You've Got To Love A Good Contractor!!

Anyone who has had work done at their place by a Contractor, or even work done on your RV, you just HAVE to love it when they show up on time and get the job done in such a professional manner.

I'm used to the sloppy job guys, so you're not going to believe THIS crew!!  They showed up two hours early.  Woohoo!!!  Maybe they will beat the huge storm that is supposed to land here!!

There was barely a hello before they were unloading pieces and screwing stuff together.  These guys weren't messing around.

Dan and I grabbed chairs from the back yard and sat down to watch.  Not only did they measure and chalk the lines down the sides to be sure it was straight, they even measured the angles to be sure it was square!!  I was impressed before they even laid out a single structural piece.

In no time the trusses were all stacked up and ready to assemble.  By the way, they said it would take them about 3 hours to finish.  In my head I said "right" ....... but they would soon prove me wrong.

Unlike Dan's project five or six years ago, these guys brought their own tools.  For Dan's building, they didn't have a ladder, so he lifted them up with his backhoe bucket to get the roof pieces on.  They didn't have a hammer drill either, and burned up THEIR drill trying to attached the metal to the concrete!!  

It worked out okay in the end because Dan finished up the building, only having to pay a very small fraction of the original price.  I was almost hoping that would happen here!  

As you can see, the sky changed considerably from start to finish!

See that guy up on top?  Scary!!  He was screwing down every single section while the whole thing was shaking.  That kid's got guts!!  In no time the roof was on, with the sides coming up.  The wind came up too ..... we held our breath and checked the radar pics to see if lightning was coming our way.

Luckily (I'm sure because of all your good thoughts) it passed us by as they finished up the sides.  They probably used up six or seven tubes of caulking.  Every single seam was overlapped a bunch and caulked.  The last work was done on the inside, putting in more metal screws to secure the stability.  We figured it would take two days to complete.  They finished in 3-1/2 hours.  These guys have their act together.  

I tipped them generously and wrote out the check.  If you are interested, the building is made by Interstate Steel from Riverside California.  It is 17' wide by 35' long by 12' high.  It's the biggest we could possibly squeeze into my space without blocking the garage and is the heavier steel model that can withstand 120 mph winds.  

The final cost for the building itself installed was $4,400.  Anyone remember the last bid I got from a local contractor of $14,000?  The concrete was extra, as was the survey I had to have done because the County's idea of where the property lines were was completely off.  I also had to pay extra to get plans signed by an Arizona Architect.  Of course that was a new rule this year.

And here she is!!!  My baby parked in her new garage out of the blazing sun!!  She's a happy camper, as am I.  I just can't believe it all went so well and so fast!!  There's even enough room to open my slides all the way AND all the bay doors without hitting anything.  I may cover the sides to the ground at a later date.  And yes, I DID back her in there with plenty of room to spare!

I cannot thank the Chance family enough, because without them, this would never have happened.  I would have been in the looney bin after the first conversation with the Building Department.  By the way, we DID get a permit and inspections were done.  

Special thanks also go out to Dan's son Mark, whose friend did all the concrete work at his request.  Mark also took care of all the building inspections by skyping with the building department.  How cool is that??

I've already gone outside and admired it eight times.  I just can't stop staring at it!!  I apologize in advance because you'll probably see a lot more pictures of it!!

I'll be outside in the rig with my thermometer to see just how much cooler it is .... with the biggest smile ever on my face!!