so much for my first GC meeting

6 years ago

He never showed up or canceled. He was recommended by our designer and by a friend who is in the business. I "had a good feeling" about him, but oh well. He's not entirely out of the running, but he's not at the top of the list now. So bummed. Now I'm reaching out to friends and friends of friends who have had kitchen/bath work done. Hopefully this is more fruitful.

Featured Answer

stillpitpat
Original Author

6 years ago

I think the GC didn't realize he was recommended to me by a designer. The designer was pissed and she reached out to him, and now I have a message from him. I will still consider him, but over the past couple hours of work, I have a few other leads to follow up on.

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Comments (8)

PRO
Anglophilia
6 years ago
This happened to me multiple times with kitchen cabinetmakers. I decided I could not deal with flakes. Got one bid from a cabinet store that carried two lines, and used them. No regrets!
Helen
6 years ago
I commiserate. My designer has brought in three contractors to do an estimate and only one has actually submitted a bid. They have had two or three weeks to respond. It’s teally delaying my start. I have been told that contractors and trades are very busy. I might just have to go with the one contr@ctor who actually bid. The other one keeps saying he will be providing an estimate but what does that say about his timeliness if he can’t be bothered to submit an estimate in a timely manner. The third one isn’t even responding to calls.

if contractors with good reputations are so non eager for work even with a designer who theoretically would have years of future work, I assume it might be even harder for an individual but who knows. It might just be Los Angeles which is particularly hard in terms of being very busy for the trades.
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ksc36
6 years ago
Contractors with good reputations have their own designers, just another one of their subs. Hire your GC first...
daisychain Zn3b
6 years ago
Our GC didn't show our first meeting either, but it was an honest misunderstanding. In the next 12 months while he worked with us on our house, he didn't ever miss another meeting. Wait until you hear his story.
stillpitpat
Original Author
6 years ago
His story is that the appointment didn't show up in his calendar. That has happened to me, and it could certainly have been an honest mistake, but it's not a good way to start things off. I will give him a chance, but I have cooled in my enthusiasm for him (which was only based on the designer's opinion).
dan1888
6 years ago
Patience at this stage should be your first priority. Don't even consider the thought that something is 'delaying' your plans. Remain solidly focused on the long-term goal.
Helen
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
dan1888 - I'm not sure if you are advising me to have "patience" but at a certain point I accept reality in terms of there being a limited pool of contractors who are willing and able to do my remodel - it's not an ideal project as it's in a high rise condo so there are lots of restrictions including limited hours and shlepping materials up and down an elevator.

The one GC who has provided an estimate has worked with my designer on other projects including a remodel of our building lobby which project was completed with just the standard number of glitches.

I don't know what will change - at this point I have been working on this since October with a contemplated start date of January of this year which now is more realistically April. I am in limbo with everything in my apartment packed up and moved out.

I realize the OP might not have the same circumstances as I do except that from my conversations with friends, there is so much remodeling and construction currently going on in Los Angeles, that it is difficult to find a good contractor - and the situation is only going to get worse during Spring and Summer - unless of course something tanks the stock market and people pull in their remodeling reins :-)