Damn contractors!

[Northeast Rod Run]

Originally Posted by Sieg

What's the scope and scale of the work? Reading between the lines one could assume they may be perceiving the project as more of a liability than opportunity?

Pretty simple and straight forward stuff.

Somewhere between a 16' or 24' wide by 28' deep addition to the side of an existing garage. Keeping exact same roofline so there is no extra stuff there. Only need to put up three walls and take down the existing wall from the original garage. Pour a 4' foundation (code) and concrete floor. No electrical or interior work needed. All setbacks have plenty of room and no need for any variances and on a level lot

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by Northeast Rod Run

Pretty simple and straight forward stuff.

Somewhere between a 16' or 24' wide by 28' deep addition to the side of an existing garage. Keeping exact same roofline so there is no extra stuff there. Only need to put up three walls and take down the existing wall from the original garage. All setbacks have plenty of room and no need for any variances and on a level lot

Possible building permit issues?

Being in the floor covering business most my life in the Northwest I've dealt with the same "uncomprehendable" issues. Sometimes (20%) there's justifiable reasons, it's the 80% that's very frustrating.

Maybe try a local well established contrator supply business (not big-box Home Depot/Lowes) for a local contractor referal, they're naturally motivated to provide work for their better customers. Your local building permit department may also be a source.

[Track Junky]

A set of approved plans would be a good start. A contractor is not going to know how to build something without them due to needing to see the structurals. Typically your architect will draw up the plans and then send them to an engineer. Once the engineer has calculated the structs they are sent off to the city or county for approval. As long as the city or county has approved them a contractor now knows what is entailed in the build through the structural drawings. There is always a possibility that a soils tech may need to analyze the soils for proper basement/foundation build which could entail work above and beyond typical. The contractor could give you a base estimate on a typical build but that price is not set in stone until he has a set of structurals to look at.