2. Contingency
Plans - Builder/ contractor delays
Last month we talked about some of the things that can go wrong, legal
precautions, and various steps to take and be aware of when contracting
for your new home. This month we will discuss some options if things
DO get delayed.
After the initial shock of discovering that you will not have access
to your new home at the expected time, your very next steps should be
to initiate damage control. The amount of damage control that you can
do will depend on your specific situation: contract terms, how long the
delay, cause of the delay, whether it is summer or winter, whether you
are buying a new (turnkey) home in a new subdivision or you already own
the land, whether your home is on a large country lot or a city lot and
maybe even how well you know your neighbours.
Staged Occupancy
The biggest incremental expense that you will encounter due to delivery
delays of your new home will probably be accommodation expense. If this
is a custom home, and it is delayed a month or less, you may be able
to make an arrangement with the builder to finish a bedroom, and bathroom
and maybe a kitchen that you and your family can live in, while the rest
of your home is under construction.
If no such arrangement is possible, safe, or otherwise realistic, you
will need a place to house your family for some period of time and you
will need a place to safely store your belongings.
Accommodations
Here are some options for accommodations:
Live in a family cottage or rent a nearby cottage. Negotiate a monthly
rate.
Live in friends' basement or move in with friends. Some rent might be
appropriate.
Live in a nearby motel. Negotiate a long term rate rather than a daily
rate.
Use a travel trailer or tent trailer or large tent and camp on your own
land.
Use a travel trailer or tent trailer or large tent and park in a nearby
RV park and negotiate a monthly rate rather than a daily rate.
Arrange to remain in your old home and pay rent to the buyer of your
old home, if they are willing to make such an arrangement.
Storage of Furnishings and Possessions
You can store your furniture in a warehouse via a moving company. Be
sure that your property is insured. This will probably be the most costly
solution, as it will include extra handling of your property. You will
have to ensure that you keep appropriate clothing or that you have access
to your belongings if necessary.
You may store your furniture in a rented large tractor trailer (more
correctly called a dry van) on your property. An older, used 40' or 48'
trailer, suitable for storage of furniture will cost as little as $2500
to buy outright. You can rent one for $200/month or less. Be sure to
talk to your insurance company.
Store your furniture in a large rented tractor trailer on the trailer
company's property or someone else’s property. Have an agreement
drawn up and be sure that your property is fully insured against all
perils and theft. You will have to ensure that you keep appropriate clothing
or that you have access to your belongings if necessary.
Additional Financing
You may want to talk to your bank manager/mortgage manager about changes
in financing resulting from the delays. Funding to pay for your home
may not be required on the planned date and consequently the mortgage
start-up will be pushed back. If "bridge financing" is involved
(while you own one home and are building another home), you will have
to advise the bank if the closing date of your old home changes or if
your planned Date of Occupancy changes. Be careful how you tell the bank
the story or they may want to call in their "bridge financing" loan
forcing you to proceed with the closing of your old home.
Tips
As mentioned in last months newsletter, seek legal advice as appropriate,
to recover your losses. Covering all possibilities in this brief article
is difficult but perhaps after reviewing this material you will have
some ideas. Fortunately the majority of new home purchases go very smoothly
and we sincerely hope that your project is on time and within budget.
Some useful links to check out
Crumbling Dreams
http://www.lakesidepress.com/dreams/section4.html
Construction Delay, Acceleration, and Inefficiency Claims
http://www.fedpubseminars.com/seminar/cdaiclaims.html
KOA
http://www.koa.com/
Holland and Trailer
http://www.hollandtrailer.com/
Semi Tralers Sales and Leasing
http://www.semitrailersalesandleasing.com/trailers/index.php
3. Limestone: An alternative residential
building material
There is an amazing assortment of limestone products available from a
variety of products to fit many residential building applications. A
variety of companies have perfected various solutions and applications
of limestone with interesting designs that are both attractive and affordable.
We will cover some of these in this article and have provided a number
of references in the useful links section for your convenience.
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Limestone consists mainly of calcite, has a smooth granular surface,
varies in degrees of hardness and does not usually show much graining
and crystalline structures. Some of the more dense limestone pieces can
be also be polished into a mirror finish.
Limestone comes in a variety of colours. The more common colours are
green, black, brown, grey and blue. The reader should also be aware that
there is a natural colour variation in most limestone blocks. Suppliers
will provide a variety of colours depending on the product available
to them from local quarries.
It also can be shaped into interesting designs and appearances such as
a random blocks of stone or slabs of stone, veneer with a broken edge,
pavers and patios stones with natural and irregular edges, sawed and
shaped veneer with split faced on several sides, one or more sides finished
or polished.
Some suppliers will also grade their products and will use a variety
of words to describe their grading parameters. Limestone may be graded
as follows: A) Course stone without a a uniform colour or texture B)
moderate sized stone with a more uniform colour and texture and C) A
fine grained stone with uniform texture through the stone. You should
always ask the supplier for examples of each of their stones and grading,
then decide for yourself which grade of stone you prefer for your project.
Today limestone can be used in applications such as load bearing masonry
walls, gated community walls, limestone fireplace surrounds, limestone
veneer, re-cladding existing buildings, , addition of limestone architectural
enhancements, limestone chips in various sizes that can be mixed with
concrete to produce white concrete for decorative walks and gardens,
white limestone sand used to make white mortar. You can even use it to
be mixed with hot rolled asphalt to create a variety in the texture and
colour of asphalt.
Suppliers are available that will provide fabrication, design, cutting
and finishing. They can be purchased in custom designs as well as standard
designs. You will need to discuss your requirements in detail with your
supplier if you want a custom designed one of a kind limestone addition
to your home or garden.
Examples of custom designs are columns and arches, gated walls, fireplace
surrounds, various mouldings, veneers, and other applications. Discuss
your needs with your builder and limestone supplier to see if they can
meet your needs while still ensuring a safe sturdy design.
Some useful links to check out
American Limestone Company
http://www.americanlimestone.com/residential/
Grant Wood Limestone
http://www.historicalbricks.com/limestone.html
Asian Stores ltd
http://www.asianstones.com/limestone.htm
White Limestone Building products
http://www.rjmaxwell.com/products/white_limestone_building_products/
4. Thought For
The Day
There is no “right” to
do a wrong. – Abraham Lincoln
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