All Forum Posts by: Greg Palmer

Christine,

As a contractor myself, one of my main responsibilities as a GC during a remodel for a client is the management of the project to ensure it's built according to the contract and SOW. I would encourage you at this point when you are just starting out to focus on finding and developing a relationship with a good GC who would do all that for you as the normal part of their job duties. I agree with the strategy of JJ Pawlowski of having a project manager working for him but he is down the road a ways from where you are. After you get to the point of having multiple projects I think it would make sense to at that point hire a Project Manager but at this point why not keep the 5% and let the GC do his work?

Also, as a fellow Californian, by law the GC can only collect $1000 or 10% of the contract amount at signing WHICHEVER IS LOWER, they can also not bill you for work not done.  I understand you are talking mainly PM in your scenerio but just keep that in mind when you are hiring GC's. 

hello,

I would suggest going to a busy lumber yard - not like Home Depot - but a lumber yard and ask a manager there who is consistently busy and they know has a good reputation in that area. They see these contractors all the time and usually have a decent sense of the good ones. 

You could also call up the different wholesale supply shops - like Platt Electric for electricians and so on - for the different trades and ask them, they have long term relationships with the contractors who have proven themselves over time.

Another thing I would do myself if I were new in a town is call a decent sized church and ask a secretary if they know a good contractor in their church. You would have a better than average chance of finding someone of good quality there ethically at least. 

Hope that helps.

John,

Around here you can go to the city and they have the sewer line locations on computer that would help you pin point it. I think getting the line locator out there is another good option because they can tell you the depth of the line too. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the old line was just a little bit deeper than what you had dug down to.

I've found it helpful to develop relationships with the different trade specialties so you can get pricing information from them. If they know they are going to get ongoing work from you they are more apt to share that info.

Greg

Try Lietner Construction, he is out in Gresham but works all over the metro area. Another is Kaya Construction out in North Portland.

Thanks for the helpful tips Karen. Good to know there are others around here. The market is definitely improving compared to the past few years. I haven't built any homes here yet, but have a potential client wanting a SIPS home hopefully starting in the Spring. I'm looking into the possibilities of developing a small neighborhood here with a Craftsman look to them. As you know from living here, almost everything is stucco so a little variety would be nice. Thanks again.

Greg Palmer

Hello everyone, just getting into this. I'm a GC currently looking to learn about house flipping and hope to get into it soon. My experience has been building 45 homes so far and a handful of commercial remodels. Looking forward to lending my experience to your success. Greg Palmer

Hello,

I would ask the local lumber supply companies what the going rate per sq. ft. is. They are bidding things for contractors all the time and usually have a good ear to the ground for what the going rate is. I'm in Northern CA and we're at about $150 sq. ft. for homes permits not included so I'm sure you're going to be higher down there. If you're using SIPS count on quite a bit more.

Hello, as a contractor myself knowing what goes on out there, the biggest reason contractors usually do that is so they don't have to report the income on their taxes and so they can pay their employees cash instead of taking out worker's comp and withholding. If he has employees working on the project I would ask for a copy of his worker's comp certificate because if someone gets hurt on the job without him having that they can come after you too.

Matt, 

I'm a licensed GC up in Redding looking for work. I would be interested in bidding on this if it's a short project so as not to be too long away from home. Feel free to check out my work at www.builtupconstruction.com and read the testimonials. You can contact me at [email protected]