General Contractor (on a Budget)
Hello, We are looking for a general contractor but we are on a budget. Any names of general contractors who are willing to work on a limited budget? Basically, my husband and I want to supervise most of the work but the DOB needs a license number and we don’t know if it’s worth for…
Hello,
We are looking for a general contractor but we are on a budget.
Any names of general contractors who are willing to work on a limited budget?
Basically, my husband and I want to supervise most of the work but the DOB needs a license number and we don’t know if it’s worth for us to go through the trouble of getting all the paperwork just for one project. Since my husband lost his job and we already decided to do the renovation, the plans are almost approved… We were thinking if somebody can give us names of contractors who would be affordable and be able to pull the permit from the DOB.
Is there on the Brownstoner community anybody who has gone trough the process of obtaining a license in order to be able to be the GC for his/her own house? The DOB yesterday told me that what I am asking is not that strange, although it’s not the most usual thing. I guess with the financial crisis more people will be doing this.
Any comments, ideas, contacts… will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Lorena
@CGmodern – Please do call JT. He’s amazing.
My partner and I are pretty handy. We did all the demo ourselves, and we’re doing all the materials purchasing and research. We’re doing tiling, skimcoating, painting, wood stripping, moldings, flooring, installation of cabinets and countertops. We even repaired a joist ourselves.
We’re using Supercharged for the electrical and Aladdin for the plumbing. I highly recommend both of them.
We also have a relationship with a group of workmen who are doing some of the stuff we could do, but they can do a lot faster. They’re leveling floors for us, laying subfloor, framing the walls and doors, and hanging the sheetrock.
If you want to talk about how we’re doing it and see if it’s the right approach for you, email me backchannel at jenabrams [at] mindspring.com.
UnprotectedWrecks: we’re thinking of a similar route for our kitchen/bathroom reno that you’ve done. are you guys doing everything or is your gc doing some work and you doing what projects you can manage? i may use your reference too if that’s cool.
We are doing most of the work on our reno ourselves, and working with a GC as a consultant. He pulled the permits for us, visits the job site regularly, and answers whatever questions we have. We sit down with him every week or two to go over what we’re doing and get his advice and expertise. He’s headed off any number of mistakes we might have otherwise made. His charges are very reasonable. We trust him totally, and he gets it that our budget is our budget. He’s helping us save money all over the place, and also giving us good advice on where not to try to save money.
J Thomas Construction
JT Stewart
jt [at] jthomasnyc.com
I don’t know anyone else who is using this model, but it’s working really well for us.
Depending upon what is being done you may be able to pull the permit as a homeowner.