When I signed on as project manager with Alair Homes Collingwood and began the process of understanding and implementing the Alair approach to home construction and renovation, memories of my own personal experiences in building the home in which my family now resides came flooding back.

The Alair Home Process Versus Going it Alone

The Alair doctrine focuses not only on educating and supporting our clients through the sometimes painstaking progression of guiding that custom home or renovation upgrade from dream to reality but also to act as concierge through the various stages of the project. That presence in my own endeavor would certainly have meant a more structured and risk-free construction and ultimately a less costly and gratifying final result. I am convinced of it.

In August 2003 our venture into finding a rural property brought us to a large raised bungalow on three acres in central Ontario. The original owner had abandoned the project and the builder, an acquaintance I knew as an entrepreneur who built and sold custom homes and had severed his 10 acres for this home, was carrying the mortgage and looking for a buyer.

Going it Alone

I was quickly convinced that this was our future dream home as we discussed the possibilities standing in the gravel basement of the building’s shell. We can do this!

Mortgage and ownership transfer paperwork was quickly completed and we were ready to go blindly into completing our dream home not knowing the ultimate cost in time, money and stress. The promises of assistance and guidance through the construction by the previous owner and builder quickly vanished.

I was unexpectedly immersed alone in the world of home construction, a man of impressive mechanical and technical aptitude but an entry-level layman in construction at the time. Our project was void of plan or schedule and had few trades lined up to keep the construction moving forward. I discovered the world of permits, inspections, materials and labor management, trades delays and indifference.

The Sea of Contractors

Not that it was all bad. Things did progress and the house began looking like a home. The trades I hired, the bricklayers, roofers, electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors, contractors for drywall, doors and windows, flooring, trim, septic etc. were competent but in terms of schedule and cost, seemed to have their own best interests in mind.

When I mentioned earlier about “going in blindly”, it wasn’t an understatement. I had no idea as to how long this house would take to complete and little to no skills in recognizing or negotiating a reasonable cost and schedule. I had a home to build for my family and was scrambling to keep construction progressing and maintain our tight budget.

As time wore on and funds got thin, my wife and I did much of the finishing work ourselves. I have photos of her at the chop saw cutting wood for the oak railing and the two of us on scaffolding laying out and mortaring our cultured stone fireplace.

Housing Inspection

Ultimately, we got to the point of requesting an occupancy inspection. It had been almost 5 months of near hell but it was ours….almost.
For the occupancy inspection, we passed with flying colours until the inspector pulled out his tape and measured a distance of 6 ft 3 –1/2 inches from the basement stair to the duct bulkhead above. Code for headroom called for 6 ft 5 in. I pleaded our case for the thickness of the carpet and under-pad on the stairs but to no avail. We received conditional occupancy.

None the less, years later we got the headroom problem rectified with a more lenient inspector and now, almost 11 years later, we are still enjoying our dream home.

So, as I sat and pondered the responsibilities of my new position as project manager at Alair Homes, my mind frequently reverted back to the trials and tribulations mentioned above. In retrospect, how different things could have been if I had had an Alair PM as my concierge to custom home construction satisfaction!

With Alair, my involvement would have simply been communicating with my PM about progress rather than directing and pushing progress. A schedule would be available at the click of a mouse button; my project costs as well…up front and transparent; permits and inspections secured and any delays or other “bumps in the road” smoothed out by my PM. How reassuring!

And last but certainly not least; I would never have had to deal with an inch and a half of headroom!