Originally posted by @Patrick Philip:
Originally posted by @Jay M.:
@Patrick Philip The whole tone of this thread is that you don't trust contractors, you're smarter than they think, you know how much everything costs and you want to shave every nickel . In every response you circle back to one of these. You're setting yourself up for major disappointment.
To address your last comment how do you know the "good" contractors haven't already weeded out the $14k guy because he never shows up and does shoddy work? If someone isn't "the phone is off the hook" busy in this economy then they suck!! I'll go out on that limb..... If you think it's difficult finding quality help now wait until you have a sub that you either fired or walked off the job and you have to get someone to replace them. No one wants to do that especially when they hear the tone you've been setting in this whole thread.....
In another of your responses you said that GC's get "mad" when they find out you're not a "sucker"??? Dude you are so - fishing in the wrong pond....with the wrong bait I might add. You've got a long, rough, bumpy road ahead of you. You need a legitimate mentor not a contractor(s). When you find that mentor make sure you're not attracted to them because they think like you. That's not a mentor....... I do applaud your interest in learning but you are off to a very, very bad start. Take a breath, reread this thread and treat people like you want to be treated not like they're there solely to rip you off.
How do I know somebody is "good" before I hire them? And these are very large contracts we're talking about here.
At this point, I'm having some people tell me one day they could easily build 10 houses at once, then 4 days later it's like they lost interest in the whole thing.
How itemized are these contracts usually? I guess itemizing everything down to the doorknob is overkill, but they are usually at least separated into electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roof, foundation, etc. Correct?
You don't have to itemize right down to 27 cabinet knobs if the "scope" of the kitchen with "all necessary knobs / pulls" is included. You may also be conflating "quote" vs. "contract". Are you disappointed you're not getting the details in the quote? That is common. They're not going to go to extreme lengths in the quote. When comparing quotes look at scope and inclusions. A really good quote will not only have everything they've included but also exclusions.
Here's another tip about outrageous quotes. If you've got recommendations for a good contractor and and the quote they give you is out of line with what you've heard from other people that know them don't take it personally. They probably are too busy and threw out a high number to discourage you not necessarily to "rip you off"..... When I want to bid something I ask them if they're too busy to bid it. If they say no they are not then I ask them if they would be interested in the job. You would be surprised how many you can weed out because they are too busy but no one asks then if they're too busy.
How do you know if they are good? Google first, BBB 2nd, contractor desk at the "local lumberyard" (not the box stores), sub-contractors. Go to the tile store and ask a few tile setters if they've done work for "X" builder. Go to the electric supply house, plumbing supply etc. If the builder is established in the area for a few years if they're a rat you'll know.
If all seems good there then you start with past customers. If he has a limited amount of recent customers that's a flag.......If you're really serious about flushing out recent events go to the building department and look up recent permit applications (public record).
I should have mentioned this first but the first two questions are 1) are you licensed / whose license # is going to be on the permit. 2) are you insured. These two weed out most of the fly by nighters. In a state like my the fly by nighters have either never had a license or it has been pulled.
Signing off with don't hire anyone with bravado....false or otherwise......
