Consider yourself lucky that it happened this early in the project. Find a new builder. There is NO excuse for someone being completely unresponsive for 2 weeks.

Doesn't sound like a good start.....but...maybe he has the flu or someone died in family.

I couldn't get a contractor on the phone for a couple of weeks last month and when he finally answered his cell phone he was in Ireland taking care of his mother. You can't do much until you discover why he's not responding and no one here can help you do that.

If it isn't a really serious health issue, move on. I just had a really nasty bout of the flu. I could still answer the phone, though, even if it was to say I'm really sick and I'll get back to you next week.

It is the Holiday season, you know....?

Everyone has vacations planned and family obligations that predate and supercede your project.

What are his other commitments....?

Since you are still in the 'draft planning' stage, you should also understand any designer or builder will treat this project with a bit less importance than if it were an imminent 'start' and in the 'shovel ready' stage.

Go with the flow...
Relax...

But if 6 months from now you still don't have a final site plan and no returned calls...consider something is wrong.

I can't imagine in this day and age where we have cell phones, voice mail, texting, emails etc. that a homeowner could not get in touch with their builder for 2 weeks straight. If he was tending to a family emergency it would take less than a minute to type 'family emergency' or whatever other difficulty they were encountering, in order to communicate to the homeowner that they have not been forgotten. Communication is a huge part of the building process. Lack of communication would be a huge problem for me. I personally would not be able to work with such a person. 2 weeks is a very long time to be left wondering what is happening with your build. We own a contracting company and we would not have many customers if we treated them this way.

A true professional would let the people who have employed him know that he had commitments that predated their contract. Don't forget...he works for you - not the other way around. At the very least, a firm talk when he does finally return your calls about expectations is in order.

And, give it 6 months and then worry? Really? Is that a joke?

Can you share who the builder is? We also did a teardown/build in a close in DC suburb.

What does "10% into this project" mean?

Thanks for the input.

10% = $55K

"Communication is a huge part of the building process."

It only takes a minute to let a potential or ongoing client know you wont be around. It works both ways as I'm going through it with a current customer who seemingly just vanished!

Thats crazy! 2 weeks! As the others said, in this day and age when communication is everywhere there is NO EXCUSE. Even in a family emergency in a two week time frame you could find time to call someone back. This isn't buying a loaf of bread, this is building a home, the largest outlay of financial and emotional investment that most people will ever make! If he's on vacation courtesy alone would have had him give you a heads up that he was going away. How thoughtless! I feel really bad for you. With my personality, I'd be throwing up with worry.

Unless he's on the dark side of the grass or seriously ill, I'd see what my options are for walking away. It's only going to get worse.

My neighbor's parents stayed in his house while he was on vacation in the mountains of Peru. When the father had a heart attack no one could find his son. When my neighbor got back he said he had told his father how to reach him.

A similar thing happened when I bought something on Ebay and the guy went on vacation and his mother forgot to check his email for him.

Phone batteries die, email goes to email heaven, and life goes on without it. This is a time for patience. Unless you have a better builder waiting in the wings, I suggest you take the necessary time and effort to find what is going on before taking the knee-jerk advice so popular on this forum.

I guess if it it is reasonable not to hear from a builder for weeks on end while they vacation in the mountains of Peru then yes the above posts are 'knee jerk' responses. However I do believe that the poster on this thread was asking for the advice of people who have built in the past and what their personal experiences thus expectations were when they built their houses, and if that is the case, all experiences have been given, giving Lanenem the opportunity to see what expectations may be reasonable or not reasonable. Personally, as I said before, in this day and age where people are so well connected, at least in this part of the world, I would not expect to be out of touch with a person I have entrusted hundreds of thousands of dollars with.

Lanenem....I have an idea.....how about emailing,voice mailing your builder/architect and telling them you are having second thoughts about employing them for your project. You might get a clearer picture of how 'connected' they truly are.

MACV; The Grinch who stole Christmas! :-)

I suspect I have been dealing with general contractors longer than anyone on this forum and I have learned to think twice before making assumptions about important issues. I also take giving advice to others very seriously since you never know when someone might follow it.

Eventually the truth will be known and the OP can take whatever action is appropriate but I think it is unwise to give advice that might get someone whipped up needlessly over the holidays. Stay calm; you can panic later.

Speaking of gaps, it has been 12 years since the previous comment.

Maybe "Robert Wirth" will edit the comment?