Week 1: It's Gonder Custom Construction

Leo Gonder (L) and Wally

After taking all that time to explain the process for selecting a builder, I thought it would be good to share with you our choice: Gonder Custom Construction!  A husband/wife builder team out of Leavenworth, WA, Leo and Teresa really won us over with their energy, honesty and attention to detail.

We interviewed five builders, and narrowed it down to two to provide a detailed bid.  Leo and Teresa Gonder provided an amazing book full of all of the materials they used to create our bid.  They bid the house exactly as the architect spec’d it – and then showed us how to cut the budget by over one hundred thousand.  The other builder made a series of judgments about what he would change from the plans and architect specs; but how he got to his number was not clear.

We felt going forward we could trust Leo and Teresa to be straight with us, and to provide a clear paper trail for everything.  That appetite for detail will serve us well.  And so far, working with them, we are very happy.  This is a really good project for them and for their business, and they're bringing a personal interest to the project. We’re making decisions well, he’s thinking ahead, providing options for reducing cost while achieving good results.  And as of mid-June, we are deep in the decision-making cycle.  Things are happily moving forward!

Next Post:  Week 3: Early Site Work