ᐅ Prefabricated House Manufacturers: Validity of Their Quotes and Promotions?
Created on: 24 Feb 2018 10:52
S
Skyfire
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for your advice again.
Here is the situation:
We have an offer from a prefabricated house manufacturer. We like the floor plan, the features, and the price seems right. Our gut feeling is good, and we can imagine building a timber frame house with them. The consultant is very competent, fair, and has promptly fulfilled or tried to fulfill all our wishes.
As an alternative, although with a time delay due to vacation, we requested an offer from a regional masonry house builder. We also like their floor plan (slightly less ideal but still good), and the company as well as the materials used make a very good impression. They have recently built numerous houses in our area (including for friends), and these turned out very well. So, if the price fits, we could also imagine a project with them. The architect and company owner also seem very competent and are very friendly.
In the end, it would basically come down to the traditional debate of masonry versus timber frame.
The problem is the following:
The offer from the timber frame provider, supported by vouchers and promotions, is officially valid until 28.02.2018, and we potentially have an appointment next week to sign the contract.
The offer from the masonry builder, in response to my inquiry, will last until the end of next week. Not all offers or prices from subcontractors are available yet.
The risk is missing out on the timber frame offer and having the masonry option exceed our budget (the builder hinted it might just fit). Or taking the timber frame option with the risk of regretting it later and being tied to the contract.
How should I proceed here? Do you have any tips? Should we try to negotiate an extension for the timber frame offer?
I don’t want to rely on a right of withdrawal or similar. That could cost money, and secondly, it’s not really fair. The consultant from the prefabricated house company has been very fair, nice, and the best in his field in the prefab sector.
Thank you very much.
Best regards,
Steffen
I’m looking for your advice again.
Here is the situation:
We have an offer from a prefabricated house manufacturer. We like the floor plan, the features, and the price seems right. Our gut feeling is good, and we can imagine building a timber frame house with them. The consultant is very competent, fair, and has promptly fulfilled or tried to fulfill all our wishes.
As an alternative, although with a time delay due to vacation, we requested an offer from a regional masonry house builder. We also like their floor plan (slightly less ideal but still good), and the company as well as the materials used make a very good impression. They have recently built numerous houses in our area (including for friends), and these turned out very well. So, if the price fits, we could also imagine a project with them. The architect and company owner also seem very competent and are very friendly.
In the end, it would basically come down to the traditional debate of masonry versus timber frame.
The problem is the following:
The offer from the timber frame provider, supported by vouchers and promotions, is officially valid until 28.02.2018, and we potentially have an appointment next week to sign the contract.
The offer from the masonry builder, in response to my inquiry, will last until the end of next week. Not all offers or prices from subcontractors are available yet.
The risk is missing out on the timber frame offer and having the masonry option exceed our budget (the builder hinted it might just fit). Or taking the timber frame option with the risk of regretting it later and being tied to the contract.
How should I proceed here? Do you have any tips? Should we try to negotiate an extension for the timber frame offer?
I don’t want to rely on a right of withdrawal or similar. That could cost money, and secondly, it’s not really fair. The consultant from the prefabricated house company has been very fair, nice, and the best in his field in the prefab sector.
Thank you very much.
Best regards,
Steffen
Earthworks are difficult for me to estimate. We have a sloped site, and as explained in the other thread, I’m not sure how to assess this properly.
Whether this still counts as relatively little or if, given the way we want to place the house, it would mean a lot of earthmoving work.
Whether this still counts as relatively little or if, given the way we want to place the house, it would mean a lot of earthmoving work.
Next door there's a three-story building—phew, what a block, hard to believe something like that is allowed in a single-family home area. Horrible.
But the slope doesn’t look that steep when you compare it to the three-story building. It doesn’t seem excessively expensive. Maybe ask a civil engineer.
But the slope doesn’t look that steep when you compare it to the three-story building. It doesn’t seem excessively expensive. Maybe ask a civil engineer.
We just visited the site and took some measurements with the leveling instrument.
At the location where the house is planned, there is a 1-meter (3.3 feet) height difference from the left boundary (the lowest point). If you include the garage and everything beside the house, the difference from the lowest point is about 1.5 meters (5 feet). A potential issue could be surface water coming from the street on the right.
Should L-shaped retaining walls be installed along the left boundary (where the hedge is), or are there other effective options? There could be quite a few along the entire length, which might become quite costly.
Next door, the owner runs a construction company. Size or other restrictions didn’t seem to matter there. It’s already a huge structure.
At the location where the house is planned, there is a 1-meter (3.3 feet) height difference from the left boundary (the lowest point). If you include the garage and everything beside the house, the difference from the lowest point is about 1.5 meters (5 feet). A potential issue could be surface water coming from the street on the right.
Should L-shaped retaining walls be installed along the left boundary (where the hedge is), or are there other effective options? There could be quite a few along the entire length, which might become quite costly.
Next door, the owner runs a construction company. Size or other restrictions didn’t seem to matter there. It’s already a huge structure.
Maybe like this. Slightly sloping the land inward without adding fill. So, starting from the street to the house, it slopes downward. You can manage water with a gravel border around the house and a drainage system underneath, which you lead to the rainwater shaft or, if the soil allows, to an infiltration trench. Then build the house with a terrace as a slab and a L-shaped retaining wall at the hedge. But only the house and terrace—the rest of the land you leave natural, just slope the soil gently up to the terrace. This way, you have a large area that absorbs water through plants, minimizing earthworks to what is necessary. You can also partially benefit visually from the neighbor’s hedge, which already saves you from installing a fence.
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