How to do delivery of materials and installation of appliances?

Question

When doing a conract with my GC on a rehab project, what are appropriate prices for:

-installing a microwave (above sink)

-hooking up stove (basically just means moving it into place and plugging it in)

-setting refrigerator in place (putting all the shelves in, hooking it up to icemaker line)

-dishwasher (anchoring it in place, possibly hooking it up to electric but maybe my electrcian would do that)

And also what is an appropriate amount to add to the contract for delivery of materials and the time it takes to go get them? I have a separate company doing floors, so the biggest items would be appliances and probably drywall if there is a lot of drywall work.

What is the "dumpster situation" like in a normal rehab project? On the past two, I've done a portion of the work myself and had mostly handymen helping me. We used those portable "Bagsters," but I don't think that's how it's done professionally.

J Scott · Answer

Why would you hire a GC to do those things?  Hire a handyman and pay him hourly.

J Scott · Answer

A GC should hire contractors, manage contractors, manage the schedule, manage the budget and manage quality.

Other than hiring a contractor, you don't need any of that other stuff for this quick and easy job.  And it's much easier to hire a handyman to do these things than to hire a GC to hire a handyman to do these things, and then pay a whole bunch extra for the GC's time and effort.

Btw, if you paid for a seminar where the person teaching didn't tell you the difference between a GC and subcontractors, I would ask for your money back.

John D. · Answer

@Patrick Philip you write "I was instructed to build a team that consists of:  GC, plumber, electrician, HVAC, landscaper, floor installer, roofer."

Who is this someone that instructed you to do this, and are you sure you heard them correctly?

J Scott · Answer

Come on Patrick...I remember writing a post to explain this to you about two years ago...

That's not the way things work.  The role of the GC is to manage the project.  The whole project.

Having two GCs on a project is like having two drivers in a car.  Doesn't work.  One driver, one car.  One project, one GC.

A good GC isn't going to want to only be responsible for part of the project.  His job is to make things run smoothly, keep everyone on schedule, ensure that there are no dependencies that aren't accounted for, etc.

And a GC can't do those things if you're getting in the way managing the plumbing, electric, etc.

Like I said above, go back to whatever guru gave you this information and ask for your money back.

Will Barnard · Answer

There are two basic means to completing a rehab job. One is to hire the GC who will hire all the needed subs. Option 2 is to act as the GC and hire each sub yourself which obviously requires a lot more work on your part and experience helps too. Without the experience, you will undoubtedly do things in the wrong order, do things much slower, and overspend on labor and materials as you don't typically have the buying/purchasing power that an experienced GC has. Which way you go depends on your goals, time availability, and skill sets. To act as your own GC will require you to build that team of subs and starting out, this will be trial and error with lots of errors so plan on them.

If you are building or adding square footage, you will need a GC to do the foundations, excavations, rough framing, etc. So at that point, you have to ask how much you will actually save by trying to hire each of the needed subs beyond that. If you are doing simple rehabs that don't require major construction (lipstick flips), then acting as your own GC would likely be better but not in all cases.

Will Barnard · Answer

As J stated, not a job for the GC, send to the proper sub - handyman or appliance install crew.

Matt Stewart · Answer

@Patrick Philip  I usually budget $150 for my crew to install kitchen appliances.  There's a little time involved in an OTR microwave and the dishwasher requires a bit of work to make all three connections properly, but it's generally part of the kitchen punch list toward the end of the project.  Once your countertop is installed you do your faucet, plumbing, and appliances along with any other final punch out items for your kitchen.

Patrick Philip · Answer

Yes, unfortunately I think I will have to find a handyman crew. I don't want someone else to manage the projects, I just want to pay them to install drywall, paint, etc.

The way I'm wanting to do things would probably be insulting to any GC.

J Scott · Answer

A good GC will have his own subs and will not want to work with yours.  And he certainly won't work for free.

Either hire a GC to manage everything or manage everything yourself.

Brian Pulaski · Answer

Sounds like you need to act as your own GC and hire the remaining scopes out to a few subs. Drywall, paint and carpentry are not hard subs to find. It adds more to your plate, but unless you want to hand the reigns over to a full on GC it might be your only option. This assumes you can do that in FL.

How to do delivery of materials and installation of appliances?

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