Help Me To Understand Contractors-PLEASE!!

[Punch The Clown]

OK, I've always done everything myself. Well, about a year and a couple of months ago I hired one to gut my living room, kitchen and dinette. He started great guns with a full crew everyday. After about a week started the one or two mechanics. Then the 1 illegal Mexican. Then the no-show. Then the "I need more money". Then the 3 Murray boxes when I asked for Square D. Then the cabinet guy stops installing the cabinets mid-job because the contractor didn't pay him. Same for the granite guy. Now the "I'm losing money on this job" rant. Now Stu has to run the electric for the oven and dishwasher, install the range hood, run the gas line to stove, run the dwv and water to the sink, install the sink, run new bx to the island because the contractor thought it was a good idea to cut that extra wire out before putting down the floor, and tons more.

Summary-Cabinet maker did nice job but never got paid, granite guy did nice job but never got paid, electrician screwed up 1 box but he ain't coming back cause he never got paid, mechanic doing the detail work never came back cause he never got paid. Painter never got paid. Suppliers never got paid. Plumber never got paid so he didn't finish.

But, the contractor "Lost Money On The Job".

[melloman]

Where did you find this contractor - did you check his references? Was your main criteria for awarding the contract based on price? I am sorry for your headache, but I hear this same story every year. Lots of good, hardworking, honest contractors/tradesmen out there but a lot of bad ones too. It is possible that he estimated the cost of the job too low. I personally suck at estimating, as I am always thinking that I can perform a task much faster than I actually can. Let's also consider site conditions - today I installed ceiling crown moulding in a 24' x 14' living room. Ceiling height was 8'. Crown style was basic 3 1/2" Colonial, a real easy one to install; I figured 4 hours max. When I got to the job, the room was a cluttered mess (4 kids) and furniture along every wall. To make matters worse, the moulding should have been in 16' lengths, but the GC must have had this in his garage as it was all random short lengths. Needless to say, the installation took much longer than expected. Was not a money maker.

[Punch The Clown]

Mello, he belongs to the same Pistol Rifle Club as me. I saw his work-he was building 2 new construction homes 2 minutes from my house. Sean looked at the job and felt the estimate was correct. Bottom line is this guy screwed everyone-including sub-contractors and suppliers. I'm not bashing contractors. It's just that I have yet to find someone that had a job done properly. A friend just had a 10' extension added to their kitchen and the floor was off 3" over 10'!

Check this one out. The cabinet guy actually came back and finished the cabinets and only charged me a token amount. He said it wasn't my fault and he felt bad for me.

[Orlando]

Yup there are hacks everywhere
Not saying this is your case but anymore people shop price not quality work. They take the bottom line cheap unskilled labor quote and get what they pay for , crap. Makes it real hard for me to compete and make a living anymore.
As alot of other guys I bet I'm down 40% from a few years ago.

[Punch The Clown]

Orlando, I specified only the best and this guy came in the highest. I saw what was going on here. He was juggling too many jobs at once and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Funny though in the middle of all his Losing Money he managed a brand new Ford Diesel pick-up with every option in the book.

[KnickKnack]

This is why Mike Holmes has a long running HGTV show. I don't want to hire anyone because I know that if I don't do it myself, it won't be right. But my garage has needed a roof for about 6 years and I just can't climb on roofs anymore. So I guess I need to scrape up the money and have someone do it.

By the way, Punch, is that your real picture? What the heck happened to your... oh wait... that's a beer bottle... never mind, I need new glasses!

[melloman]

Mello, he belongs to the same Pistol Rifle Club as me. I saw his work-he was building 2 new construction homes 2 minutes from my house. Sean looked at the job and felt the estimate was correct. Bottom line is this guy screwed everyone-including sub-contractors and suppliers. I'm not bashing contractors. It's just that I have yet to find someone that had a job done properly. A friend just had a 10' extension added to their kitchen and the floor was off 3" over 10'!

Check this one out. The cabinet guy actually came back and finished the cabinets and only charged me a token amount. He said it wasn't my fault and he felt bad for me.

See, you had both sides on the same job; a douchebag and a good guy - guess who made money on that job.

[Orlando]

Yes thumbs up to the cabinet guy that came back to finish
What I love are the people who dont take my bid and go with the cheapest only to call me back to fix the hacks work.
Guess what , I will fix it if I can but not usually real sympathetic when I warned them in the first place about hiring Box Store contractors

[The Garand Guy]

When we re-did our kitchen cabinets a few years ago, we hired a local kitchen cabinet contractor who had once worked with my son, and also did cabinets for our apartments, and came highly recommended. We had other estimates form other sources that were cheaper, but we went with this guy. They came in and did the demolition, ( I salvaged the cabinets & paneling and now they grace my workshop in the basement.) They went through the job, showing up every day until the job was finished, including the floor. (Astonishing!)
It costs us $24,000, & we could have done it cheaper, but we are very happy with the job, and the cost seems to fade into the background when you have a job well done. Also, he came back & replaced some doors that my wife was not happy with!

[seaninmich]

How long ago, GG? $24,000 for a kitchen is LOW. When I did residential, my average kitchen was about $60,000. I did several in the 6 figures

[Rick B]

Drugs or another addiction causes this problem every time. Rick B

[jak]

We did our kitchen 3 years ago. I made a point to hired a contractor that only did kitchens. The first day there were 4 guys to unload all the cabinets. After that it was only the carpenter that there every day. The electrician and the plumber came when required. It cost me $31,000.00. I removed all the old cabinets and sink, installed the new ceiling, floor, and marble tile behind the counter. I don't know how much the total cost would have been if I didn't do some of the work.

[Cal30M1]

JAYsus! Roofers are the only contractors I hire and the last roof I had done I did the tear off myself!

It may take me fifty forevers but I get it done and do it FAR cheaper than a GC.

Gutted and re did both bathrooms. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, tile. All me baby! And under $200 each with fancy tile and trim!

My cheapness overrides my laziness.

[melloman]

Drugs or another addiction causes this problem every time. Rick B
Relationship problems can also have the same effect.

[seaninmich]

Gutted and re did both bathrooms. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, tile. All me baby! And under $200 each with fancy tile and trim!





i officially declare SHENANIGANS! you can't buy the materials for $200. Hell, you can't even buy the primer and paint for a bathroom for $200. Average bathroom for me was a bit over $20,000.

[Punch The Clown]

i officially declare SHENANIGANS! you can't buy the materials for $200. Hell, you can't even buy the primer and paint for a bathroom for $200. Average bathroom for me was a bit over $20,000.

You forget Cal is a Recycling Engineer.

[dogboysdad]

You forget Cal is a Recycling Engineer.

He gets his materials from other people's trash. He's green baby, green.

[seaninmich]

doesn't matter. u can't salvage drywall from someone else's trash. Even a dinky little 5'x8' bathroom has 8 sheets dyrwall @ about $7 each, 6 pieces 32"x60" durock @ at least $10 each, mud, tape, and screws. There is $200 right there and you don't have a cabinet, toilet, sink, faucet, tub, valves, trim kits, exhaust fan, light fixtures, wire, pipe, primer, paint, tile, thin set, grout,.... I can go on all day.

a basic bathroom has at least $5000 in materials - usually closer to $10,000

[dogboysdad]

You can salvage drywall. You just have more mudding and taping.

[KnickKnack]

JAYsus! Roofers are the only contractors I hire and the last roof I had done I did the tear off myself!

It may take me fifty forevers but I get it done and do it FAR cheaper than a GC.

Gutted and re did both bathrooms. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, tile. All me baby! And under $200 each with fancy tile and trim!

My cheapness overrides my laziness.

The house next door that is being rented needed a new roof on the garage. Last summer, a guy and his son showed up in an old pickup truck full of plywood and shingles at 3:00 P.M. on a friday afternoon. I'm thinking to myself, "who the hell starts a roofing job late on a friday?". I soon found out. They took all the plywood, laid it over the existing crumbling shingles, nailed it down with air guns, then just felt paper, drip edge and new shingles on top of the new plywood. They were gone by 5:30 and you'd never know the mess they hid under that cob job.

I try real hard to do all my work myself and I recycle tons of stuff that other's are throwing out, either from demolishion or scrap from new construction. It's amazing what you can find for free. I've saved thousands of dollars on my own houses.

[Cal30M1]

$2,000.00 I dropped a zero. My Bad!

I bought new stuff. Didn't have to replace all of the drywall. The 6.5 x 5 bathroom I replaced 3 walls with dry wall or tile. New tub throne and pedestal sink. New medicine cabinet and lighting and did recessed light over the tub. New plumbing fixtures all around. Mid grade Moen stuff. Around $2,100.00 and some change.

The 8 x 5 bathroom I only had to gut one wall and I bead boarded or tiled all 4 walls. Kept the tub but new vanity and sink and throne. New medicine cabinet and lighting. I did a simpler tile pattern and used high end accent pieces and came in a little over $1,600.00 IIRCC.

Looks good! Big bathroom the tile is neater. The small bathroom was a bit ambitious for a first tile job but you have to look real close to see the fuck ups.