@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.
