Construction Information Postings
Building in Pagosa
Until you have spent some time in Pagosa Springs and asked a lot of questions, you may not be aware of some of the less than honest construction practices performed by some of the local contractors. Do yourself a favor and ask a lot of questions. In addition you should get bids from at least three contractors or subcontractors.
There are contractors in Pagosa Springs who will bid considerably cheaper than other contractors but will not provide the same construction services. They will not provide high quality materials nor will they provide all of the items listed in the Building Codes on your contract documents or in their signed contract. Items such as snow and ice protection on the roof, proper soil compaction and drainage around the perimeter of your house as well as proper drainage of the crawl space. So if your roof leaks, your patio settles, your windows and doors don’t open or close and your driveway is cracked this is due to incompetent contractors who don’t care about the quality of the home that they have provided. They only want your money.
These less than honest ones are the contractors who promise you the moon, but will not give you any guarantees. They will only give you false references or no references and will stack one lie on top of another.
The good contractors will not only give you names, phone numbers and addresses of their last three or four home owners, but will give you a 5% retainage allowance which you will not have to pay until you have thoroughly inspected the home and have completely accepted it prior to your making the final payment. The less than honest contractors will expect upfront money which should never be paid since most will immediately leave the area.
You do need to understand that there are good contractors in Pagosa Springs but they are greatly outnumbered by the less than honest contractors. Don’t be afraid to talk to the people who live here. Talk to people in the stores where you shop, your place of lodging, your neighbors or at your church of choice. Most people here have many stories of housing problems that they would share with you if asked.
If It’s Too Good to Be True…
“To become a contractor in the Pagosa Springs area all someone needs is a pick-up truck and a dog.”
It does not require a certain level of education, experience or knowledge of the standards required of the industry. The quality contractor has satisfied all of the requirements of being licensed but Colorado only requires two sub-contractors to be licensed – electricians and plumbers. Therefore, most contractors are using prospective homeowners as prospective “guinea pigs” to learn how to build and many don’t have the experience of being taught how to do it right with no knowledge of the local and national building codes, so they don’t know how to build it the correct way to begin with. They argue that everyone else is wrong without trying to find out how to do it right. Their only concern is how to do it the easiest way. I have seen homes in this area that have more than thirty drawing, specification and building code violations and that could only come from the fact that the contractor has not bothered to obtain the education, experience or knowledge of the local and national building codes.
Most people know the size of the home they plan to build but they, of course, would like to build this home for as reasonable a cost as possible. This sometimes means that you may want to eliminate the fee of the architect, soils engineer, structural engineer and possibly the electrical and mechanical engineer. Most of us sometimes are not very far sighted. We have thought of our home in only one term–what is the first cost? We don’t care what it may cost in the future to run this house. So what if our energy bills are $400 to $800 each month or that the windows and doors don’t open or close or that the roof leaks and we have replaced sections of the roof for the third time. After all we did save $2 a square foot and we believed everything the contractor told us. That is just not how it works these days. Since you now know that some of these “less than honest” contractors have no construction experience, you should also realize that they are only looking out for their best interest, certainly not yours. When you are willing to employ design professionals, they should have the knowledge to provide you with answers to all of your questions and will insure a well built home as well as a home that should be energy efficient for many years which will result in overall savings and provide some additional perks that you had not counted on. These designs professional should be working for you, just as the quality contractors would.
The key is to find someone whom you can trust. The answer is as easy as the question. Find someone who has promised homes to clients for the next three years and put your name on his list that is if you can wait for your home to be finished in four years. Unfortunately, most of us can’t wait that long, so we need better protection.
You really need people who will work for you and it certainly starts with design professionals. You need a very “tight” set of contract drawings, specifications and general notes to spec out exactly all of the items that make up your home. You may also want a good attorney to provide you with a very “tight contract” as well as to check for written evidence of comprehensive general liability for the contractor you select. He should also be able to check the financial stability of your contractor. If you do find a good, quality contractor he will not be afraid to provide you with some degree of warranty. This could be a performance bond as provided for in commercial construction or maybe an agreed upon retainage. The most common retainage is the last 5% held by the owner until the final walk-through and acceptance of all repaired items, at which time the owner will address the one-year warranty items and retains only one-half of one percent.
The above four items are only the minimum of the areas each new homeowner should address. You would be well advised to do your homework and find only those contractors that are willing to provide names and phone numbers of people you can contact and ask them to relate their experiences. Also check with the Building Department to verify their home location and builder, as they have those records. We also find that you will want to hold the contractor to a particular time frame and should add a penalty clause as well as an incentive clause for early completion. Both contractors and sub-contractors work on their own time frame and don’t care what yours may be. You really want a contractor you can count on or another person or company that will look out for your best interests such as a construction manager.
Remember the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” A contractor who is very willing to show you the county records of homes he has built and gives you access to those home owners has nothing to hide. He does not need to embellish his accomplishments, nor does he need to promise you the world. If someone promises you the world, that is all you will ever get–an empty promise.
It is good to get cost comparisons but less than honest contractors understand that also. They may give you a cheaper cost, but they have also bid the cheapest items they can find–not the items you may have wanted for your home–and they will cut all the corners they can to enable themselves to make the largest profit possible.
Why Do You Need General Notes?
General Notes define every single item that becomes part of your new home. They define the type of concrete you need which is very important in Pagosa Springs. They define all of the exterior finishes including the roofing and siding types as well as any stone or masonry requirements. They define the style of interior finishes as well as the type of lumber that will hold up those finishes. General Notes also define the foundation system as well as the required compaction to keep your home from moving in the future. They should include a requirement for concrete testing and compaction testing to ensure that your home won’t move. They could also define any other materials such as stucco or structural steel, masonry mortar and grout and the preservation treatments for wood and moisture content in wood as well as plywood or OB board type. They should also dictate the building code and all of their minimum requirements. There should be a written agreement for any substitutions that contractors will make and also an agreement on monies due to the owner for products that are less expensive and those bid items. Contractors shall provide shop drawings of wood products and wood trusses and other products for approval by the owner or by the owner’s representatives.
Getting back to the interior finishes in your home. These items should include all floor coverings, wall coverings, ceiling coverings and lighting. The General Notes should spell out exactly the heating/cooling system, the hot water boiler system and size, all cabinets in all rooms including kitchen, bathrooms, closets, laundry, entry, greenhouses, bedrooms and other areas that require built-ins such as garages. All of your appliances must be spelled out as well as all kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The contractor’s favorite line is “That is not what I bid.” He also has another way of getting you and that is to give you such a low allowance for most of the above items that he will deceive you later when these items are ordered or when you find out that the allowance only included one-third of the appliances you wanted. You really need to do your homework here to understand your costs. He will not do this for you and most of the time the invoices he shows you reflect almost the same price as retail. Do not accept his excuse that the products he ordered will take three weeks longer than needed because, generally, he is not organized enough to order them on time. He would prefer to get them locally because he can, therefore, tell you that they are not in stock or that they will not arrive on time. You should not have to pay for the fact that he does not understand the word “organization.” Unless you do have a contractor that you can trust, we would advise you not to come up with a list of allowances. Also define all of the procedure costs, such as utility hook-up costs, plan review costs and costs of special structures such as patios, driveways, walkways, entertainment centers and other miscellaneous items.
Make the contractor sign a certificate of compliance that all materials and workmanship are in compliance with all local building codes and highest construction standards. Include a time frame for completion and a penalty and reward clause for either finishing late or finishing prior to the agreed upon date. Also include a retainage to be held by the owner and only paid after the final walk-through and acceptance by the owner. It is also a good idea for the owner to hold a minimal amount for one year to cover the warranty items outlined in the contract. Make the contractor sign a lien waver after every construction payment prior to receiving the next payment and especially when the home has been completed (as well as all of his sub-contractors) and prior to receiving his final payment, which should also include a lien waver.
Energy Conversion
Everyone is aware of the annual increases in energy rates, but have you taken the time to actually address how much it has increased in the past? We have obtained data that indicates that propane has doubled from 2003 to 2007 and it is now $2.40 to $2.50/gallon in the Pagosa Springs area as of February, 2008. Natural gas has also increased in the past although not quite as much as propane. Electricity has increased in the last five years but the data that we have obtained indicates an increase between 5% to 8% each year. Past increases are not a benchmark for what to expect but it does seem that oil companies are out to create a major profit at the expense of their customers and our public utilities seem to have more regulation. It does appear that it might be a good time to convert from propane or natural gas to electricity if your present forced air heating system is at it’s end of a useful life and there are electricians in Pagosa Springs who you will find to be relatively inexpensive in converting your heating system from propane or natural gas to electricity. Call a local electrician such as Jeff Moore with Unified Electric at 946-6753.
It may also be a good time to think in terms of passive energy conversion. If you have a south-facing wall, a passive energy addition of a trammel wall will absorb heat during the day and release it at night and of course there is always the addition of insulation. Most contractors here do not understand insulation and how it is used to keep your heat inside the home. They will give you only what looks good and pocket the additional money for themselves. As a result most homes in the Pagosa Springs vicinity are under-insulated. You also check caulking around windows and doors since the gaps are avenues of heat loss.
For those people who plan to live in their home for more than ten years, there is also another option to stay ahead of the utility energy game. Look at the possibility of Photovoltaic electricity for your new or existing home. Most Photovoltaic panels have been a little more than $2,000/panel plus the cost of installation, so you need to check the cost of your utilities and project those costs plus their increases for the next ten years and you should find that this system should pay for itself by that time. That means that your energy bills should be very nominal after that time if you have designed your system correctly and continue to use energy efficient appliances. There also continue to be some rebates available to you from the local energy companies, but you need to start making the envelope of your home energy efficient first. Stop the energy losses first then look to future energy savings. By the way, home inspections are also available these days as are energy inspections.
