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Phases - Bidding

One of the luxuries of having Demery in the profession is a wonderful availability of qualified recommendations for all kinds of trades. If we don't know who to call Demery has a client or fellow architect who can make a good recommendation.

When it came time to plan this project Demery chose a general contractor who she really wanted to work with on the project. She had done several projects with them in the past and enjoyed their working relationship and their approach to building. Early on in our planning they took a set of drawings and gave us a preliminary bid amount of $375,000. It sounded like a lot, but was in line with what we expected and so we went ahead.

Several months later when design was finished and approved we thought it would be prudent to have multiple bids, still rather expecting to go with our original choice of contractor. At that point the bids came in with a range of $550,000-$615,000. YIKES!

Suddenly we had some very difficult choices to make. Drop the project? No, already too invested, we had sold the Altadena house, gave our renter's notice, and invested hundreds of hours and Thousands of dollars in the plans. Ultimately We realized that we would have to become our own general contractors and enlist the help of a contractor who would be willing to help us through the process, oversee the construction and help us to scrimp and save wherever possible while not missing the important details. This turned out to be Jim Stuart who was happy to help us this way.

This turned out to be a very good decision on our part. Since that time Jim has been an invaluable help and we have both been involved with every detail of the construction process. The house is being built by amazing professional builders, but we are there coordinating every step. This only works because Demery and I have the kind of flexible schedules that allow us to spend entire days either at the job site or at a desk getting bids pulled together materials ordered and decisions made.

So, the bidding process continues. Instead of hiring one general contractor who hires all of the sub contractors, we continue to bid each trade as we get through the process. So far so good!

Next Phase: Demolition