How do you find a good general contractor?

14 years ago

And a corollary to this question: and what things do you need to know before deciding to general contract a project yourself?

I'm having a heck of a time finding a good general contractor. Here are a few of my (many) thoughts and worries.

1. I just moved here so my network of people isn't huge.

2. Most people I know who've renovated had bad experiences with their GCs and won't recommend them.

3. When I moved here, people joked about the *my town* bump. Apparently, contractors boost their prices when they hear where we live. I'm fear that I'm finding this to be the case. I pay well, tip well, etc. but I'm careful with my money. I don't want to blow it because people assume we're rich. (We're not.)

4. I read about the poor experiences people have and get freaked out. Even checking references (which seems to be like pulling teeth to even get references) doesn't protect you.

5. I worry about the quality of the GC's subs.

My husband and I are relatively handy and because we do tons of research, I think we're fairly knowledgeable. (Of course not nearly as knowledgeable as those who do it for a living.) We're doing a DIY almost gut reno of our basement bathroom, and it's going very smoothly (though slowly). We pulled a permit for this, etc. We know a good licensed plumber and electrician (used them both already) and have leads on a good tiler and good stone fabricator.

So should we GC ourselves and maybe bring a GC in on a consulting basis? Have the GC do the rough stuff (framing/drywell) and we do the rest? We have the master bathroom and kitchen to do, and I'm starting to panic. I really want to get these done in 2010.

Anyone who knows an honest, conscientious, fairly priced GC in the Boston area, please e-mail me. We're still looking. Thanks!

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Comments (8)

keptoz
14 years ago
I ran everyone through the Better Business Bureau's website & also our Attorney General's office has set up a website where you can check them out too - make sure they are state registered, licensed, insured, etc. We can also look into the public records of your county here to see if they have any lawsuits pending against them.

References can be funny b/c how do you know they are not just their friends & family.

My GC provided about 4 pages of pics of local kitchens that they have done & offered us the opportunity to go into any of those homes & look at their work. Turned out one of them was only a block away.

Good luck!
lindiver
14 years ago
We're still in the midst of our construction. It began in August and should have been completed well before the first of the year. While the GC's work and that of the subs has been great, our GC can not be rushed. He's doing other jobs while doing ours and.....

We had considered acting as our own GC, as we also know good people in the trades, but figured with our work schedules, we couldn't do it. I wish we had! It's gotten to the point where I am ordering materials ahead to make sure that they are here, calling the suppliers to schedule deliveries, etc. just to get the work completed.

My advice is that you go ahead and act as your own GC. You'll save money, be able to control the job, and won't be at the mercy of someone else's time frame.

Much good luck with your projects. :-)
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Thanks for the replies everyone- much appreciated. K Sissy- Thanks for the offer, but I'm in south Texas. It'd be a pretty long commute for someone in Ohio :-) Joseph, I'd be happy to give the guy's name as well as show progress pics. Good tip about homeadvisor- I'll definitely check it out. marie1120- I am a member of Angie's List and have used them as a source. In fact the GC I hired has been awarded 17 Super Service Awards from them and is where I initially found his name. He still gets glowing reviews, though I've seen some pop up more recently that sound more like the experience I had. I've also started to wonder about Angie's list. I got an email saying there is a class action suit against them. I didn't read it closely, but something about payments from the businesses that are listed (again, may have the details wrong). My take on using them is the people who get good reviews at least have learned how to communicate and keep on schedule, but may or may not be competent. Might be different in other areas of the country. I've asked at the plumbing supply place I've gotten everything from, but what I was told is they can't vouch for the workmanship of the plumbers/GC's they work with. Maybe they've gotten burned by a referral in the past. Haven't ever used a designer before. Have to think about that. scone911- Wow. I asked for tips on finding a bathroom GC and get relationship advice. Not sure why you'd think someone who does woodworking would be able to do the plumbing, electrical, or tiling for a BR remodel. He has, however, built me gorgeous kitchen cabinetry, beautiful moldings and trim throughout the parts of the house we've completed, and about a dozen pieces of custom furniture. He and I both work. Neither of us have the time to be GC for a bathroom gut remodel. He's building the vanity and storage cabinets- because they're made of wood. Lisa
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mcmann
14 years ago
Good luck finding a reputable contractor. We've lived in the same house for 26 years and in that time we've done many projects - new roof, new siding, a 1000 sq. addition, finished the basement, remodeled 3 bathrooms, added a screened in porch,installed a mahogany deck, a swimming pool, replaced brick walk with custom cut bluestone, remodeled the kitchen twice and had major landscaping done 3 times. We probably worked with 12 different general contractors and unfortunately only 2 of them would I ever work with again or refer to others.

Even though we went through all the recommended steps in selecting our contractor calamities still happened - may of them directly caused by the GC trying to save time, money or appease one of his subs or another customer. You don't need to hear my horror stories I'm sure you've heard many.
If you have the knowledge, the time and the fortitude to be your own GC then go for it. Just make sure you have all the insurance you need and an attorney to review all contracts.

The last contractor we worked with was highly recommended by many people that I knew personally and whose work I had inspected. But he lost his foreman to an injury one week after my kitchen was demolished and everything went downhill rapidly after that. So even if you do everything right - there's still a good chance that things will go wrong.
steff_1
14 years ago
You have the background to act as your own contractor on home improvements, but you mentioned framing walls. If you are doing an addition, that's very different from finishing a basement. If it's just a few interior walls and you are getting good drawings, you can probably do this yourself. I don't know why you would have a GC consult if you are good at research. That's additional time and cost you probably don't need to spend.

It's not uncommon to have a contractor provide the "shell" of a project and then you finish it yourself. That might be the best way to go since you have experience with that phase of projects.
donnaclaire
14 years ago
I personally visited all the homes my contractor listed as references. If they would not let me come, that was the end of that! Believe me, you can find out a lot by meeting and speaking to the home owners as well as judging the quality of work. In the end, (like a year later) I found a real winner and it was worth the hard work.
lala girl
14 years ago
We asked the well-known realtor in our neighborhood - she has seen TONS of renovations that have been done (the good and the bad) - then we followed-up with reference checks.
mom1993
14 years ago
The Realtor suggestion is a good one. Years ago we used Richard Gerace in Ayer, MA. Not sure if he is still working, but he was wonderful.
eoren1
14 years ago
Where are you in Massachusetts? We are in the North Shore and I love our GC
E

How do you find a good general contractor?

Comments (8)

keptoz

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