your handy man or GC and developing a good relationship

[Steven Maduro]

I have had partners in various business ventures and I really am a big believer in partnering

I have a General contractor (unlicensed in my state ) but licensed in hawaii

I have been working as his laborer on one of his projects
in return he gives me a pretty good rate
on my work and renovations

I have four properties and he has dived into them and really been very valuable

there is a dark side to every story

he has a bad habit of over promising
he means well but he just cant get projects in on time
even with me helping and I am there I can see how fast he moves and how hard he works and even with my help we are weeks behind.

I dont get mad because I believe in the long run I will be able to estimate his estimate and figure out the actual completion times

another dark side is that he knows a lot but he also has missed a few classes
for example he installed my laminate flooring and he knows all about how to measure and accomodate walls that ride out and floor levelling

but he is cutting around all the door jambs instead of cutting out underneath them.
it looks like amateur hour.

in the interest of time and money
I am going to let this go this time in this apartment but the next apartment I will insist we use a saw and cut out underneath the jambs

what is my point in my rambling?
it is that there is bad with every good
and that you have to know a good thing when you see it/
I have probably gotten 6,000 dollars worth of work for about 2,500

and although not all of it is spit and polish
most of it is very well done

his expertise seems to lie in structural and engineering codes
and section 8 requirements building codes etc
and he helps me stay in compliance with these things

I will be sticking with this guy
every land lord needs a good handyman/GC that can be trusted.

my eye for detail will have to be developed to compensate for his lack of the beauty aesthetic

eventually we will mutt and jeff ourselves into bigger pockets