Plans Stamped - Getting Bids

On Friday, I picked up the stamped plans at the engineer's office. Since I had a designer draw my plans and not an architect, either an architect or an engineer needed to review & stamp them. So now I have the stamped plans and the survey. I've got everything I need to go apply for the permit at the parish office.

Since I don't know exactly when construction will start, and the permit is techically only good for 6 months, I don't know if I should wait longer before getting it. On the other hand, I don't want to wait too long and then discover a problem that's going to delay my permit and delay the start of the project! The guy I talked to at the parish office said that as long as there is continuing progress on the project, they allow a good deal more than 6 months. I'll wait another week or so, or until I have a solid start date from the piling contractor.

I've started collecting bids. So far, I've got 3 for the pilings, and 3 for the post-tension work in the slab (installing the cables and then stressing them later). I've had a couple of contractors recommended to me for forming & pouring the slab, but neither have returned my voicemails. I've also spoken to one plumber who was recommended to me. I was told he's not the cheapest, but he's very good.

For pilings, Howard Piling Co. seems to be popular here. A general contractor at my church recommended them, and then several piling companies I contacted at random also pointed me to Howard when the job I described was too big for their equipment. But I also got recommendations for two different companies owned by brothers named Tassin. Keith and Paul own separate companies that do the same thing. Paul's company seems bigger and one person described him as thinking he's "too important to call you back". I found that to be true after I left 2 voice mails for him with no return call, so I called his brother. In the end, I wound up getting bids from both. Keith has the lower of all three prices. So then it comes down to any other factors that might be apparent.

For post-tension slabs, the company I've found with the most personal recommendations is Tech-Con Systems in Slidell. And they also gave me the second to lowest price. So I will probably go with them.

I'd like to have at least these contractors signed and lined up before the start: pilings, slab, post-tension, plumber, framers, roofers, and bricklayers. That way I can hopefully get the house closed in and protected from the elements as soon as possible. Even if the rest of the project goes on for months, it will be protected from weather.