Driveby Estimate

During our final 10 years in Taiwan, we resided on the campus of Tainan Theological College, which when compared to density all around us felt like living in a park. Years of “let’s not spend money” or “we can put off fixing that for another year” came to an end when a new president took over in 2012. Year by year old stuff got torn down and new things were built.  One project knocked down a couple of walls near our house and created a new pathway for moving between some lanes. That pathway was “paved” with interlocking concrete blocks that left spaces for grass to grow between them. Taiwan being so fertile, it looked like a lawn within a year.   

Within a week of arriving in Michigan to retire, we bought an old house (built in 1925). Settled now, I’ve begun to look for improvements. The concrete driveway is old, cracked and uneven. Remembering that pathway in Tainan. I called a contractor and asked for an estimate. He measured first, then went back and computed. Without getting his company’s professional estimator to give a detailed plan and estimate, he called back with the news, “We can do it for just under $30,000. 

It turns out that cracked and uneven suits a 95 year old house to a T.

David Alexander now resides in Holland, MI after 39 years in Taiwan.