Building a house!!! contractors wanted!!

[Big Flounder]

Originally Posted by cricket

I have the house plans done. House pad is done but might have to add a little to it, will see. Right now I'm just getting my plans out to several contractors to get bids on it. We are picking out everything to have it blacked in and so far it's been pretty easy. The wife is being a good sport lol. We are starting the loan process and that is fun just filling that thing out. I'm gonna do the electrical, painting and some flooring. Hoping to save about 20k or more. I'm asking friends who just built alot of questions and I'm documenting everything. We have even gone so far as to taking pics of same house to show brick layers how we want it. I can't sleep now cause all I think of is how I'm gonna do this and how I'm gonna do that. But the lord is gonna show me the right path. Thanks guys for the help. Keep it coming.

We haven't had plans drawn up. We just picked some off the Internet and explained to the contractors what we wanted changed and they gave us a quote off of that. The only reason we haven't had them drawn yet is cause the contractors that we spoke to will take care of that and we are not sure what rout to go yet. I have spoke to a lot of people that have either contracted it out their self or hired a contractor and all of them that contracted it out their selves said it was a pain but if I can save 20k then I am willing to give it a shot. I just need someone to point me in the right direction. Most of the people I talked to that contracted it their selves can only provide me with contacts that they would never use again! That scares me. I called four contractors and 2 of them kind of gave me the impression that I was bothering them. The other 2 I set up meetings with them and they answered every question I had and actually appreciated the opertunity to submit a quote to me so if I do decide to hire a contractor it will be one of them.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by Big Flounder

We haven't had plans drawn up. We just picked some off the Internet and explained to the contractors what we wanted changed and they gave us a quote off of that. The only reason we haven't had them drawn yet is cause the contractors that we spoke to will take care of that and we are not sure what rout to go yet. I have spoke to a lot of people that have either contracted it out their self or hired a contractor and all of them that contracted it out their selves said it was a pain but if I can save 20k then I am willing to give it a shot. I just need someone to point me in the right direction. Most of the people I talked to that contracted it their selves can only provide me with contacts that they would never use again! That scares me. I called four contractors and 2 of them kind of gave me the impression that I was bothering them. The other 2 I set up meetings with them and they answered every question I had and actually appreciated the opertunity to submit a quote to me so if I do decide to hire a contractor it will be one of them.

1) be careful if contractor supplies plans its ok if he recomends an ar****ect but most contractors insurance is to build NOT to be part of the design , that is 1 thing my attorney beats into my head everytime i talk to him , that im a builder not a designer n i should never provide drawings unless i'm insured as a build/DESIGN firm.
2) contraqctor = adult babysitter
3) 90% of subcontracts out there see the homeowner that pulls his own permit as a easy buck because yall dont know the diffrence , not daying all subs but a good bunch of em are just waiting to cut conrers n make a quick buck on someone who dosent know any better

[Big Flounder]

Originally Posted by fishinpox

there is a fine line with the legality of hiring a "consultant" that supplies the subs. i own 2 construction companies, 1 im a lisenced GC custom home builder, 2 i own a framing/ interior trim business. with my framing/trim business i get to see first hand homeowners who pull their own permits n sub the job out therseklves or with a "consultant" the jobs SUCK! biggest culster ever. look at it this way what does a UNINSURED, UN LISCENCED , "conslutant" who charges roughly 1% have to loose if you job gets screwed up??? because you are putting the biggest investment you will make in the hands of a guy who suposedly knows how to build a house but only charges 1% when he could get insurance/lisence and charge a min of 10%??? something aint right . i only hire subs for my jobs that 1)dont live check to check, 2) insured, 3) reliable, 4) drug free. when you hire the huy who dont have a pot to piss in what like of recourse do you have if something goes wrong?? gonna sue him for his 1990 ford ranger?? or when he causes me ( the builder) or in your case the homeowner to getr a OSHA fine for 30,000.00( and yes it happens in res. construction now) whos gonna pay that??? YOU ARE not the jackleg fly by night consultant, and good luck sueing him for it cuz charging 1% ....i bet he dont have it!. thats why i hire subs that have something to loose , they seem to take more pride in the job .

Thanks for the info man. Your right it is a big risk! No one has put it in that perspective yet.

[eman]

3) 90% of subcontracts out there see the homeowner that pulls his own permit as a easy buck because yall dont know the diffrence , not saying all subs but a good bunch of em are just waiting to cut corners n make a quick buck on someone who dosent know any better. This^^^^^^ is what you have to watch out for!!
I saw framing so bad that the inspectors failed EVERYTHING. after 2 years in court the contractor went belly up and the owner had to sue the contractors insurance company (another year ) and finally got enough $$$ to get it torn down to the slab and reframed. If you know enought to be able to tell the difference in good and bad work in all trades and have the time and patience.
you can act as the contractor. DO NOT count on the inspectors as a decision maker on good work. When i was doing electrical work, i had so many finals given over the phone or computer it would make your head spin.

[SpotOnFishingAdventures]

i am a contractor too a nd i 2x that statment. if you never been burned you will not understand. thats why it cost to get it right. you are not talking about a few hunderd dollars it thousands when it goes bad. guess who pays it.

[Raymond]

Just a thought, have you contacted the La Home Builders Association here in Lake Charles? They have a list of all members and would be glad to give you names and numbers. Contact your contractors, setup appt, ask for references, contact references, setup appt with references to walk through their builds, drive by any new builds (if a contractor has a $hitty jobsite chances are he doesn't have much pride in his craft,Imo). Nobody can be taken advantage of unless they allow it by being stupid or greedy,IMO. Plenty of good contractors out there, the poor ones are looking for the same in clients (greedy/stupid).

[Big Flounder]

Finally hired a builder today! Took all of your info into consideration Pox and hired a licensed/insured custom home builder. Him and I are meeting with the ar****ect next week to go over a few details and then off to the bank. I am so excited!

[jlsch1]

Fishinpox is right I sold building materials for over 20 years and seen the screw ups and even been on jobs selling materials thinking wow this is a screw up.

While in school I worked for my Uncle who was a licensed contractor and there is alot of things that can go wrong on a job quickly if not on top of it.
We stopped jobs before we poured concrete due to plumbing was off. How many times you seen slabs having to be cracked to rerun plumbing due to off.
I have actually seen plumbing in hallways due to drain line was layed incorrectly before the pour. Happens more than you think.
How many roofs have I seen screwed up or shingles slide off during 1st wind storm due to pop the shingle using nail guns.
I guess OC, Atlas, Tamko, and GAF all made a bad batch of shingles in that neighborhood or was it the common factor a bad installer.

I have to deal with homeowners, but I rather deal with contractors due to less errors that need to be corrected.
Seen $3,000 front doors installed by so called contractors and I just wanted to laugh when they cut the door instead of adjusting the threshold cap.
Windows being installed incorrectly seen that as recently as last week on an apartment job.
None of the windows were installed square, so they wouldn't close right. When they reinstalled them correctly they closed correctly. It happens alot.
Seen $20,000 engineered lumber package get very screwed up by a so called unlicensed contractor.
Slabs or foundations of the homes crack where I believe a licensed contractor liable for x amount of years if this happens.
That alone I would make sure my guys are licensed.
99% of customer complaints with materials I sold were installed incorrectly.
98% of those problems come from jobs that were done by unlicensed contractors or subs.
98% of the time those costly errors cost the customer alot of money to repair.
1% of problems are actually the product being defective.
1% of problems a licensed contractor screws up by error I will work with them due to I will see his business again.
Homeowner once he is done with that house its over with I will never see them again and cannot justify eating error that is not a material defect.

Worst problem over the years I seen is where a subcontractor who does not carry insurance and is not licensed has someone on his crew get injured and seen three cases where people died. It falls back on the homeowner due to I believe if your acting as the contractor your also holding yourself liable for incidents such as people getting injured on your job.

Fishinpox could probably tell you more about that due to he is licensed and probably knows more about the rules regarding this.

[fishinpox]

Originally Posted by Big Flounder

Finally hired a builder today! Took all of your info into consideration Pox and hired a licensed/insured custom home builder. Him and I are meeting with the ar****ect next week to go over a few details and then off to the bank. I am so excited!

Congrats! I think u made a wise choice, feel free to call me if you need anything