An afternoon with Indy

Yesterday afternoon we met with Indy again. We have decided that he's not a phone person. On the phone, he's very cut and dry and to the point. No frills. But, in person, he certainly does the talking. According to the Dummies book, the person you're interviewing better be doing all of the talking otherwise you are the one being interviewed. Yep, check! He did that.


He met us in Tullahoma and took us to three houses he is building all in three different stages of the process. We got to see a house in the framing stages with the electrical work run, another that was about a month from being complete, and one that was about a week or two from completion. He orchestrates all of the framers, masons, electricians, plumbers, drywall dudes, etc.; but he and his compadres actually do all of the painting and trim. He is the most local of the three contractors that we have interviewed, and he's a walking tub of information. (That's not to insinuate that he's a chunk, even though he's got a bit of a gut on him.) In the homes that he builds, he uses sprayed silicon insulation. Sprayed insulation fills all the little cracks and crevices. He gets his lumber from Builders' Supply, and this particular company picks up any unused lumber to return for credit. If you don't use it, you don't pay for it. AWESOME!!! He is the person who introduced us to Hardie board (or fiber cement siding). Umm...thank you, Indy. In this last visit, he recommended 2"x6" exterior walls, too, for energy savings. In the first house we visited, the basement (partially above ground and partially below) had 2"x6" exterior walls and the internal temp (without the AC on) on a 95 degree day was.....wait for it.....65! Sold! He said in a year you would make up the cost difference in energy savings. Quite possibly the most important information he gave us was about the actual construction loan. He recommended a couple of local banks that don't cause headaches. 


Now we want to meet with Pickle again. Fishy isn't lucky enough to get a second interview.