All Forum Posts by: Dalton Smith

Shawn Clark, can you be more specific. If there is mold present you must go to the sticks and bleach it out. Insulation has to go too!

Tae C, nice to meet you. Now this is strictly how I do business. Every contractor will be different. I ask for a 50% deposit and 50% at completion for jobs under $20k. If the job is bigger I outline what the work schedule is for the customer and let them know how long the work will take. We work off of a weekly draw system. I will not start work without a deposit big enough to buy the materials for that phase. I will not start the next phase until the customer has paid for the previous phase. It works really well for me. There’s a medium you can find where the contractor isn’t paying out of his pocket but the customer also isn’t paying too far in advance for work. The deposit is the bond of good intentions. The deposit upfront can scare people sometimes, but that’s where references come in. On the backside it’s scary for me though. Just last year a customer did great on all of their draws and then saw they they could stiff me at the end...and that’s what they did. God bless them, it’s rough to have people treat me like that. They should have just asked me if they need it, I would have let them keep it. Now they’re freaked out I’m going to sue them...lol. I really form friendships with my customers. But not everyone is crooked, and they’re not the norm.

Hey Cara Lonsdale. Stairs themselves are not typically load bearing. Now the walls around the stairs very well could be. On my company FB page (Pine Springs Homesteads) I made a video specifically for identifying load bearing walls. Go check it out. Moving stairs is the same as moving any other frame structure in a home. If they are load bearing you can always install a header. If you can sketch me a rough blueprint with the roof line I can tell you.

Jose Schneider, it’s nice to meet you Sir. To be honest, I haven’t been to Houston to see the flooding. Quite a few of my buddies have gone though, they say it’s pretty rough. Ive done some fire and flood restoration. I restored a house that sat under 4’ of water for over a week. I think I’ve already touched on that in another conversation here. Anyway, repairing flood damage is not a big deal. It’s really just the same old thing. Tear out the old rock. Pray that the house has a fire break in the walls. Dry and remove mold. Rebuild. The hard thing about flood properties is the dreaded “mold remediation companies”. I do believe they are in cahoots with the “mold inspectors”. The mold remediation guys hire the best salesman to scare you into getting them in there with no price on the bill. Then the mold tester finds mold!!! It’s comical really. If I was going to Houston, I would skip the mold remediation and inspection companies and just put in the sales contract that the home was flooded (obviously if it’s Houston). It was restored and tested for mold by a third party company and wipe my hands of it there. The mold and insurance companies will tell you you can’t do that....but actually you can. They just don’t like it. That’s where the GC experience comes in. I’ve done it enough to know when they’re trying to bully me. When I have a new customer I always ask to be there when the inspectors there. 90% of the time they try to scare the customer into signing something making them use a remediation company. It’s sad really. As far as becoming a GC. Man it’s all about what you know. I’m second generation in this line of work. I eat, sleep and drink residential remodeling. I read city code in my spare time and do a ton of product research. If you can go into any situation, in any home, after all the other contractors have left it behind and say “I can do this, on time and under budget and make it better than it was before”. Then you may be on your way. I just wear so many hats...for example...I do the advertising, selling, hiring, firing, scheduling, payroll, taxes, product research, price negotiation, inspections, insurance meetings, insurance write ups, bank meetings, draw requests, and when I need to I can pick up any tool on any project and do the work better than the lead guy on the crew. That’s how I know I’m not being taken advantage of, or am not about to have bad work done. I know what all of the processes are for every step of residential building. And I know them well. I’ve spent my entire life going from crew to crew learning all of the trades, and my father taught me the business side of it in his company. I guess the point is. The GC is the guy everyone points at when everyone is freaking out, and the GC stays cool and has it back on track and makes it look easy. Man...what a rant...sorry about that!

Great questions guys, y’all are awesome! I’m doing my best to keep track of this but my feed is a little out of order when it updates. If I miss your question shoot it up here again or email me. Will Kirkendoll, thanks for the honesty here...lol. You know, I think GC’s are bad because ANYONE who is out of work and can swing a hammer can call themselves a GC in Texas. I have given bids to people that literally hate me for no reason and are just waiting for me to mess up or steal their money because they’ve been ripped off. Of course...I always win them over. I have dedicated my entire life to being a GC. It’s my passion. I love residential remodel projects. Customers want the lowest price so they hire the cheapest GC, and then they’re mad when that GC is no good...or uses old materials...or hires sub par labor. Do your homework before you hire. Get references. See the portfolio. But in the end, if you go with low bid...well...you know the saying. I don’t know if it’s so much a bad GC so much as a people will lie to get work issue.

Hey Jerry, I can’t picture the cement board with holes in it. Shoot me a pic maybe and I could help more. If your doing a patch that uses cement for the finish compound then I would use a lightweight heavily sanded mix to do my patch. Maybe even use lightweight joint compound unless the cement is super porous looking. Make it the consistency you would use to build a sandcastle. Just wet enough to hold form but not run. Before you start, us a putty knife to knock off all of the pieces barely hanging on. Then use a stiff broom to sweep off the wall where the patch will be so you will have a good bond. Maybe a little cement primer too if your going to paint. If it’s a thick patch staple chicken wire in there to give it something to hold. Let chicken wire be 1/8 inch off wall so cement can get behind it and hang on. As far as meeting the ceiling with Sheetrock. Hang your Sheetrock ceiling. Dust the cement wall off very well at the top. If there is a gap more than 1/4 inch between the Sheetrock and wall use spray foam to fill the gap and when it dries trim it away flush with a razor. Any smaller cracks fill with siliconized acrylic latex caulk. Don’t buy the cheap stuff. Go to Sherwin Williams or Lowes. Apply premixed lightweight joint compound with a 6” trowel to bring the ceiling and wall together. Not over 1/4 inch thick or it will crack. The joint compound will stick to the cement. Man I hope that helps, I couldn’t quite picture what you were trying to do. A pictures worth a thousand words right...lol.

I would love to meet up sometime and have coffee Mike. Email me and we will get together.

I am in closing on a house right now for a fix and flip.  I don’t like the fix and flip phraseology...how about rehab and resale?!  There are a lot of variables on a raw property.  I live on 12 acres that was completely untouched by Man before I bought it.  It is on a creek and HEAVILY wooded.  The more details you can give me the more I can help, but consider a couple of these decisions.  Can the timber be sold?  Can the top aggregate be sold.  Can the top aggregate be used for your road?  Is there private water or do you have to dig a well?  Is the water on your side of the road or do you have to bore?  Can you use a standard dirt road for construction or will you need topper...and how much topper?  WHAT IS THE DIRT LIKE!!! Excavation is very costly!!!  Is there sewer?  Is it on your side of the road?  If not can you go linear septic or do you need aerobic?  Check the dirt!  What’s the water pressure?  How far are your water lines running?  What size water lines do you need.  Will you be installing your own water lines?  Are you going above or below ground with electric?  How far will the electric Co. Run for free?  Are there building restrictions?  Is it 18 wheeler accessible for deliveries?  As far as solar goes, I’ve installed quite a bit of solar.  I’d say for personal use go for it, but for resale use skip it.  There’s a lot that goes into solar and power storage unless you just want to sell your leftovers to the electric company.  Give me some details and I’ll try and help.

Thanks for responding to my thread guys, it's nice to meet you! Residential remodeling is my passion and I love helping people even if I am not doing the work. There are a few factors that can make a project get the title "hardest project". The thing that usually makes a project hard is the customer. That is why I am making the push to move into investing. It gets the customer out of my hair during construction. When I say customer that could be homeowners, banks, FEMA or inspectors. They can really be fickle and hard to please. Although, I have zero unsatisfied customers to date. The most challenging job I've ever been on?...IDK. I've painted oil Derricks, built roads, built houses, remodeled houses, commercial painting, custom showers, foundation repair, truss repair, Roofing, excavation, it's all a good time to me. I love my work. I don't take jobs when customer only wants low bid, I have a standard of work, and I will go out of business before I do bad work. I like jobs that have the largest before and after differences. I restored a home that sat under 4 feet of water for 2 weeks. The customer was pretty disheartened. It turned out amazing, and I was able to get him a few free upgrades that he loved! What trends do I see? Remove acoustic, paint walls light tans, use composite wood floors. Kitchens and baths are what sell a home so don't skimp there. The biggest mistake I see when people fix and flip is that they fix the home how they want it rather than putting what is popular. People need to be able to picture their tastes, not see yours. Staying in first time homebuyer territory is smart for the quick sale. There are a lot of government programs to help people to get into $100k homes. Also getting cheap contractors or trying to be their own general contractor. I am always ahead of time and under budget...always. I think a team of good investors and a good contractor would be unstoppable in this business.

I am here to network and learn. I want to help however I can. I am a General contractor. Please feel free to ask anything about a project you have or are considering.