From the Ground Up

The last couple of weeks have gone painfully slow.  It is like that when you are anxious to start something but can’t.  We’ve been waiting for the draftsman to finish the blueprints.  While they aren’t completely finished I received the first set late Friday.

They still need to complete the elevation views but with the floor plans sent to us we can now scrutinize the layout for any last minute changes prior to printing out the full scale prints.  In the old days this would have been a face to face meeting with the draftsman.  Today with PDF files and electronic documents it is as simple as an e-mail. 

Even though we plan to make a few changes the basic foundation will not change so this morning I started making some calls for quotes on digging (excavation) and pouring the concrete walls.  Once again the PDF files make obtaining quotes a snap.  What once required every sub contractor to have a full scale blue print has now been replaced with most being able to quote from an electronic drawing.  In the past if you wanted to get (3) quotes on a foundation you needed to mail off, or deliver, (3) sets of blue prints.  Not only does that take a lot of time but it is expensive.  Then getting them back to use for other quoted processes can be a challenge too.

This morning in less than an hour I sent out (6) e-mails to (6) concrete contractors requesting quotes.  Along with the e-mail I sent an electronic PDF file of the foundation pictured below with full dimensions and an electronic scanned document of our lot.

I’m sure you’ve heard it is always best to get (3) quotes on things?  Well if (3) is best (6) is better!  It always amazes me what price differences there are between contractors that are busy and ones that are not.  When my son Joe wanted to pave his driveway this past summer all the quotes were coming in over what he had available to pay.  On the day we were ready to give up the last contractor called and asked what it would take to get the job.  He had a cancellation and his schedule was open for a few days and rather than make no money he figured he could at least make something.  I told him the budget Joe had to work with, which was about 50% below his initial quote, and he said he would do it. 

So while we wait for the final revisions and some elevation views I’ll take advantage of the wonderful world of electronic images and the internet to get the first step of this project quoted……the foundation.