We need a builder!

[FST4RD]

Hi there, after the quake we have quite a bit of damamge and need some quotes...
Does anyone know a builder that can come around and do quotes. Must be good and come recommended.
Problems are: House is sinking (piles all out of whack) so the floor is unlevel. Concrete foundations around the outside are cracked. Walls are all buckled etc. Concrete driveway and garage pad is cracked up pretty bad.
We also need to know whether or not the house is fixable or if it's a writeoff.
We need a quote or 2 to make sure that we don't get taken for a ride...
And if the builder is good then we will probably use them.

Thanks

[h8wrxs]

from what youve written there i hate to say i would suggest a front end loader not a builder

not a lot you can do if the piles have moved/sunk and if the founds are broken, it would be a BIG job to fix

but then again i havent seen it so i could be wrong

[Bling]

Yeah I know a couple builders.... but they won't have that kind of building experience. Have you had the place checked over by structural engineers? Sounds like a bit of a mission

[h8wrxs]

mmm would be best to talk to a structural engineer and your insurance company first up

[frost]

whats really annoying, you get a structural engineer out the check it. pay them,
and then the insurance company will THERE structural engineer out to recheck.
then the council will want there structural engineer to check.

and so on, its such a pain, my building has been checked 3 times with another final check to go,
most of my friends are engineers, and they are rubbing hands like a jew atm. its windfall for anyone in the trade.

[FST4RD]

Well what I'm worried about is that EQC brings out their guys, come up with a with a figure to pay you out and if you sign it then it's don, they pay you and that's that.
Then if you find other damage, or it's going to cost more then that's tough from what I heard.
This is why I want at least 2 quotes first...

[Elmo]

No, thats why you just tell them to repair it, DONT sign for a cash settlement. This is your RIGHT!

[FST4RD]

Well another thought was that we were about to start renovations. So if we got the money to put the place back to what it was, we were going to replace the garage and driveway, relevel the house and put new foundations and then use the rest to put towards starting the renovations...

[Elmo]

People have said that even if you get a cash pay out, you'll never break even. By the time you get a builder to do the work, gst will have gone up, and prices for builders could well have gone up. I think the figure was 5-8k extra someone could expect to pay if they took a cash settlement, but hey, on your ideas, it could well be worth it. That price difference could certainly bring DOWN your original budget of renorvating if that was you previous intentions anyway.