they built a good relationship with Anthony from the start - both of which are important to me.

There have been a number of big decisions that have been made by speaking with all of the contractors, including lifting the roof to make room for the air-con, the air-con system itself and deciding on the type of windows and doors. I have also decided to move the septic tank. The septic tank that was installed when I purchased the house was placed right in front of the bedroom doors, and as the plumbing is all being redone with the renovation, it makes sense to move this to a more discreet location (it's frustrating it wasn't placed in a more discreet location in the first place).

The other issues that still need fixing, and haven't been included in the quote, are the system d'arrosage and the swimming pool. The swimming pool has a very old liner that has been repaired several times and while there are a few different options for repairing the pool, a specialist pool company has recommended forming a fibreglass internal structure within the existing pool as the best option. This is something I will come back to once the main work starts.

So after what feels like a very long time of getting to this point, I am finally ready to sign the contract and begin the renovation!