Finding a New Contractor – Part 4 - Making the Decision

It has been awhile since we have posted regularly and I will be putting out a general update on Thursday. But since we haven’t talked about the Horner House much in the last few months, I wanted to go ahead and get back to it for all of you who have been so patient with us. So we are going straight to the fourth episode in our search for a contractor…

During our search we met with a number of companies that I believe would have done a good job on not just the Horner House, but our other two homes as well. But in the end there were two that we had to decide between.

The first was VIP Home Solutions. They were suggested to me by a flooring company that I had been talking to. So, I stopped in and asked if they did historical restoration work and was pleasantly surprised to find out that they do. I got to meet the owner and spent close to an hour talking to him about out manifold projects. There were a number of things that impressed me about this company, right from the beginning and all the way through our meeting with them. One thing is that they never had a problem speaking to a woman, and never treated me like I was stupid or outright suggested that it would be better for them to talk to Eric. Sad to say, but that very behavior got a couple of other companies marked off the list. Overall they were knowledgeable, easy to get a hold of, took as much time as needed to answer all of my questions. But most important of all they were very conscious of the safety issues this project presents for the workers. Jim is a great guy and I was sad that I had to choose just one company because I think that he would be wonderful to work with.

In the end though, we did have to choose just one, and that company is Jacoby and Associates. I met Greg Miller, the President and Owner, at the Home Show. It had been a long day for me and by then I was not at my best, but Greg was very patient and asked all the right questions. It was obvious that he has a passion for the work he does and old houses too. He has also done quite a bit of work on other historical homes that are under protective restrictions, including those covered by Indiana Landmarks. So, we set up a meeting and Greg and JR came out to look at both the Horner House and the Bungalow. After looking it over they were still interested in our project and already had some very good ideas on how to proceed.

The other great part of working with Jacoby is that Greg has done quite a bit of design work so he will be helping with that as well. Before we go too much further we will have to make many decisions such as where to put the back stairs and how to create access to the third floor. We will also need to choose a HVAC system and Jacoby has the knowledge and contacts to help us with that too.   

So while we had many good companies talk to us I think that we have found one that is a great fit for our project and we are looking forward to working with them!

-Amanda