We Have A Builder!!!

We are so excited!!! We have finally signed a contract with a builder. After months of getting quotes and meeting over 6 different builders, we have finally found a builder with the right price. I have to admit, that at times we despaired over ever getting the renovations done at all.

We got our fully approved plans late December last year, and despite calling on a few builders, some recommended by friends, and other people in the industry, we just could not find one with the right price. It has been so frustrating. It seemed like as soon as people heard the suburb we live in, they automatically added another 20% to the price. A friend who had done some renovations as an owner builder told us it's the EST - Eastern Suburb Tax. We tried everything we could think of to get an honest pricing, but it seemed like there was always something the builder could hide behind, or add to the final price. One builder even quoted us over 20k just for painting alone!!!

At one stage, we even considered being owner-builders. We managed to get a contact of a carpenter, who was looking to get his buidler's license, and was happy to be employed as the supervisor for the entire project. We were so close to hiring him. The contract was drawn up, a start date was scheduled, and then he dropped a bombshell on us - he had been offered full-time work and could no longer be a part of our project.

The builder that we have finally decided to go with - BASBuild, was recommended by a friend of a friend. He is a smaller scale builder and hadn't had any projects lined up for the moment, so our timing was just right. This has probably gotten the pricing we were looking for. He seems to be proud of his work, and has an office in North Adelaide. We have high hopes and hope everything will go according to plan for the renovation. I'm bracing myself for months of stress and craziness but it will be worth it in the end.

Exciting times ahead!!!!

#buildingplans #Basbuild