Reno ABCs Cont...
Thenks to everyone who thoughfully responded to my first post. I have a few more questions. The first one is for the record so that other Brownstoners can find this info in the future. FYI, I think I might go with a CM. 1) Can you recommend a good GC and/or Construction/Project Manager (CM)? 2)…
Thenks to everyone who thoughfully responded to my first post. I have a few more questions. The first one is for the record so that other Brownstoners can find this info in the future. FYI, I think I might go with a CM.
1) Can you recommend a good GC and/or Construction/Project Manager (CM)?
2) What’s the price differential between hiring a GC and CM?
3) To reiterate another responder’s question – how long does a renovation for an average-sized brownstone with typical problems (plumbing & electrical upgrades) & restoration work take per floor?
For the past few years I have been running a successful flooring company. In addition — many of my clients have asked me to handle other aspect of their renovations. If you decide to go with a project manager, I would like to talk with you about your project. I have access to all trades.
I have a long list of references.
Brewse @ Summit Surfaces
646-284-0304
This dollarconstruction poster is doing himself only harm. They may be the most amazing contractor in the world, but the post sounds like a shill and a real turn off.
I think getting recommendations is also key. When we began a renovation of our brownstone 5 years ago, we asked everyone we knew. We kept hearing GC horror stories, except for one friend who told of one GC who was eminently reliable and came in exactly at cost. He gives you a price and its’ non-negotiable, but you aren’t going to have any surprise overruns unless you make specific changes or some extremely unexpected issue comes up that clearly is in addition to what the GC covered. And, the job was completed competently and on time. We went with him, although we knew he was somewhat more expensive than the lowest bid (although not extraordinarily). We finished combining to separately floors of a 4-family into a new duplex, new bathroom built from scratch, gut renovation on one floor, in 5 months. We also paid far less than $100,000/floor, but then again, we didn’t get the top of the line finishes, but perfectly fine quality (not the cheapest). Granted, this was 5 years ago, but it seems as if we were lucky in terms of both price and time.
It’s hard to gauge the time frame for your work as you have provided few details, but your architect or GC will give you a schedule. Some of the work (electrical and plumbing) should be done all at once rather than by floor. The finished work can be scheduled per floor, but it may not be the most cost effective way to do all of the work. You received some great advice in response to your previous post, but I was surprised that no one mentioned the importance of checking that your contractor is licensed (Dollar Construction recommended above, does not seem to be licensed by the DCA) and to check references (amazing how many people don’t bother and get burned). Those two easy steps will save you a lot of headaches experienced by several of the other posters. Tinarina is correct in stating that you need a contingency as there are always unexpected field conditions, you may change your mind about hardware, finishes, etc. If the scope of your work is extensive, you should probably hire an architect and consider using that architect as your CM. If you have a great contractor with whom you have a good rapport, you won’t need the CM but you will need a detailed scope of work and contract and frequent communication. Your job will go most quickly and with fewer cost overruns if you make your decisions before construction begins. Contrary to popular belief, the only contractors who make big money on change orders are those who deliberately low ball your original estimate and systematically gauge you as they go along. For an honest contractor, change orders are generally a disruption to the schedule. I disagree with JN that “the beauty of the CM is that you get to deal with subs directly.” I think the beauty of the GC is that you DON’T have to deal with subs directly – the GC has to deal with it when the subs don’t show up, don’t do proper work, etc. A lot of people think they save money by doing things directly, but either waste money cleaning up errors or because they didn’t spec the work properly or get inferior work – I agree with NeoGrec that “experience counts for so much.” But nothing is worse than a bad contractor.
Regarding #3–I think it’s REALLY hard to estimate this. If you could live offsite, had a big budget and could work on all floors concurrently, you might be looking at 8-10 months of work total. But most of us don’t have that luxury–you have cash flow issues and you have to live in the house while work is going on.
Gutting our parlor floor and adding a new kitchen and 1/2 bath and all new mechs took us over 10 months (I won’t digress about the crappy cabinetmaker). But a floor with one new bath and two bedrooms took 4-5 months–most of the work was cosmetic, and the new mechs were already run up to that floor.
Also consider it will generally be more cost-effective to do some tasks together–like running new plumbing to an upstairs bath when the plumbers are there with the walls open, even though you may not be redoing that bath for months or years. The same is true for electrical, AC, etc.
Whether you go with a GC or a PM, that person should be giving you sound recommendations on cost-effective ways to stage the work, even if you won’t be finishing all the rooms immediately.
i think u shuld go for dollarconstruction..i had my work done last month… they did a nice job on my kitchen renovations…u can contact them at dollarconstructioninc.com…