I am feeling a bit wobbly - calm me down & make sure I don't agree to anything stupid...please?

[KatyMac]

As the only quote for the nursery came in at £420K - I phoned the builder and explained I only had £180 to spend.

He said 'That's life, never mind' and rang off

I had a phone call today asking for a meeting tomorrow to discuss 'Changing the specifications' and 'reducing the costs' and doing things a bit differently'

So I am panicking

I mean if a double glazing guy said £42K then came down to £18K you probably would't trust them - & then I remember that this guy is a kind of 'pal' and wants a family member to go to the nursery, and then i feel guilty

Oh hell I don't know what to do/think....help

Please reassure me

at the end of the day £180k is better than nothing

go to the meeting remain open minded -there is other options its your money your decision and hes not gonna come to half the price so a child in his family can attend- maybe he can rejig materials or something?
i only know bit of what you had planned so this advice is based on that .....id be quite excited if i were you tbh.

go to the meeting, don't agree a thing, and see how you feel 24hours later.

You wouldn't trust anyone who could reduce costs by such, but then again, times is hard for everyone, and something is better than nothing.

These things happen for a reason. Don't decide a thing until later.

It may be the solution you've been hoping for .

Make all the right noises, ask questions, take away plans and give it some thought. Since it isn't going to be the same plans as before you need time to mull it over and see if it meets all your needs.

Is there a reason you haven't got anyone else to quote (i'm sure there is) - might make you feel more confident.

At this stage, I'd just wait & see what he has to say - there might be some really legitimate things you can change that will have a massive difference to the budget.

Do you know of previous (similar ish) work he's done? Can you talk to previous clients & find out their experiences?

Thank you

All good stuff

I guess I'm wobbling/panicking

(BTW it's not really my money - but there we go)

MBFICS - I got 3 quotes 2 pulled out & I managed to get 2 more builders - who haven't put in their tender

He has build nurseries before (2 at least)

katy id be quite optimistic tbh -maybe this is your year?

perhaps it is going to be at a compromise to the eco-ness of it, but yes potentially some good solutions to the cost.

Maybe the cold wind that is blowing through the property market has started to affect builders, too.

Go and see him - can't hurt to find out what he suggests. Then think about it very carefully.

I guess so

I definately want a nursery more than an eco-nursery

Windygaletoday - It definitely isn't my year (at least not so far)

I would definiately talk. I said on your other thread that when we had building quotes done there was a 100% difference betwen the highest and the lowest (and this amounted to well over £100K) - there is probably loads of fat in the quote.

Do you have a detailed spec you can go through with him and if you have an architect, can he/she be there too? when we were trying to get things down to an acceptable cost we had a meeting with out chosen builders and talked about big picture ways we could save money and then went through the quote on a line by line basis and shaved off another £50k without any discernable difference in the finished product. If you have an architect, they can help advise where an amount seems to be too high.

You will be amazed where you can save money. Eg on the quote we had they were charging £400 per internal door. We sourced them for £40. They were also charging £10k for decorating - we did it ourselves. We ended up spending hours on the internet sourcing things like doors, ducting, insultation, kitchen units, bathroom stuff, flooring etc which came in at a fraction of the price the tender had in it (partly because the builders add a 5-15% mark-up on everything).

Also, who is project managing the build? This can make up around 20% of the build cost and in theory is something you could do yourself (although maybe with an architect managing the contract) if you have the time and are good at organising.

You have nothing to lose by the meeting and he sounds like he does want the business.

I guess so

I'm just scared and afraid I'll be conned

I wonder if we can go back to the strawbale idea - that had to be cheaper plus we could get everyone to help

Do you have an architect or anyone you can talk it over with afterwards? You don't have to agree to anything at a meeting.

The one thing I would say is if you do get the price down, you then need to control the budget very carefully to ensure that it does not creep up again and make it clear that no additional monies can be spent unless they are approved by you.

Yep - nice Architect - lots of support (my dad was a structural engineer once)

That is a problem isn't it

Then it sounds like you are in no danger of being conned providing you write down the changes you agree to and then discuss them with your very useful dad and architect.

Sounds to me like he might have been trying it on a bit with the first quote to see how much you were actually willing to pay.

I really do wish you very, very good luck wtih this!!

Fingers crossed

good luck today ,katy

Thanks Windygales - still feeling wobbly

Outcome here