Going Local? Builder #1

A couple of weeks after our trip to the architect, we went to see our first building company. The company in question is a small, family-run company located in the town where our land is situated. In fact, they are one of only two building companies in the town, the other having been initially shortlisted but then removed from our list as we realized that we’d been a bit blinkered by them being local and that, on second inspection, we didn’t actually like any of the houses that they had built.

We met the remaining building company in the small village that they keep in the town, which comprises a number of rather beautiful and very old buildings that they have restored and used to showcase their work. As we headed through the village to their office, we noticed the wide array of different wood types on display and their apparent expertise at reusing and reclaiming old materials. The oldest building was particularly beautiful.

We sat with K, the son of the owner at a table in their office and he asked us about the land we had bought. We told him about our plot and he quickly recognized it, having been there previously with some other potential buyers. This made us feel rather good, almost as if we had a bit of a head start even if the vindication for ‘going local’ was merely confirmation bias.

Together, we ran through the usual questions about our plans and our budget and what was most striking was how easy the conversation proved to be. Not only was K insightful but he was also kind and understanding and struck a perfect balance between asking us questions and explaining both the area and the process. It was such an easy conversation and it felt like we were making lots of progress, learning a great deal at the same time.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of all of this was that K actually speaks good English and has worked with foreign customers before. His willingness (and lack of fear!) in speaking English really helped me in particular to feel comfortable about what we were discussing. T, the architect we had seen a couple of weeks previously, had been great at using technical terms in English but this was a different level entirely. K could actually explain things in English!

The company itself builds exclusively wooden houses and also specializes in the importation and installation of British and Canadian wood burning stoves. It was pretty cold outside when we met them so the smell and the warmth from the stove burning next to us was especially appealing. Quite the sales technique perhaps but we were quickly sold on the notion of having one in our house if we built something made of wood.

We were shown lots of different types of wood in a rather novel way. Rather than just getting out samples to show us, we just walked around the old building with K pointing out different woods being used for floors, walls, ceilings etc. Where the architect had been less forthcoming in terms of pricing, K would tell us the relative cost of everything and where people tend to use each type. Cheap woods were frequently designated as being for the ‘kids’ room’ with more expensive materials for the living room or study.

We passed through the large tatami room, impressed by the dark exposed beams made out of wood that was over 100 years old, and onto their kitchen display. We talked about the large Japanese kitchen makers and how they tend to change their parts and fittings regularly, use poor quality synthetic products and give an illusion of customizability despite actually restricting you to a pretty narrow set of choices.

K, on the other hand, said that they would produce a simple, custom kitchen to our specifications using real materials and German parts for durability. Of course this was a sales pitch of sorts but there was no pressure and no hard-sell. What he said made sense and we liked what we saw but it was too early to tell how this would stack up against alternatives. What did make a difference, however, was when he told us that a previous couple had installed their own Italian kitchen and that they had simply prepared the space for them.

This was a really positive sign. One of the things that we were most wary of in talking to builders was getting trapped into all sorts of agreements where we must use Supplier X or Product Y. Japan is notorious in the building trade as something of a racket with kickbacks and commissions elevating both the price of building and the builder’s profits. “We’ll design something but you don’t have to use it” was certainly a good thing to hear.

When we’d finished up, we discussed the notional next steps which would be to meet again with their in-house architect and discuss our plans and ideas in more detail. They also suggested that we go and visit a house that they were building. Completion was scheduled for 3 weeks after our meeting so we tentatively blocked the date in our diaries.

We said our goodbyes and headed off to the station, turning down the offer of a lift so we could walk and discuss as usual. Whilst we still had no idea exactly what type of house we could or would build with K, we both absolutely agreed that we could work with them and that the experience had been overwhelmingly positive, even fun.

One thing that was starting to becoming clear to us was that the personal relationships between the company and the client are really important, perhaps even more so than the process through which the house ultimately gets built. We had started to think less in terms of architect v builder and more in terms of who we wanted to share this process with. Evidently, we had some more thinking to do!