General Remodel Question - Layout (Contractor/Architect)
xtremeski2001
10 years ago
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Hire a general contractor or sub-contractors?
Comments (11)I’ve acted as GC on my last few renovation projects, one which involved three bathroom gut remodels and a brand new kitchen with all new appliances and cabinets, new hardwood floors, doors, and moving walls. Subs I had: (1) paint/general construction/drywall, (2) plumber, (3) tile, (4) floor guy. I did the bulk of this in about a month and a half, with just little aesthetic touch ups later. I saved both money and time. Time, because I found that GCs will schedule one thing after another, not wanting people to work around each other, but because I was on a really tight timeframe that my son and I wouldn’t have a place to live, I scheduled a lot of folks to work at the same time around each other. They grumbled a bit more, but I was there every day to smooth things over, help, and just be a charming friendly person who brought cookies and snacks :). That said, to echo a lot of what folks said, it’s important to (1) be there on site every day to catch things early that are not aesthetically what you’d like, before it becomes more difficult to fix later, (2) have great people skills to motivate folks and work through issues, (3) have great organizational and project management skills (4) make decisions quickly and easily (being willing to do your own research) (5) be efficient about ordering supplies and materials on your own, which really saves time and money. And maybe most importantly (6) have the energy to deal with this all — it takes a lot of energy. I was exhausted. The reason I undertook it is that some GCs I talked to gave me a 4 month estimate on the work, and I just didn’t have that kind of time. All the sub folks were referred by my broker, so they were really responsive and professional and above par. I’ve continued to use them on other renovation projects, and they’ve always been really responsive and great. I may be lucky, because I’ve heard of nightmare stories as well, but it’s just to say that if you get good referrals, I‘ve found it’s not always the case that you can’t get subs to show up or have leverage compared to a GC. In fact, on a current project I have, all my same subs agreed to take on the work for me, right away, when my GC couldn’t get his subs for weeks out. I respectfully don’t agree with the comment that if you can’t tell about running an electrical line you can’t be a GC. If you trust your subs to be good at what they do, they’ll guide you through everything and help you make the best decisions. That’s what they’re there for. I‘ve done several remodels now, and haven’t had any issues later on (I lived in that particular house for 5 years). Anyway, I know it’s been 6 years since this post, but since I always get value from older comments and advice, I thought I’d still share my own experiences for others with this same question....See MoreGeneral questions about tile layout with a busy vein-y marble
Comments (29)Its standard here for marble flooring, we go to the warehouse to pickup a slab usually around 8'x5' or more then discuss the final tile cut size to minimise wastage before the installer drylay the marble in the factory to arrange the veining (also to place less desirable tile under furnitures etc). I'm in the process of laying 27"x51" size marble tile for my flooring, still deciding whether to have the veins move vertically into my room or horizontally across it....See MoreHiring a general contractor for bath remodel?
Comments (9)The easiest way to save money on a remodel is to learn to DIY the job or portions of the job. Almost anyone can paint. Tiling something basic isn't that difficult either. If you have friends or family that have done their own remodels (and they look OK!), ask them about swapping labor for something you do well as a hobby or for a profession. Bartering services or goods works with contractors as well. Maybe he doesn't have such a great website, and you're a web guru. Maybe his parents have a 50th wedding anniversary coming up, and you're a great caterer or cake baker or florist It never hurts to ask to see if something like that could be worked out. Or, GC it yourself by hiring the subcontractors directly. You will need electrical work, plumbing work, tile work, and drywall work, and some general demolition/labor in this remodel. Break down the job into those components and approach electricians, plumbers, tilers, etc. about doing those jobs directly. Above all, do not settle for someone doing a substandard job with materials that you do not like. This will probably not get done again, unless it's done wrong now. You've got to be sure that doesn't happen, and not trust any contractor to actually know what he's doing. Make sure that you educate yourself enough about the non pretty guts of the job that YOU know how things are going to be waterproofed, for instance. And don't pick materials just because they are cheap and you can afford them. Materials are the lowest expenditure on most jobs, and even a month or two more of saving before the job is tackled can allow you to use materials that you really LOVE. You CAN do a pretty bath on a budget with inexpensive materials, but you have to be more creative in how you use those materials and you have to be willing to do the footwork of searching for them....See MoreWhat to look for in a general contractor
Comments (10)>> The most important thing for me was that our contractor (Jeff) was in daily contact with me letting me know who would be in next, or where we were at with things. He returned my calls promptly. He had everything lined up so that someone was at our house everyday working. >> We too just had an unusually good contractor experience, and these were the hallmarks: - Good communication: frequent and consistent email contact. - Much work done by direct employees, all of whom had blackberries, bluetooth headsets and email. - Office support: regular billing, scheduling, take deliveries, answer questions, convey urgent messages, central source of information, and a really good Web site! We never had our GC's cell number and never needed it. - Feedback requested: we were asked to fill out a mid-project survey! - Regular meetings. Some GCs blanched at the suggestion of weekly meetings, ours practically insisted on it. LOTS of problems prevented that way. - We asked GCs if they could get their bids in by a certain date, they all said yes, only two actually did, including ours. - Scheduling: our GC blows out a complete schedule, with dates for every trade to start, in writing. Never a down day in 9.5 months. - Resources: Every GC has to deal with trucks breaking down, injured workers, flaky subs, delayed materials. We never saw it and never heard excuses. (a previous GC's main guy got injured, delaying an entire upstairs remodel by weeks, and we had a baby coming!) - Can manage agencies: Our instructed all his workers never to B.S. during inspections, admit the problem and don't argue with the inspector. As a result, trust was built and we sailed through final city inspection despite a few minor code issues. - Punchlist-avoidant: they're inevitable, but he encouraged us to bring up the sticking-out-nail here, missing trim piece there, immediately. Goal was for no punchlist to build up. Meantime, a friend had a very difficult experience with a carpenter-turned-GC. Good carpenter, bad manager. Didn't know how to read plans, didn't interact well with the architect, ran out of money and refinished floors himself and made a huge mess, forcing our friends into a hotel for a few weeks, hired a painter who messed up the sheen levels and had to repaint the entire house, then the painter went broke. Without my friend's engineer husband on the job every day it'd have been a nightmare. Our awesome G.C. really cared about his reputation and told us in the first interview that his goal is for us to move in to a complete house and be thrilled. I think that sort of philosophy is what made our project work so well....See Moreweedyacres
10 years agoxtremeski2001
10 years agolavender_lass
10 years agopangionedevelopers
10 years ago
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