Monte Leeper
A. It would probably sound insensitive to just answer that construction is expensive, and we all face many challenges. The greatest one is time. The longer you wait, the more factors increase the cost of construction. The good contractors ‹ those who have insurance, take continuing-education courses, do proper upkeep on their tools, pay their employees, return calls and respond to customers¹ difficult requests ‹ struggle to compete against increases in worker¹s-compensation insurance costs. And as of January 2003, the adoption of the International Building Code added a few thousand dollars worth of steel connectors and about $20,000 worth of hurricane-resistant windows to the average home.
Cost is a relative term. Over the past few years, I have seen everything increase. Home values have jumped in the past year alone by 14.1 percent, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. Unfortunately, most homeowners don¹t see their homes as investments, but rather as temporary places to live. So cost takes on a number of different facets. There¹s your current desire to do as little as possible as cheaply as possible, just to fulfill a space need. There¹s your quality-of-life need, in which you place a slightly higher value. There is your long-range economic plan to spend money at today¹s prices so you will never have to go through such a big project again. Few ever consider what gives the highest return on investment, although most know that an improvement makes their home more valuable when they sell.
But will an improvement stand the test of time and be as valuable in say, 20 years, or will it look like a 20-year-old addition that never matched the home¹s architecture? As far as contractors taking your plans and never getting back to you, I¹m hearing a lot of this lately. You paid for these plans, so file a complaint with the county¹s Consumer Affairs Office. A few complaints will cause some contractors to inform you that they don¹t want to bid, instead of taking your plan for the heck of it. Unless contractors are serious enough to leave a deposit for your plans, they consider it your expense for them to bid. It is the least you can invest, since they invest a considerable amount of time to seriously estimate your project. But taking your plans when they never intend to do an estimate is just unfair to you.
And last, stop using the word ³simple.² It¹s just a code word for ³cheap.² Planning to spend little will get you just what you pay for, and from my experience, everyone wants more. Your procrastination has already cost you money, so select one or two contractors you feel comfortable with, give them time to bid, ask for total honesty, and get what you pay for, and what you need. Good luck!
Readers are encouraged to send
questions to: HERALD Homes,
379 Central Avenue, P.O. Box 220, Lawrence, N.Y. 11559-0220
Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.
