Let me correct a misconception about hiring a contractor.

[Molly Brown]

Too many people are watching too much HGTV and similar channels and getting the idea that a contractor is supposed to finish a job very fast. This is wrong. A contractor doesn=92t work by the hour like you do; he works by the job. The more carefully he or she works the better a job he or she is going to do. So the slower he works the better. No I=92m not talking about those contractors that come late to the job sight and leave early or never show-up at all. That=92s not working slowly, that=92s just not working period. Unless you=92re planing on selling the house and moving away as soon as possible as homeowner what you want is a carefully and meticulously done job not a fast one.

[RicodJour]

Good, fast or cheap. You can buy any two of the three, but you can't buy all three.

R

[Paul Haus]

Excellent advice! I have never utilized the low bidder on any construction.

[Airport Shuttle]

They should watch the un cut tapes. I can fix all your problems in 30 mins.

[RicodJour]

Such rules of thumb are useful, and save computing power for more important tasks. One such rule: buy the second cheapest wine on the menu. It's usually the best value, whereas the cheapest is only there because it's the cheapest.

R

[lj]

I agree about the two out of three. On most home stuff I look for cheap and good. I had a guy spend a year builidng a garage with living space above at our lake house. Probably could have easily been done in 2 or 3 months. But his work was fine and his price was $20k under the next bidder.

[DerbyDad03]

Good points, but keep in mind that the disruption of your lifestyle may enter into the discussion.

A family with young children and no kitchen for an extended period of time can be problematic.

A 6 person household with no bathroom for an extended period of time can be even more problematic.

Just another factor to keep in mind.

[willshak]

Molly Brown wrote the following:

Sorry Molly, the shorter the time working 'by the job', the sooner one can start the next job. Working slower can also mean inexperience or laziness. The contractor sets the price for the job. He then pays his workers by the hour.

[RicodJour]

Or it can mean that he's fitting your job in between other jobs. If he's waiting for an inspection on his main job, you just got lucky and he'll come over. Does doing it that way make sense? Not always, but it's not always idiotic either.

R

[aemeijers]

And if it is contractor you can trust to actually follow through, and can live with the logistical hassle, being flexible on schedule can sometimes save you some bucks. A good contractor with his own crews (versus a GC that merely juggles subs), has all his projects blocked out to know when which trades will be needed where and when. I didn't know the name, but I knew what a Gantt chart was 40 years before MS Project existed, just from looking at the blue sheets on the walls in my father's office. Every house had a stepped timeline on a blueprint page, with each trade on a seperate step. Sometimes, there were small gaps here and there, and although his business was 80% new construction, he would try to tuck the small remodels into those gaps, just to keep the guys busy. I suppose a good sub could do the same for their crews and specialties, but they are more at the beck and call of the GCs who give them most of their business. (ie, a 10k kitchen remodel is gonna get pushed for a GC that throws 100k a year their way.)

[Evan]

What PLANET are you on lady ?

I think YOU watch too much HGTV yourself...

In business time is money, and a Contractor is paid by the job hoping to make a decent profit off the quote he or she gave to the client...

Unless said project is so entirely small that ONE PERSON can do all the work, said contractor will be using employees that get paid by the hour, not by the job like the contractor/company is being paid...

So the more man-hours of labor spent on your project, the less profit that project is making for the company and it is costing in LABOR hourly pay...

Your entire idiot-babble only makes sense for one-man shows and handy man types who are doing ALL THE WORK FOR THEMSELVES... Not the way that MOST of the contracting market out there works...

~~ Evan

[dpb]

Molly Brown wrote: ...

Any construction project done w/o a profit motive is DIY-'ing, not a contractor job...

--

[RicodJour]

Operative word being 'motive'. ;)

R