Contractors - The Final Frontier!

The Final Frontier is where I started.

I was 9 when my Dad decided to add building spec houses to his full time job as a Firefighter. He started by building our house. My first construction job was cleaning up the job site after school. I climbed on my first roof to nail down plywood when I was 10 and decided 6 months later that I hated painting - with a passion! What I was passionate about was helping my Mom pick out stuff for the inside of the house, and my love for Design began.

Fast Forward 20+ years

It took me until I was 31 to decide to go back to school to follow that passion. In 2005 I graduated from the University of Oregon. I had worked over the previous years off and on in construction offices. I knew job costing, payables, scheduling, etc. My first job out of college was with a General Contractor in my area that specialized in Custom Remodels and Custom Homes. It was a small office so I learned to do a lot of jobs in addition to just being their Interior Designer. I learned how to do take-offs (measuring the amount of materials needed), I learned how to solicit bids from subcontractors, read plans, get building permits, walk thru with inspectors, schedule subcontractors and coordinate material arrivals to coincide with job scheduling. ( I, also, learned how to walk a tore up job site in heels and a skirt) I learned how to translate interior design ideas to contractors and I became very aware that what I might envision in my mind is subject to the laws of construction, especially when dealing with remodeling existing structures.

Now, my day job is as the Interior Designer and Sales Manager for an interior finishes company. Since 2011 I have been learning about materials, their applications and what works best where. I have refined (and continue to refine) my skills around measuring, bidding projects, and working with contractors. This is the knowledge I would like to share

Contractors - The Final Frontier

Finding good contractors seems to be the Achilles Heel to just about every Investor I hear sharing in the blogs and on the forums. Obviously, I do not know everything (just don't remind me of that, please), but I do know enough to be helpful. The other day I posted some of this to one of the Forum discussions and made the decision that I just needed to give this Blog thing a try. Bear with me if I mess it up. I have been wanting to get this information out there for a while, so here goes.

I love the Home Depot suggestion...if it meant that people were shopping somewhere besides Home Depot. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to buying local. My suggestion is to start with your local supply houses - lumber, roofing materials, plumbing, electrical, masonry, and interior finishes (Ask the suppliers that have been in business over 10 years). These are the people that will know the real deal when it comes to your local contractors. They have to work with them every day.

These are the people that will know which contractors plan in advance for their projects by ordering before they start. (I will talk about what I feel makes up a good contractor in another Blog). Your local suppliers will know if they pay their bills on time, how long they have been in business, and if they are having to put out fires that they created by not being prepared. There is a difference between an unexpected, unavoidable surprise in remodeling a building and just not being prepared.

Last, but not least, when looking for good sub-contractors. Work backwords! For instance, if you want to find a good drywall contractor, ask a painter that you know and trust. Ask your favorite Electrician what HVAC contractor they like to work with or the other way around. Typically every person knows at least one person in construction that they trust....start there and work out. The sub that has to follow up behind and clean up the work of the contractor before them will know which ones they like to work with. It is also a good way to find a good General Contractor- ask the subs that have to work for them. They will know which GC's are good at scheduling and paying.   A good sub will want to work with other good subs and general contractors that clean up after themselves, stay on schedule and don't make them do more work than they need to in order to get a job completed on time and on budget. Believe it or not, a good contractor also wants to stay on time and on budget - it means more money in their pocket.

That's my two cents!