All Forum Posts by: Brad Meredith

Lisa, which city is friendly? Why?

IMHO painted brick is more attractive than a lot of 60's red brick. If it was done right you will not have any additional maintenance anytime soon.

The roof line is decent, but the house lacks symmetry and the windows are really dated.

Consider painting the shutters monochromatic to lessen the impact. Plant 2 tall shrubs below the left window and a row of short shrubs to the entrance. Ignore the small bath window.

If you could find some snap in mullions that fit, it might be interesting, might not.

Paint the garage door the house color, or compliment, not contrast. Looks like a black hole.

If you wanted to spend some money, build a little porch with a bias roof to accent the entrance and draw the eye and mitigate some of the window symmetry issue.

A different approach is to bid projects. If you have fixed 200 houses you know how to estimate and complete jobs within a budget. Where you may lack is customer service. Custom contracting is quite different than spec. Not too much risk, if you know what you're doing.

Architects bid projects as a way of life. Introduce yourself. The value of working with an architect is defined scope is easier to bid and they have the jobs. You can keep your crew busy, look for your own project, and make 15% .

The mechanics lien clouds the title. If you want to sell or finance you will settle the lien.

Law suits and court appearances are a pain and expensive. How much are we talking about here? Of course that amount is subjective.

Settle, get a release of lien, and move on. Get references on your next contractor.

Thanks for the suggestion Ned, I'll do that. BTW I love B'more

Ryan, learning to use your hands is a fine aspiration and can give a lifetime of small satisfactions as you tackle different projects. I would agree with @Bill Gulley that the finance portion of the business is readily available to study and develop using the skills you already possess.

That said, I believe the way to develop proficiency in a trade is to apprentice. That can be as informal as a summer job, but being a grunt is where we start. I don't imagine many people want to have a shadow, I know that is the sort of thing that really distracts me. You might find someone you can pay to shadow, but I think it's better to get paid to learn.

The deck is a roof. The proper detail is a roof membrane below a floating deck.

Two jacked alternatives:

1.Remove the ceiling finishes and apply a corrugated metal ceiling on the ceiling side of the joists and fur so that slopes to drainage

2. Remove the ceiling materials and Let it leak.

A GC will cost at least 15% and can be a bargain or a serious overhead. They all perform differently.

In VA it used to be very easy to get a class B gen con license. That license permitted most general construction activities below a certain dollar amount. If your state offers such a class, it may be prudent to form an LLC or S corp, get licensed and insured and how to materials. Probably not in that order.

Have a detailed scope of work for each sub, pay promptly and always get a signed release of lien with each payment.