Overheard conversation!!!!

[Teachu2]

Yeah, you're right. But in this case there were a number of mistakes that were fairly serious and I caught them. And since the contractors were working by the hour, the additional cost was always on me.
.....I've been a contractor for 40 years and know the process.

It must be different in your state than here, but here contractors must use a contract stating a binding bid for a project. Those without a contractor's license cannot do a contract, and they will work for time and materials instead. Individuals can act as their own general contractor without a license, and hire whoever they want to do the work, which I have done in the past. The general contractor I use and trust is upfront about his estimates - he figures in all his subcontractors and the materials, and adds 20%. That cost me about $7,000 when he built my shop, and was worth every penny. He had it done in two weeks (instead of the months it would have taken me) and everything was done right. He wasn't satisfied with the color of the stucco, as it didn't perfectly match the house, so he had his painter paint it to match - at his expense, not mine.

If you have the time, cash, and expertise to run your own job, you can get exactly what you want and save some money. Time is money - if you have a job that isn't flexible, it's a losing proposition. Money - If you have a construction loan, you may pay more for not having a general contractor. Expertise - Changes add $, every time. If you are in the middle of a construction boom, you may not be able to hire competent subcontractors - they are too busy taking care of their long-term general contractor customers.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, you're right. But in this case there were a number of mistakes that were fairly serious and I caught them. And since the contractors were working by the hour, the additional cost was always on me.

My house has a heavy red iron steel frame. After I found the footings set incorrectly I sent my contractor on his way and hired the next guy. We worked together to adapt the design to conventional framing and finish it out. A great project and a very rugged house. It's built roof first, then slab and then finished from the top down.

I would never just hand a contractor a set of plans and then come back when the house was done. That is a recipe for disaster, or at least, you end up with what someone else thought was right. This is not about someone getting done as quickly or as cheaply as possible. And as I stated before, a contractor must get paid for their work, so no, this is definitely not a problem for them. It only is if they give a finished price and the owner wants extras for free.

I've been a contractor for 40 years and know the process. But building this house took more than the usual techniques.

My father was and architect, a HUD inspector, and a ceritified construction specifications writer. He'd shown me some things over the years, mistakes that were caught before it got too expensive, and ones that were realized after it was too late. He offered to oversee the construction of his parish's new church. They said no thanks, the contractor was a parishioner of good standing (he had money). So my father poked his nose into it anyway after work each evening. The very first foundation footing was poured, and it was a couple feet off. He got the pastor, a tape, the contractor, the blueprints.... contractor ended up having to jack hammer the footing out and start over. That made for some bad blood in the parish. But he kept on that contractor and found several other items throughout the project. Contractor wasn't happy.

 

[MossRoad]

I see a common theme here which does not fit the typical consumer mold... TBN posters use plastic but abhor carrying debt...

Plastic isn't a four letter word..... debt is.

 

[MossRoad]

The practice of rolling one credit card balance onto another to pay it, and another, and another is called "kiting". Check kiting used to be quit a popular scam, but pretty much always got caught. There are laws against check kiting. There aren't too many laws regarding credit card kiting. It's just that the debt will always catch up to you.

Credit card kiting - Wikipedia

vs

Check kiting - Wikipedia

Paper hanging, floating.... yikes!

 

[ultrarunner]

Moss... you have a way or writing that makes for easy comprehension on many subjects...

We had a public works project undergrounding utilities... one day I saw something that did not look right... a huge underground concrete vault was going in and I asked to speak with the foreman... told him my concerns and it was dismissed... then contacted the project manager and same...

It was no skin off my nose... about six weeks later the project was complete and the new paving of the State Highway completed... about a month after I saw a bunch of official vehicles in a huddle with surveyors and engineers...

Seems the Concrete Vault placement encroached on Hospital Property as I had said... the encroachment of ending up costing a lot of money... the cheapest of which is the Hospital received 25k for the encroachment plus I negotiated a no-fee hookup for a later date... about a year later the area business received bills for the Improvement Project including the hospital... I faxed over the no-fee hook-up due to the vault being on Hospital Property... about a week later it had been reviewed and withdrawn...

Have to wonder how much of this goes on simply because no one is watching?

 

[MossRoad]

My dad also worked on a lot of school projects in his construction specification writer role... he showed me blueprints for a nice high school one time. How beautiful it was going to be, the nice new classrooms, labs, auditorium, heat, air conditioning.... then he says, "Too bad they forgot to leave any space to run the duct work...."

It was too late! They'd framed in the building! :confused2: He said the company he was working for had the task of figuring out how to fix it after the original architects got fired. They ended up having to run almost everything on the roof, exposed. Didn't look too good. But whatcha gonna do at that point? :confused3:

As for his own house that he designed and built himself.... it was an ongoing architectural experiment, so we had all kinds of quirks and things in that house. But at least he knew it before he did it.

 

[Doofy]

I am a bit more optimistic. My kids circle of friends are all squared away - all of them are working, trying to build a life, and
living like that have a bit of sense. I see more of that type than the aforementioned.
The other day, I had to go into a major metropolitan area for the day. One of the things I noticed was the huge number of 20 and 30 somethings on the streets dressed for business and obviously on a career path. Inside the building I visited, the HQ for the organization I spent my entire career working for, I noticed the majority of the staff were in there 30's.

I don't agree with some of their world views, but the point is I see a lot of hard working young people.

Thank God! There may be hope yet.

 

[Doofy]

I know why. Most kids today think they know it all and that we are stupid.

 

[LittleBill21]

I know why. Most kids today think they know it all and that we are stupid.

I use to think that, and now even with thinking, I'm still above the average person in terms of intelligence. It bothers me how much i actually DON'T know, and how i will never have enough time to learn all the subjects i want to learn, kind of depressing to be honest.

 

[Teachu2]

I use to think that, and now even with thinking, I'm still above the average person in terms of intelligence. It bothers me how much i actually DON'T know, and how i will never have enough time to learn all the subjects i want to learn, kind of depressing to be honest.

The depressing part is when you start forgetting what you already learned....