Contractor Selection/ Permitting

I think it has been a long time since I last posted, so I wanted to write an update. About a year ago we decided to postpone our addition/ remodel. We needed some time to save up, well -- I am happy to report: Game On!

Today I want to write briefly about the process of finding a contractor and some of the not-so-glamorous addition/ remodel steps you will likely need to take before you break ground.

Selecting a contractor is difficult. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We contacted no less than a dozen contractors. About half of them responded to our initial inquiry. Those who did respond came to our house for a site visit and we reviewed our design plans with them. Of the contractors that came for a site visit, often spending at least an hour speaking about the project with us, about half of them actually followed through with estimates for pricing.

With a few estimates in hand, the next step for us was to reach out to final contenders to have them provide us with references. Yes, we called all the references. We also asked to make sure our contractor carries insurance - he does and was able to supply us the details of that.

After all of that (which took a couple months), we started to nail down the details of the project. Our contractor drew up an initial agreement that included a scope of work. The initial agreement he drew up was way over budget (le sigh), so we worked with our contractor to remove some items from the scope until we had an agreement that was within our price range. We are fortunate that my husband is very handy and can handle many tasks himself (like roofing, and adding windows/ doors). Of course, we definitely need our contractor to help us with the pieces that are way outside of our collective skillset - like the structural engineering piece, the foundation installation, and the framing.

Negotiating and getting the scope of the agreement just right took another few months. Contractors are in huge demand right now, so if you find a good one - you are going to have to try your best to be patient. This goes double if you are working with a smaller outfit. Our contractor takes only 2-4 jobs at a time, so try to plan ahead but expect that you will need to wait your turn.

Next up, since we live at the lake we need to secure a zoning permit from our county in addition to the building permit from our municipality. Yesterday, we submitted our zoning application. Per the county, they expect to process this sort of an application within 10 business days.

There are 2 components:

(1) A Preliminary Site Evaluation (PSE) -- this is basically where they collect a soil sample and test to ensure our septic system is still working as expected. If they find any issues, we would be forced to get a new septic system.

(2) The zoning permit - for this piece we submitted our plat of survey appending with information about where the new addition is going to physically be on the property. The zoning team is just going to check that we are conforming with setback requirements.

Update the zoning permit took 3 weeks to process. Now, our contractor is working to secure the building permit.

Alright party people - for those of you interested in timeline items, here is the rough breakdown.

-Start reaching out to contractors: End of August 2021

-Get contractor references and check them: October 2021

-Select a contractor, obtain initial agreement: November 2021

-Sign agreement and supply initial payment: December 2021

-Send in zoning permit applications: January 2022

-Receive zoning permit: January 31 2022

-Receive building permit: February 28 2022

-Break ground: March 12 2022

Estimated Cost Breakdown for this Stage:

-PSE Application: $65.00

-Zoning Permit Application: $175.00

-Initial Contractor Payment: $35,065.00

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Total: $35,305.00