OPINION: Please pass the crow

So no pencil stood a chance of coming between me and such freedom now, after 27 years of apartment living. Maybe I would be able to sell my house for enough money to make up the difference between owning and renting. Maybe I’d be making house payments until I was 85. Whatever. I wanted, just once, a home of my own. And I wanted it built as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

What I should have put the pencil to, however, was how much I would pay, over time, for that haste and that penny-wise outlook. Instead – still new in the Commerce area, totally inexperienced when it came to home construction, and in a hurry to “git ‘er done” – I bypassed the reputable local contractors and went with an out-of-town company that offered a choice of house plans and guaranteed completion within three months.

Last week a friend and I started trying to calculate what that decision has cost me. Here are just some of the things I’ve had to do: (1) have my joists scrubbed and chemically treated, and install a 24/7 ventilation system for my crawl space, because my builder used too few rounds of cinder-block in the foundation, creating a moisture problem; (2) have my back and side yards re-graded, and wrap a wall around the back yard, to halt erosion and prevent damage to the foundation; (3) replace the faulty attic ventilation system to provide adequate ventilation and protect the roof shingles; (4) have my septic system worked on repeatedly before someone could finally identify the chronic problem, get the necessary permits, and make the needed repairs . . . and so on. And the beat goes on. The moisture problem caused the carpet to buckle, and the faulty attic ventilation cooked the roof shingles, so more work lies ahead. My “bargain builder” failed to pre-treat the soil for termites, so I have to be especially vigilant about termite inspections. My friend with the calculator (who has been a contractor herself) estimates that my haste and naiveté could end up costing me, over the years, between twenty and thirty thousand dollars. Yikes!

My hope is that others can learn from my mistakes. If you decide to build, find one of the local, reputable, expert builders and work with him or her, knowing that your investment up front will protect you in the future. I’m eating crow now because I didn’t do this, and even with lots of salsa, it’s not exactly gourmet fare.

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.