This was a very frustrating time for us. I knew that we
would need to act on the stabilization as quickly as possible once the purchase
was completed, but we did not have access to the house to bring through the
contractors that we might be interested in. Since we stay very busy with our
business in the summer this was not something that I spent a great deal of time
worrying about.
Once we owned the house, we had a few things that needed
immediate attention. There were no keys to the bungalow, so we had to replace
the locks, and we needed to get the security company out as soon as possible.
We also had to contact IPL and find out what was required to get electricity to
the bungalow. Without electricity nothing could be started on the Horner House
without significant additional expense. Then
came the overwhelming task of finding a contractor to do the work.
I knew that Indiana Landmarks had looked at purchasing the
property for their FLIP Program and obtained estimates as part of that process.
(Unfortunately for them, good for us, the estimates came in too high for the
fund to cover.) So, I called Chad and asked him who had given them the
estimates. I don’t know the history or details, but one of the contractors had
been in the house numerous times over the prior several years. By this time, the
back wall and floors had been down for months and time was of the essence, so I
decided to take a chance and just went with him.
Unfortunately, sometime this past fall our old contractor
went out of business. I was unaware that this had happened until I tried
contacting him in the early winter when I began feeling better. While this does
bring about the issue of needing to find a new company to work with us, I am
happy to say that there have been no other problems for us as a result of this
situation. We had finished the first stage of the stabilization and not yet
begun the second, so even the timing was not detrimental to our project. Now it’s time to leave that in the past and
begin our search for someone new.
To Be Continued…
Next Blog: Why It’s Not Just a Search for a Contractor
We are working with a great contractor for our home remodel in Arlington:
ReplyDeleteEric Giles Withem
Marquis Building Services
Principal
912 Rotherham Circle
Beech Grove, IN. 46107
Cell: 317-714-0021
I used your contractor for my home restoration, as well. I originally got his name from indiana landmarks. The librarian there had a file of contractors that specialize in preservation. Theyve all worked directly with Landmarks and all are comfortable navigating IHPC, which any normal contractor would never be able to do. I would try to stay away from contractors that specialize in remodeling. They will quickly realize they are in over their head once they discover you cant powerwash 130 year old wood or brick, you cant spray paint it either--and yes, that cedar siding is gnarled and splintered, but we arent going to replace it, we're going to preserve it, which takes a lot more effort. I found Bill because two remodelers stopped showing up, both offered a partial refund and stated they should never had taken the job--these were both contractors with over 20 A reviews on Angies List. Email me at batavia3758@gmail.com if you want the list from Landmarks. I think i have it in my email still.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information! I appreciate hearing about what others have gone through. It's already saved us grief. I did get a list from Indiana Landmarks and used that as part of our search, as well as Angie's List, but it's still been a challenge.
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