Re: "Posted by jasonmi7 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 11, 09 at 22:55 My question is; if many of you feel there should be much more strict standards on GC licensing; what are you doing to make it happen? How many of you have contacted your state legislatures, your congresspeople, run petitions? What have you done?" Good point and one I hope every reader takes to heart. I personally have become quite involved in local politics over this exact issue. I've also been involved w/consumer organizations that deal w/the issue, signed petitions, written countless letters, etc. Many people quickly become discouraged and give up, when they find out the legislators are more interested in getting campaign donations from the local buiders association. But I think in time, if people stick to it, they often have some success. I've kind of concluded that licensing is not in itself a good solution--there needs to be a licensing board that is not just run by builders as that's just more self-regulation and it never works. A bond is a good idea, but also there needs to be a public complaint database that isn't censored by the govt or builders or anyone. Criminalizing certain construction frauds is also needed. Educating consumers is also needed and that's something anyone can do, to share what they know about their construction mishaps, what they learned about the state's licensing or lack of it, etc. I was, and still am, determined to make my bad experience be worth something, so I continue to work in these issues and encourage others to do the same. If you want things to improve you have to work on it. It doesn't work if people just sit there and assume a handful of consumer advocates like hadd.com and hobb.org will do all the work. They need numbers of people to help. Citizen apathy is a very bad thing, whether it's about homebuilding, taxes, health care or any issue.

Cheryl, I'd love to see your specs and drawings -- how do we do e-mail stuff here? I have "allow members to send you stuff" checked in my profile -- will this do it? I went to the North Toronto location. Anna wasn't there, so we were handed to someone else. Opinion on reserve, as we've had no correspondence with her since then. We like the Ravenna; the "pillow" effect is somehow feels contemporary and vintage-y at the same time, esp. if I can get away with no or few uppers and can incorporate some free-standing pieces to complement it. I agree that they have a great selection. And funny you should mention that about tax. It's a pet peeve of DH that prices here (he's from the UK) don't include taxes, and so you always have to ADD on to whatever you get. I'm still working within Excel ... have a couple of new layout options, but waiting to post until I got something from Aya, in case that made a difference. As it is, the design I gave to them at the weekend is different from where I am now, as I "found" a whole new block of space for the pantry in the adjacent breakfast nook. Exciting as it was, heaven only knows how the addition of that space will affect the budget. (I'm laughing, really I am!) Like many here, champagne tastes ... though I really didn't think my budget was that tricky; oh, what an education it's been! And to think you're doing it with three under-three-foot little ones!

"...means that it was budgeted for two months of crew time. NOT 2 calendar months. ..." Then they better get their act together and learn how to communicate properly. If I pulled that kind of stunt, I'd get a warning and the next time...out the door (assuming I got a second chance)! When you schedule a job, yes, you need to determine how many man-hours (or weeks or months) are needed...but then you do something called "resource scheduling" and "resource balancing"...you plan it out to see what (task) needs to be done when, what (material/tool) is needed when, and who is needed when......on ALL your jobs, not just the one. THEN you tell the homeowner how long it will take...ideally in calendar time as well as crew time! Something like this... "Overall, the job will take two calendar months. However, that does not mean it is two months worth of effort. Factored into that time is waiting for subs, waiting for materials, , and work on other projects. I estimate actual labor to be four work weeks. Realize also that if anything unexpected occurs the schedule may be delayed but I have done everything I can to reduce delays, including a thorough review of the Project and the site. However, when the walls are opened up, there may be some surprises. In that event, I will discuss with you the issue and we will arrive at a solution that will be acceptable to you in both time and money. Additionally, I will give you at least 48 hours notice when my crew or I will be at the house. I will also give you 24 hours notice if plans change. In case of true emergencies, I will call you immediately to let you know and we will arrive at a mutually agreeable rescheduled time/date." This way, everyone knows going in what's expected. Oh and if they complain about those "other jobs", explain to them about how you sometimes have to wait for subs, materials, etc. and you cannot afford to have your crew sitting around idle. By having multiple projects, it allows you to only charge clients for the actual work (time/labor) and materials for their project, not down time as well. (If they insist they be the only job, well, then they have to pay for the 40 hours per week for the entire crew...that's how it works in other industries!) (You might also have to remind them of the saying, "Fast, Cheap, Quality...pick two, you cannot have all three.") BTW...If you trust your GC and his crew and your GC is bonded, you might consider installing a lock-box on your door (like real estate agents do) with a key to allow them in/out of your house as needed.

Hi, for some reason I wound up here from the Kitchen forum so I hope you don't mind if I offer a couple of thoughts. We did this same reno 5 years ago by gutting a 3000 sq ft home down to studs and plywood and the reno was about the same cost as what you are looking at. We had a few meetings with the GC before signing and I did ask him if he thought he and his firm could work with me. It was important that they understood that I would be the main contact and decision maker and not my husband. To keep the job on schedule and running smoothly have everything, and I mean everything, chosen before the job starts. You've chosen tile for the bathroom, how do you want it to run, you've chosen hardwood for the floor - great but have you chosen type and stain, have you chosen the type of edge for the kitchen and bathroom counters. Have every decision made before you start. Our GC didn't give us a choice, all those decisions had to made before we started. Lighting was the only thing he give us some lee-way on.This may seem harsh but there are a lot of little decisions still to made as you go along and the fewer decisions you have during the process the less stress there will be for you both. Do your own research first, don't rely on the GC to educate you on your available choices (faucets, flooring, counter tops as in granite vs quartz) - that wastes his time and costs you money. Know your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to choosing things and developing a cohesive style for your home. I have a poor sense of colour and needed help in choosing paint colours. They provided someone to help me with that so that colours flowed. We developed an e-mail communication system which helped us to stay in constant touch rather than rely on texting or phone. E-mails develop a paper trail that can be called upon in the event of misunderstandings. It also allows some space between the two parties if an issue arises that might cause some stress. We only had two change orders - one involved adding some extra windows and the other involved vaulting our family room ceiling which we discovered was a possibility when the ceiling was opened up. In our post and beam home it was a great added feature and we weren't surcharged for either change. We were 6 months from moving out of the house to moving back in and our GC was a gem to work with during our reno. We have since recommended him to others and he has gotten some work from those referrals. Good Luck and do have fun.