Dear Editor,
As I continue to build my house in Guyana, I continue to learn new things. Here are a few new things that I learned.
Building a new house in Guyana is indeed a great adventure because unfortunately too many
persons/technicians/administrations/contractors involved have a hidden agenda!
Only when you have a good, competent and honest contractor then you can make the jump! If not you’ll have the worst nightmare in your life.
Getting started is, without a doubt, the toughest part. Like many people, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. This is why I decided to put my experience on paper and give you Editor a step-by-step guide to building a new house.
Editor, when you decide to build your own house, you are in for quite a ride. Probably, when you’re halfway there, you’ll wish you never started in the first place.
The way you start the process has a lot to do with if you have any idea about the construction world or not.
If you have no insight on construction the first thing you need to do is hire a good contractor’s advisor (consultant) with experience on the subject and have him follow the construction from start to finish.
It is indispensable to have an advisor (consultant) when you are building a house. You want an independent person, with technical knowledge to look over the project. It’s better to pay a little more and have this guidance.
When I say oversee I’m not talking about going to the construction site once a month for 5 minutes; I’m talking about at least once a week (in some stages more) and accompanying you, to hear your doubts, to make sure your demands are being met, to make sure the projects are being followed, to answer questions the contractor may have.
You will also need to go to the construction site yourself on a daily basis, if possible. Sometimes it takes just a few hours to undo a mistake that afterwards can be quite difficult to undo.
The contractor knows his trade. Even if you choose a good contractor, you will worry so much if everything is being done properly.
Editor, one of the most important things about building a house is having a good, competent and honest contractor.
Building a house is not something you do every day, so it’s best to spend a little more and have it your way, than to spend two or three years after the construction thinking you should have done it another way, because it’s much cheaper to do something during the construction, than to undo it afterwards and do it again.
Editor, I don’t recommend owners keeping a lot of money on them to buy building materials. Guyana is not a safe place to carry around a lot of money.
To avoid having a lot of money on me to buy materials, I deposited a large amount of money into an account at Gafoor’s Hardware Store.
After depositing the money, I didn’t need to have money on me to go to Gafoor’s. I called and ordered all my materials from the comfort of my house and never had to leave the worksite or carry money on me.
Here are some more suggestions on building your house.
Always choose a honest and competent contractor.
Always buy your own materials to avoid the contractor stealing your money.
If you can’t always be at the worksite, install CCTV cameras and monitor the worksite and materials.
I only shop at Gafoor’s because they treat all of their customers like family, with dignity and integrity.
Like many of the staff at Gafoor’s, Brenda Persaud is a consummate professional, and she provides exceptional customer service.
One thing I’d like to share with people who have not built yet, is the best single point of advice I received from another family who had built before me: Don’t trust anyone.
Editor, please provide my information so if people have questions, I can help them.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
592-675-3062
Quallis1_s@yahoo.com