Home addition advice - Page 2

[organicmommy]

Originally Posted by velochic

All the contractors I dealt with WERE crooks. I never said that all contractors are crooks. Every single one I dealt with either skimped on materials, padded bills, bailed with our money, or turned a 2 week project into a 3 month project... and we still have things that are not finished. I'm not going to paint a rosy picture because someone online, who I've never met doesn't want me to speak poorly of contractors.

Would it make you feel better if I said: All the contractors I've dealt with are crooks. I have NOT dealt with OrganicMommy's husband.

I am sorry that you had such a HORRIBLE time with it. It just struck a nerve with me and I am sorry to have been so grumpy about it. If I had dealt with that crappy of an experience I am sure that I would be upset as well.
I hope you can understand that sometimes it is hard because in that type of business you live off a good rep and the way it seemed to me you were saying that all contractors were crooks.

Hugs
Jessica

[caeden&connersmom]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I know they do this sometimes in new construction which is why I mentioned it. I wouldn't expect a contractor to be responsible for say when the cabinets came in, but I have just heard terrible stories of contractors who basically would just take other jobs instead, come work on your house for a couple days then disappear for weeks with no material delay. I would personally try to write a clause which protected me against this and I probably wouldn't have the contractor start until all the materials were in anyway. Maybe a better way to word it would be some guarantee that they are going to work on your house continuously without taking projects in between, or something.

I am the Office Manager for a general contractor and I grew up in a family of contractors. We mostly do contract work. In fact, my boss very rarely does time and material jobs.

We ask for a 10% deposit up front, and then progress bill. If you are dealing with a bank for the financing, they will have to inspect the work progress before they will issue the check.

We haev heard SO MANY horror stories about crappy carpenters or ones that have taken peoples money and never shown up. I would NEVER gove 50% to any contractor up front! We would never require that either.

Insurance is so important. Some of the contractors that are the competition have no insurance and can under bid us quite significantly. You need to compare apples to apples when it comes to the bid!

I would contact your local Home Builders Association also. The best way to do it is to get someone you know and trust who had work done to recommend someone.

Good luck!!

[jkpmomtoboys]

We are in the middle of a 6 month remodel/addition right now.

We do have a penalty clause. It's not done often, but it can be done. Certainly there are exclusions, but it's nice to have a deadline.

Plan on going 30% over in cost. We thought that with a project this big, that wouldn't be an issue, but indeed we are.

I don't know how complicated your project will be, but take a close look at your allowances in your bid and make sure they seem realistic. That's a huge portion of overages sometimes.

Understand the impact on your existing home; we had to take several areas of our home down to the studs to shore up the foundation. That created quite a bit of extra work and also limited the area in our home in which we could live.

Insurance, insurance, insurance. Also check with your BBB and the Contractor's Licensing Board for complaints.

We give our contractor 10% at regular intervals throughout the project. The last 10% doesn't get paid until we and the contractor have agreed in writing that the job is complete.


Good luck!