Building Contractors

As energy costs continue to go up steeply many Canadians are looking to renovate to increase the heat efficiency of their homes. This requires an energy audit, one that lays out the inefficiencies in homes built 40 years ago and what it would take to refurbish them into economical domiciles. As the items are addressed they include windows, doors, garage doors, new siding and a solar hot water system. As the number add up many soon see that they could build a more energy-efficient home than the one they are living in now for not much more than it would take to renovate their present home to such standards. However, when they add up the expenses and the discomfort of living through a total renovation a new home begins to look very attractive.

Building New

What scares most people about building a new home is not so much the money but the process. They don't want to make a mistake and as the flurry of new terms bounces around in their heads - mortgage draws, subtrades, permits, building codes, etc. - the sheen of a brand new home wears off in a hurry.

There are pages and page of new innovations in the home magazines and the internet is full of what you should and what you shouldn't do with respect to building a new home. Now, instead of an exciting journey, you begin to look around the old homestead and decide to “make do.” This happens to many people who try to absorb too much information at once.

Building Contractors

But what if there was some one that could sort out the information for you, head you in the right direction and then drive the process? It would have to be some one who did the researching, budgeting, shopping and scheduling, just like you do in your own home. Only this person would be your partner, the angel on you shoulder who presents you with the keys to your dream home in less than 4 months from now. Wouldn't that make you explore building a new home?

In fact that is what a general contractor does. He or she is the “general” of an army of skilled workers who can take a wooded piece of ground and turn it into a showplace. The GC, as they are nick-named, drives the building process and takes the worry and stress off your shoulders.

The Process of Building

Hiring Subtrades: From the first day that the contract is signed the general contractor will begin the process of lining up the subtrades. Good building contractors either have crews on hand or can arrange for tradespeople to perform the job within the time specifications. To get the bid the GC will have had to show the blueprints to these trades for a quote so they will most likely be familiar with the project.

Permits: Contractors do all the legwork with the local authorities to get the permits in order.  In fact a well-respected GC will know people in the permit offices which helps speed things up. It's not that the bureaucrats are dealing in favouritism its more that the GC has everything in order so that the processing time is faster than if you, or someone with less experience, did it yourself.

Building Schedules: The sequencing of events is one of the toughest jobs faced by the GC because many extraneous forces come into play: weather, sickness, permit delay, inspection delay, trades canceling. These are not isolated cases so the GC has to build flexibility into the equation and the time frame. For example, a framing crew in eastern Canada may get a great deal to work in Calgary for twice the wages but they have to leave in 1 week. Although it is not ethical for them to pull out this scenario does happen and the GC can't afford the time to argue about it with them. He or she has to have the depth of connections to either hire a new crew or pull another crew off a job that's ahead of schedule on another site and have them do the framing on this one.

Materials: A god general contractor knows the statistics of all the energy-saving materials on the market. In addition, in accordance with the scheduling, the materials have to arrive at time they are needed. Otherwise interior building supplies delivered before the home is roof-tight may be ruined by a sudden downpour or they might be stolen. Another example is having a paid crew sitting idle because their materials haven't arrived.

On-site Supervision: To be effective the GC has to spend a certain amount of time on-site. This is not because the subcontractors cannot work without a boss. The crews have their own supervisor who is responsible for them. However, each crew or trade is an entity that may or may not know the entire picture at all times. If he is the “general” he should be there to clear up any disagreements that may arise between the trades.

Finishing: Building contractors are just as fussy about the finishing of their projects as any other detail because their reputation is on the line with every home built. Each completed project is a notch on the resume and so it is not unusual to see a GC putting colored masking tape on the walls where the painter missed a spot. In addition, after the keys are handed to you the GC will be there to inspect any other defects that come out only when a home has been lived in.

With all these items to think about when building a new, energy-efficient home the extra expense of hiring a general contractor will pay itself during the building process. To make sure you get hooked up with the right person for your project go through our comprehensive Contractor Directory and post your project. In no time at all you will be contacted by people who want to build your home in the most efficient way possible taking the worry off your shoulders.