dealing with contractors during flips

[Steven Mitchell]

new rehabber here.  Im on my third.

First time - hired a GC.  he didn't show up his entire first week.  I was so new I wasn't sure if this was normal or not.  Fired him.

Second time.  Hired a GC.  didn't show up the first week.  Once the work was done there were little things here and there that weren't done he didn't include on his scope of work (and which i didn't catch) so I had to hire him again to complete it.  Again, was completely new and didn't know if this was normal or not so took it on the chin and went forward.  All the little stuff like replacing fixtures and lights that I assumed was in the bid because we had talked about it on the walkthrough.  

Third and current time - hired a gc.  asked for a turnkey bid.  Didn't realize he didn't include landscaping so now have to pay for that.  Today its the blower in the ac has to be replaced for 675$ (my other project manager says it should be 400$).  The day before I caught that the crack in the outside brick due to foundation issues wasn't in his scope of work along with some bad bricks on the bottom level of bricks.  The crack is about half an inch wide and runs from the top to the bottom. He says the crack wasn't there until after the 4 inch foundation work was done but I know it was ( i didn't take pictures! learning here).  He wants 750 for it when Ive been told by a mason it should be 200 on a good day.

Anyways, one of my project managers is amused to hear my stories as she's rehabbed over 300 doors and this doesn't happen to her.  Im assuming its me.  What am I doing for all of this to happen?  Or, is this normal and Im just being a penny pincher and paranoid?  In my view, the contractors are leaving stuff out of their scope, hoping i don't catch it so they can tack on fees in the middle while I'm married to them.  Its happened to me twice in a row now.  This GC must be semi legit, I was walking through another of his work sites and his investor showed up, check in hand.  So other people are employing him. 

I come to you for your opinions because if Im being unreasonable I need to know.  And yes I realize one of the take home lessons is to create the SOW myself and check it against the actual bid, lol.  Don't hate, in my business this constant trying to get one over on each other doesn't happen.  

[Wayne Brooks]

Yeh, it's you.  YOU are the one who determines up front what the scope of work is, and that SOW needs to be very detailed.  Sounds like you think you are going to sign a contract that says "fix everything".  Contractors can't be guessing at what you want, every owner has a different idea of "what needs to be done".  You can always hire someone else, direct, for additional items later if you want.