All Forum Posts by: Alfred Edmonds

if one has 0 experience and tries to run a job for someone else good luck getting a 2nd job. How can one know how to handle subs if they don't know when to schedule what. It's fairly easy to get a license but that piece of paper means nothing if you don't know what's up. Money gets eaten up quickly as is evidenced by the countless threads on BP of people either hiring GC that doesn't have a clue or by investors running their own jobs. It's all good as far as I'm concerned, do what you want but if it were easy as taking a test and going out and wasting money then everyone would do it. This forum cracks me up with all the experts spouting off how easy it is to retire by 30 by low balling everyone under the sun and crying about the hack GC who came in with a quote 20k under everyone else and blame them for all their woes. takes money to make money and you get what you pay for. It isn't rocket science, no, but from what I've seen in hack work over the years sometimes I wonder

Get a laborers job. I would start with a smaller outfit with just a few guys who know what they are doing. I say small because you will likely be taught more and not be stuck just lugging materials and cleaning up. If you work hard and show interest many guys will be happy to show you the trade. Smaller guys are also likely to be doing renovation and additions and such so you get to tear things down, see how they were built and understand how to tie new work into old. You will see all the problems that you would see on a typical flip and what to do about them. A good book that deals with everything from excavation through finish work is Carpentry and Construction by Mark Miller, also get the IRC and IBC code books. Trade schools are good but getting your hands dirty and making mistakes will get you farther and you'll make a little money not to mention you may decide that the blue collar world isn't for you after all and you won't be paying for that knowledge with your white collar job. It is fun and can be financially rewarding but between the physical pain and dealing with some of the characters in the trade you'll either love it or hate it. If you don't live it, it isn't worth it. Good luck!

@Wayne Brooks is right about owner occupant permits... check the code book and ask the building inspector.

I hit submit before I was done, the floors would be toothed in where the the notches are and refinished and if you hire a pro you will never know the difference.

the floors are great, have them professionally done by someone who does floors only and they will look better than anything you could replace them with and cost far less... make sure they are FLOOR guys... not some jack of all trades. The doorknob looks great and if it works well leave it. no point in overspending to have the final product look cheaper than the original.

and if you're doing unpermitted work then attention should be drawn to that

that deck is totally not up to code, and ugly as sin. The quotes for putting a bandaid over a bullet wound are silly and in the end will cost you more than doing it right the first time.

I have to agree with just about everything said above... some of the worst violations I've seen are in flip houses. My sister once rented one that didn't sell in NY and it was a mess. She called me because the picture window in her living room spontaneously exploded and the owner (also the failed flipper) blamed her, well come to find out this genius cut a big hole in a load bearing exterior wall for this window but had neglected to put a header in so when a big heavy snow came, the pressure was too much for the window and it followed the path of least resistance. this happened 2 consecutive winters. a home inspector would not have caught that because it is hidden behind sheetrock but if the work had been permitted, it never would fly. my point is that an inspector can only inspect what they can see and that many flippers either have no clue what they are doing, are trying to cut corners, or don't care. there ARE some good and responsible flippers but when I know a house has been flipped, I am always suspicious.

On a side note... if bf is punching car windows then you probably have some wall repair in your future.

all personality stuff aside... I can tell you as contractor it is no business of mine how a client lives or makes money, without trust fund babies I would be broke! if a client is a d-bag I just won't work for them. I will say that the wealthier the client, the more they nickel and dime but they pay and the checks clear no problem. I guess that is how one gets rich. if one gets rich by ripping people off and doing cheap work on their flips then I want nothing to do with that, I have to eat and I have a reputation to uphold