All Forum Posts by: Kristopher Smith

sounds great guys! Anybody care to share theirs?

WOW guys! Speaking from a contractors standpoint I believe in and appreciate a lot of opinions and or experiences that have contributed to our thread here. This is a very complex part of investing and I understand that it is scary to many of us as well as it is confusing to those who are not part of the constructing trades. There is no right or wrong with finding trades I am afraid.(in my opinion) when the economy is doing well, there is more work than can be handled by the respectable companies. This means that everybody"gets to eat". (Even the less respectable  contractors ). Don't we worry however because the next downturn will push them all to menards and Walmart jobs like what happened in 2008. But I digress... I am an electrician and I am constantly  disappointed in my peers in the construction trades . There are many good ones mind you however an outside person looking to break into any market will run into the same problems.  Meaning, unless you have connections into that circle you are stuck going through the Yellow Pages  or some sort of advertising agency. Unfortunately I know many great craftsman that do not know how to market therefore they are not as readily available as the great marketing geniuses  Who do crap work and charge more. I hate to say that you were just going to have to build relationships through trial and error but I would always use as a wise man once said get three bids rule... I hate to say this but my wife used to get on me for telling her that just because we have a dentist or doctor doesn't mean we shouldn't get second or third quotes. Same goes for your lawyer or accountant. I am an electrician and I always get three quotes for every service that I will pay for. It doesn't matter if they are in school or licensed  professional it doesn't matter if they wear a white coat or green coat or purple coat I am always going to get three bids/quotes. Nate has some great points. So if anybody made it this far through my rambling blabber I would only add that we are so lucky to have a venue of this quality and magnitude to communicate any type of questions or answers we would have. Happy new year to all you bigger pocket chasers! Love, your bigger pockets electrician, kristopher 

I am an electrician. I would definitely say without a doubt that that amount sounds high. Did he give you an itemized bill? I can't imagine that costing nearly that much. Also it is code to have the mast anchored with a cable to keep these things from happening but many inspectors won't enforce this but it should be done if the mast exceeds the roof line by a couple feet. i would make sure that he did that for your new mast to avoid a repeat of this. I really can't say without knowing the whole scope of work but I can't imagine this costing over 3000

I am an electrician in Michigan. The national code states that you need 3 feet clearance for electrical maintenance that means all directions. If your deck is going to be above it there should be no problem as long as you follow manufactures specs so you don't void any warranties. That being said each county/city can adapt the code and that trumps any state/national codes. Calling the code office to double check is always a safe bet. If you don't have the ac unit paperwork to find manufacturer specs you can always find them online by googling the model number etc. like Jesse said if you are not pulling permits than don't worry too much about code just don't void warranties on the units.

I take measurements when I am there to prepare a proper bid. Just saying...

Coming from an electrician I am impressed that you got that. Without having several separately metered units to explore I am not sure I even would have figured this out. Props my friend.

as an electrician I am wondering what year this is and how you estimated the electrical/hvac/plumbing costs. If it is replacing fixtures that is one thing but remodel with code updates is another. I would love to help you estimate some of the mechanical/electrical costs if you can get me more info.

There are plenty of fish in the sea!

Speaking as an electrician I can't say I have experience with those homes. That being said I have to believe there was electrical installed in the wall building process. Is the floor concrete as well? If you need to update to modern code it may have to be all surface work( conduit etc.) This can be done to look well but keep in mind that turns it into commercial grade electrical which is much more costly. I would get a bid for that and then get bids for what it would cost to frame in some non-load bearing walls on top of the walls to act as a way to get new plumbing/hvac/electrical around the house . You may be able to do that cheaper than a bunch of surface mount trades. Hope I helped a little. I am sure there will need some upgrades but without knowing what is already there it is hard to give you more information. God speed!

Hungry Hungry Newbie...Hungry. I am ready for action. Books/Podcasts/Seminars etc. Been Learning for what seems like an eternity. Time for action. Would love to meet you.