contractors! A Rant in so many words.

[blume357]

Still waiting on our guy / contractor to say when he can start on our little project from Helene.... the funny part is we don't really want a price from him and I've already told him it really doesn't matter what it cost. Of course this guy is just the sub contractor because my wife's trust is actually the contractor and I guess I'm a sub too. Figure all that out.

 

[The.Tumbleweed]

I have always told my wife: "whatever you think the (remodeling etc) cost will be, DOUBLE IT and add your age". Sadly, I've always been right..!!!
Cities are simply breeding grounds (fill in your favorite ________); I try not to even drive near one.

J.

Sounds like dentists and contractors have a lot in common.

 

[kmoore]

My last house, I was there 17 years, I turned the garage into an extra room even resided where the door vehicle door was. Replaced windows, siding, doors, floors. Removed and installed a new electric meter and mask. Built a detached garage. Got permits for some of the work. Subbed out cement and some electric work. Paid a company to roof both house and garage. Paid a company to replace sewer pipe. Paid a tree company to remove 3 huge trees. I had some help as in the electric and roof rafters. A lot of that stuff is not difficult.

 

[xchecker]

Everyone with a hammer and pickup became a contractor. Short careers. Couldn't buy a project for several years. But with a little patience and perseverance I eventually got to fix a lot of those jobs at twice the original price. I explained it's always cheaper to do it right than to do it twice.

If you think a professional is expensive, have an amateur do it first. I'm a C-7 in California, word of mouth only. I have loyal clients and get referrals often who never haggle my estimates.

 

[Jeepnik]

My last house, I was there 17 years, I turned the garage into an extra room even resided where the door vehicle door was. Replaced windows, siding, doors, floors. Removed and installed a new electric meter and mask. Built a detached garage. Got permits for some of the work. Subbed out cement and some electric work. Paid a company to roof both house and garage. Paid a company to replace sewer pipe. Paid a tree company to remove 3 huge trees. I had some help as in the electric and roof rafters. A lot of that stuff is not difficult.

Until my roof I did almost everything myself. But, there comes a time when age plays a part. I spent about 5 hours today assembling and installed a hoist on the back of my pickup. Let me tell you those hunks of metal are a lot heavier now than they were even a couple of years ago. It's done, but my back hurts, my neck has a spasm and my ears got sunburned. Next time I'll pay someone.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

Something on the freeway hit my son's brand new 2025 Volkswagen Jetta SE sedan. It hit the rear plastic bumper cover just behind the driver's side rear wheel. It's a damaged area about the size of a quarter.
I took it to a body shop recommended by the Volkswagen dealer.
I got a quote for $1,758 to repair this little spot on the bumper.
They said they would have to remove the bumper to paint it.
Bullshit.....

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I approach projects differently than many. As the owner I'm the general. My job is to get two skilled (finish) carpenters, schedule what day(s) each is to be there, and make sure they are there on the days they are supposed to be, and are finished on the days they are supposed to be, make sure everything that they are going to be using is there,
First day or two is demo. The main project was taking out the tile and bathtub, and replace what I want. We are getting too old to step up into a bathtub and turn it into a walk in shower. The walk in shower was 30" X 60", so it requires reframing so there's framing for grab bars x upgrade surround to granite tiles that are 12" X 24". A one piece floor, and what the layout for the granite was to be, that was all the way to the ceiling. I explained to the tile guys they had to be done before they leave the next day. How late can they work? As long as it takes.
Next pull the cabinet, prep and repaint, reinstall, granite tops for the cabinets for both bathrooms, install under counter sinks, replace plumbing, both bathrooms, install grab bars and full size frameless door. One week, $13,000 all in.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Also made 2 calls followed by e-mails asking for someone to come out and quote 10 windows. Not a single word from either. Wondering if they are too busy for more business or just slackers.

I can't get the local window guys to give me an estimate and I know the owner!

 

[Mobuck]

My new neighbor is a 'general contractor'. Talked to him Wednesday and he commented that he now has 4 employees (including his Son) and is mostly doing estimates/running down supplies/checking work progress. Daughter has picked him to reburb the old church building and I'm holding my breath on his estimate. No clue on how much but I'm guessing $25-30K and that's with the 'close enough to hear you cuss the dog' discount. Grouch Attack says she's getting him to replace windows and siding here but we can't agree on what size to make the windows.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

My Father was a General Contractor for 50 years.
I have three brothers . When we were kids , we were his crew.
I am the only one of my brothers that stayed in the industry.
I am still in it.
All of the work is from word of mouth.
I have clients that I have been doing work for since I started.
They won't call anyone else. Sometimes I wish they would , but I never turn them down. If I can't do it , I know someone who can , and I will stand behind anyone I recommend. There are very few that I would recommend.
I very seldom have call backs , and when I do , it is a priority.

 

[vito]

I have worked with contractors who agree with my demand that all payment, other than possibly a small deposit, will be paid upon completion of the job and not a moment before. Its always possible that the contractor will try to raise the amount agreed to, based on all sorts of reasons, but I am under no obligation to agree. The worst that can happen is that I lose the contractor and have a partially complete job that I have not paid for. I've yet to be burned.

 

[Old1215]

I once told a contractor I wanted a completion date and I never heard from him again. Contractors hate schedules.
When I built my current home, I failed to demand a completion date and the log contractor dilly dallied around an extra 8 months and the logs turned black so I had to hire a sanding crew and pay them about 10K to fix it.View attachment 77812

8 months?? I built an entire home, 4 br, 3 bath over a full finished walkout basement in 5 months. Did most of it myself with a little help from my friends and still worked a full time job. That was in the 90’s when I was connected and people did what they said they would do.

 

[MaxMan]

Had a contractor half finish a porch enclosure. Ended up disappearing. I think he had a rash of personal and health problems, but you return calls. This dragged on and on and on. Fired him became an owner builder. I will say the inspectors while not letting me get by with anything felt sorry for me that I got tangled up with guy. The First inspection the windows were put in wrong, my son and I had to correct that, take the windows out and rebuild the frame. Hurrican windows are HEAVY!. Had to find the electrical contractor, had to get rough electric inspected, it failed. Had to find the electrician and have him come out and do the final electric passed (I think the GC did the rough himself under the electrician's license but just a guess on my part. Had ti find an AC contractor, run a duct and put two vents in $ 1,300.00 , I could have done that, but no license. Dr wall and trim up. Light in ceiling fan. Inspector came out said final passed. A year later, got a notice the permit could not be cleared because a drainage survey had not been done. Fought with county for months and finally they acknowledged that since the foot print of the house didn't change it was not necessary.

 

[mirglip]

Another issue to be aware of is a front-heavy draw schedule. Some contractors simply won't work without it. Know what you're getting in to.
My aunt hired a guy to rock her outside walls. She paid the stone mason 50% when he got the bottom half done. The mason apparently figured that since the bottom half was much less work for him than the top half, he packed up and disappeared, not wanting to do the top half for the remaining 50%.
Never pay in full until the job is 100% done. I had a neighbor lady that hired 3 Mexicans to paint her old house. They scraped off the old paint and did a pretty good job. She paid them and then hired the same crew to roof her house. They removed the old shingles, hauled them off and put on 90-95% of the new shingles and she paid them because she had to go somewhere and wasn't going to be there when they finished. As soon as they got the money they all up and left. Foolish thing they did because they built good will by doing the work satisfactorily at a fair price, then threw away that good will, which could have earned them good references and other jobs.

 

[Mobuck]

"They removed the old shingles, hauled them off and put on 90-95% of the new shingles and she paid them because she had to go somewhere and wasn't going to be there when they finished. As soon as they got the money they all up and left. "
This happened to the church I recently inherited. After getting full payment, the roofers left w/o installing new shingles on the bell tower(most difficult part). Turns out Grouch Attack knows a relative of this contractor and passed along a message that we were going to expect the job to be finished. Took him 6 months to 'work it in' but the job was completed--we sat and watched the crew just to make sure it was done right and the mess cleaned up.

 

[mirglip]

Lots of times these guys are their own worst enemies. They have no idea of the basic rules of commerce. They might be very talented and hard working craftsmen but running their own business is beyond the realm of their talents.
Before they were self employed they worked for someone else who managed all the agreements with customers, made the bids, scheduled the jobs and planned. No one ever taught them the business end.
A general contractor once told me the self-employed are mostly unemployable.

 

[txramfan]

My father in law back in the 90s hired a contractor to build a custom house who was referred to him by his travel agent while playing poker at his country club.
Father in law allowed this contractor to draw funds from his bank as needed.

Travel agent forgot to tell my father in law this contractor had a cocaine habit.

Job wasn't completed and over $250,000 vanished from my in laws bank account. District Attorney had to explain to my in laws no charges could be filed because of how the in laws had allowed the contractor access to their bank account. No mention of materials or job completion was tied to with drawing funds.