tax deductions of worker who are not licensed contractors

[Robert Baker]

i have an LLC and i purchase about 8 rental properties per year. 2015 was my fist year in business. I originally did the majority of work on the properties my self in the evening and weekends as i have a regular full time job about 50 hours per week getting off around 5 pm monday-friday. To try and turn properties faster i have been paying my son $12 an hour cash and allowed him to bring in one friend who is working for $10 an hour cash. The current property is the first one i have done this on and the billing hours is around 400 for this project. My question is how can i write off this $4000+ expense, i read on this site 1099. is that accurate. I would like to continue using them without them falling under the employee umbrella. We are located in the state of Maryland.