We received the estimate from Matt, our builder, over the weekend. Ouch. The house is much more expensive than we anticipated. Part of the issue is lumber. Lumber prices have spiked. Just since May, prices have increased 110%. Covid shut down the mills so that interrupted supply. Many people have decided to make improvements to their homes since they are spending more time there. And demand for new housing hasn't slowed. Not enough supply + too much demand = very high lumber prices and also makes it hard to find lumber at all. Our builder's supplier is only selling to existing customers right now.
We discussed pausing the project for at least 3 months to see if prices start to correct. We've spent all week reading articles about the lumber situation and trying to determine the best thing to do. Yesterday afternoon we decided to go for it. I emailed Matt and wrote, "Let's build it." He called today and said it was a hard decision, but if it were his house he'd do the same. We have no way to know how long it will take the lumber market to correct, and in the meantime other supplies could become problematic. We aren't frivolous with our money and it's very hard to overpay for lumber, but we're going for it.
So, I have a contract in-hand that we need to review and sign for the builder. I made a call to State Farm to determine what is needed for our construction policy. That needs to be in place before framing begins and it has an extra rider that covers delivered materials before we have locking doors. Matt found a well company to work with us to decommission the old funky well. They will be out next Thursday Oct 1st to take care of it. Clearing and grading will begin shortly after that. We'll meet Matt at the land to roughly stake out the house footprint and decide which trees need to go. They'll also take care of some tricky trees that need to come down in other parts of the property.
I'm continuing my quest to de-clutter and purge every nook and cranny in this house. I keep donating, recycling, posting for free as I go. Hopefully by the time we move we'll be in good shape and have an already organized house to pack up. I also picked up paint sample chips, and ordered a bath mirror this week, so I'm all over the place. But today it feels a little more real. We're having a house built!
