SIP Progress!

I know--I've been away from the blog for a while. Almost three months! But I wanted my next post to be about actual progress toward building my tiny house, partly out of pride and partly out of the fact that we've been having an outrageously sunny and warm late winter/spring and frankly, I couldn't be bothered to drag out my computer and sit in front of it writing non-essential blog posts when I could be out frolicking.

It's nice out today so I'll be spending some time frolicking. Today's scheduled frolicks: some work in the garden and a run on my town's newest stretch of waterfront trail.

But about that "actual progress" that I wanted to write about... yeah, it hasn't been very forthcoming. Until this past week!

I had been in contact with one structural insulated panel (SIP) manufacturer in the South Puget Sound for several months. But geez, this guy was unhelpful. I should have taken his multiple-week response times as my first warning to give up on him, and if not that, then at least the fact that even when he did respond he seemed not to have understood my messages. He eventually sent me three different quotes, none of which were for the exact set of products and services I was asking for (and which their website says they offer). Unfortunately, of the manufacturers to whom I had reached out in December/January, he was the only one who had gotten back to me at all--and in his first email, at least, he seemed somewhat enthusiastic about helping me with my project. What a let-down.

(Flip side: without a tiny house project to occupy my time, I had more time to run and hike, I took a two-month volunteer training course, started participating in a few citizen science volunteer projects, helped my mom in the garden, read many books... got complacent...)

But after three attempts to contact a different company--Premier SIPs, in Puyallup, WA--I finally got through to their regional representative, Todd. And then it was a different story! Within two days of sending him my amateur, hand-drawn wall elevations, Todd sent me a nicely worked-up, detailed quote on actual company letterhead; when I asked him for a modification he sent it to me next day; and within a week and a half of that initial email, I had made my order and paid my deposit.

WOO-HOO!

So, Lesson 29: When working with suppliers, be prepared and be persistent! Have your plans ready and know exactly what you want. Are they slow to respond to email? Call them! And call them again! Left a voicemail? Call again anyway! And if you have better options, don't give up on them unless it really seems like they're not going to work with you.

Oh, and the icing on the cake: since Premier SIPs has ongoing projects in my town, with lots of panel deliveries scheduled throughout May, they might be able to send my panels as tag-alongs with a bigger delivery--for free! 

Stay tuned. Things are about to get rolling, and not a moment too soon.