Keep my contractor or look for somebody new??

[Amanda M Laird]

Hello fellow BPers :-)

So Im in a dilemma (or at least I think I am).  I have used the same contractor for two of my renovations so far.   I pay him $50/hr.  I play the role of the general contractor in terms of I usually get the materials and have the sub contractors lined up ready to go when they are needed (tile, electrician, etc).  My contractor does pretty good work, but he's an older gentleman and I noticed he can move pretty slowly.  Lets just say he's not breaking a sweat by any means for $50/hr where I know some other guys bust their butt for $20 an hr who are working under a general contractor.  

He doesn't give me quotes.  Its just a time and material situation....so I never know how much things are gonna cost me.  But he does get things done maybe just not as fast as Id like and I think thats a mixture of how he tends to be on the slower side of things mixed with me having unrealistic expectation of how long a project should take.  

So heres the new scenario.  I just inherited a house in Astoria Oregon and its a dump.  I was left with a little bit of money to fix it up.  I really want to stick as close to that amount as possible therefor am needing some quotes.  Should I stick with him because I know and trust him or should I try and find a new contractor who will give me a quote and hope that they do decent work and are decent people and easy to work with?

Its leaving the familiar for the unfamiliar, and not sure if I should go with somebody new or sit down and have a talk with my contractor and see if he can give me quotes or not.  Anybody ever been in this situation and have suggestions? 

[Matthew Paul]

You have a 60 year old experienced contractor thats working for $ 50 an hour , count your blessings . You trust him , he gets the job done . He was a licensed plumber . He can do just about anything .   He is a bargain in Maryland . 

Slow and steady wins the race . I am 57 and a contractor and can do just about anything .  First thing is I wont work for that little . Second when you have experience , you dont rush , If you dont have time to do it right , how do you find tine to do it over .