Builder that you would recommend or avoid

[wnw506]

We are considering the option of building a new house in Winnipeg. Do you have any builder that you would recommend or some we should definitely avoid? Or does anyone know if there is a website out there that have that sort of information? Any advise will be much appreciated!

[Minou]

We built with Randall. Our experience was all right, but you need to make sure you're working with a good sales agent -- choose one working (or who has worked) in a more exclusive area, and they'll be able to tell you a lot more about available options -- our sales agent was poor, couldn't help us much with exterior options, etc., messed up and cost us money, and ended up being fired by the builder while our house was being built.

Keep an eye on the builders -- check daily on the house if you can, and report any deficiencies in writing (by email) immediately so they can fix the problems and you have a paper trail.

We liked the Randall designs. We weren't crazy about the Qualico/Broadview ones, and we really didn't like the Kensingtons. Our first house was a resale Kensington built in 1997, and we weren't terribly impressed with the quality. Weren't impressed with the style and finishing of Ventura, either, having been in show homes. If we had a lot of money to spend, we probably would have wanted to build with a custom builder like Maric or Gino's, but that takes money! A&S is supposed to be good, though it seemed a little more expensive than some of the other builders.

I'd really suggest extending the garage on any home you build. It may cost $2000-$3000 as an extra, but being able to fit both cars in the garage and have room for a bit of storage is worth it. We extended ours, and it's still not huge. I'm not sure what we'd do if it was the size that was supposed to come with the house.

Also focus on exterior options. Interior things like flooring you can upgrade later, but it's harder to upgrade your house's exterior. Expensive areas often require 2-3 different finishes on a house, but some areas don't have restrictions. Don't build yourself a plain, stucco palace, as you likely won't be happy with it for long. Different exterior finishes cost some, they're probably not as expensive as you think. We have stone, siding, and shingle siding, with stucco on the sides and back of the house.

Be prepared to pay significantly more than the price advertised for the base house in the brochure.