Starting the Renovation Process

[Brett Riemensnider]

Hello everyone. I’m in the beginning stages of renovating a small unit in my 4plex. Yesterday I did my final walkthrough with my tenant and I have to say; it’s more work than I originally thought. 

The plan was to do as much as I can myself but with as big of a task as it is, I don’t see myself being able to do everything in a timely manner. I plan to do the trim flooring and painting myself and hire the rest out. 

In others experiences with hiring out, is it best to go to a GC? What is the most cost effective route to take? This property isn’t in an A class neighborhood by any means and really just looking to update enough to be able to be livable. If anyone has any advice on starting construction, good place to find cheaper trim, doors, cabinets LVP etc, or even people in the Minneapolis/north metro that you would recommend for the job I would love to hear it. Thanks! 

[Andrew Bosco]

It's a matter of time vs energy and who, not how. I hire a GC when I feel I have too many other things going on and my time is better spent making money away from the project at hand. I don't know your area, but give that some thought! 

[Matt Vohnoutka]

Hey @Brett Riemensnider, definitely been there with the first wave of overwhelm heading into a project!  From your past posts, as well as what work you've mentioned being comfortable taking on yourself, I think you definitely have the requisite knowledge to act as your own GC and sub out any work you don't feel like taking on yourself.  In case it's helpful, here are the companies around the twin cities which I've had the best experiences with subbing out different projects at my properties:

For any electric work, I've had good luck with Stafford Home Services.  Really competitive pricing, and their electricians are super knowledgeable and do great work.

For HVAC, Standard Heating and AC have done quality work on an AC installation, as well as servicing multiple furnaces at my properties.

I don't have a good rec on a plumber in the area - all of the outfits in the twin cities I've contacted that have more than 2 employees seem to not want to touch small/medium-sized jobs, and overbid pretty aggressively as a result.  For example, on what I thought was a relatively simple project in a bathroom reno which was fully gutted down to the studs already, I had more than one quote for over $7k to run pex supply lines and rough in a shower drain and toilet drain off of an existing main stack, all of which ended up costing me about $200 in pex lines, PVC fittings, and sawzall blades.

If you need any hardwood flooring repaired, patched, or refinished, you can't beat Dave's Hardwood Flooring out of Blaine - $3k spent with them fully brought one of my duplex unit's original 100+ year old maple floors back to life.

If you're putting in any stone counters in your kitchens or for bathroom vanities, Twin City Discount Granite have been awesome to work with, and consistently have the best pricing I've found in the area on fully installed granite and quartz.

I also have a great drywall guy, as well as a really good carpet install guy - feel free to DM me if you want either of their contact info!

[Jacob Carroll]

Hello Brett,

Good evening. I will reach out to connect and provide you my contact info. I work with a local GC that picks up projects (fully or just specific tasks). I have used him in the past with a punchlist and he is independent, skilled and reasonably priced. If you would like to offload / speed up some of this work it may be a good avenue. Best of luck!

Regards, -Jacob

[Jeff Zahn]

not sure how far along in this project you are, but Building Materials Outlet (BMO) in eagan is the go to place for construction supplies like cabinets, flooring, etc.

Hope that helps