Contractor search

Hi –
My contractor has gotten busy and no time for me – just when I’m looking to get some projects done!
From installing all new windows, adding a deck on the parlor level and creating usable storage space under the outside stairs to installing some cabinets, tiling a couple of back splashes, installing some new hardwood flooring in the garden level, a few simple built in closets and replacing some interior doors and sprucing up the basement – I’m looking for a contractor who has the time.
Any recommends?
Thank you!

Any contractor that is available now; is not worth having! Any decent contractor is booked at least few months in advance. Or there are those that will start, then disappear to finish what they already have on their books…. when did your contractor say they could be available?

She sounds like she needs help so I don’t want to add hopelessness. You can do all the work with individual trades (sometimes better results than a GC) and some GCs also use specialists for flooring, millwork etc. Window installers can be found. When hiring the tradespeople yourself, you have to know enough to make sure it’s done right and manage the work. Find someone on Yelp with good reviews for flooring, millwork , tiling etc and get it done unless you don’t want the headache of managing.

thanks for the encouragement – I have been getting some individual bids – been gc’ing this project for the past 5 years – actively looking for someone who can take over – may get lucky at just the right time- but good reminder to keep going with individual bids

thanks for the encouragement – I have been getting some individual bids – been gc’ing this project for the past 5 years – actively looking for someone who can take over – may get lucky at just the right time- but good reminder to keep going with individual bids

Oh no I’m sorry. I would not trust every GC for windows again or tile for that matter.. The rest of what you need sounds ok for most GCs. Good luck!

@Victoria R you have a contractor who you trust, is there any way you can ask him to schedule your work in? It would be worth it to wait for someone whom you are already familiar with their work and you trust if that could work.

@Janedrew just FYI Yelp is “pay to play” for contractors. The real old school tradesman and contractors who care about what they do are all “word of mouth” advertising.
Sorry you had bad experience with window AND tiling contractors. It’s the “used car salesman” portion of my industry that I abhor and wish there was a way to get rid of.

There are still plenty of quality tradesman and contractors out there, I get to see their work almost every day.

@restorationcontractor, Thanks for sharing. I had multiple bad experiences when I knew less about construction and did not meet with more than 2-3 people. Yelp is not my single source. I vet multiple sources now and have gotten much better at weeding out. I was also trying to say (perhaps not clear) that all GCs do not know how to install a specialized door. My GC didn’t flash the doors and even worse he was so arrogant he never read manufacturer’s instructions. He was also dismissive when I had suggestions as if he knew better. Agreed there are good ones. I have great subs now and I found the HVAC company and plumber on Yelp but cross checked and interviewed many before deciding. Helps also to educate oneself too as now I able to see issues and correct in a way that I could not before. @Victoria multiple people told me not to fire my contractor and I waited too long. If it can work by all means stay but only you can make that call. Tambi one of the GCs I met is available if you want to try him https://www.dbe.nyc/home. I think he is a GC I would trust with everything you mentioned.

in so far as GC’ing projects or hiring a GC, most GC’s come up as carpenters. they know a lot about framing walls and drywall and hanging cabinets and simple trim work (that will be painted). what OP can do if she does not have a lot of work that requires an actual GC to pull permits and source electric and plumbing contractors, is hire a carpenter that has some management experience and have that person coordinate with the others and be the “owner’s rep” when the owner is not around. i have had to do this when installing wood fixtures and cases or kitchen cabinets when there was electric and plumbing involved. the homeowner hired the trade, i worked with them. i had the key and was around when the owner was not. i am not putting myself forth for this, i do not even hang cabinets anymore and have not in a long time.

GCs should stick to what they know. they should not be doing tile work and windows unless they came up doing that. they should not be doing masonry. they should not be doing electric and plumbing unless they are licensed for that and wh y would they be? if they are licensed for those trades, they would be just those trades. people who do all these things themselves are not GC’s, they are “jack(s) of all trades”; there is another part to that sentence jack of all trades and if you do not know it, pity you when you hire one of these people. even if they are licensed GC, i cannot see them doing windows, tiling and floors.

as a contractor, i can say that most contractors do not fall for the pitfalls when sourcing people to work on our homes. we know the questions to ask to eliminated the chancers and liars and outright crooks. even if i have never done certain things, i know enough to converse about a project and lead them down a road and listen to their answers to know if they are bs’ing me into believing they have a lot of experience or have limited. some of these guys have more confidence than brains or experience and it is comical to watch them as they give you that deer in the headlights look. i do not have respect for these people; we have to compete against them and they make the jobs of legitimate contractors harder. we have often have to justify our prices and sometimes explain away at things that are everyday tasks for us.

so i can tell you how to get rid of the real riff raff. let us say you call in a strong small contractor to help you GC the job. that person will be your eyes and ears and might know enough to know when another trade is screwing up and make sure people are not smoking cigarettes and other things in your house. they might know some good trades they have worked along side and they can call them in for you to interview. they are not a GC though. if you try to use someone like that or you have someone saying “i can do this and this and this” and it all sounds too good to be true, ask them if they would also be able to run a new electric line for some lights or maybe a dryer. all of us have done this someplace; i temporarily run one for my arc welder when i need it then remove it and i back feed my generator into my house when the power goes out (yes, i turn the main off and check the power on the street side of the circuit to be sure the breaker opened). if a customer asks a legitimate contractor to do something like that and they are not a licensed electrician, and they say yes, show them to the door. anyone who would risk the fine and put their own assets on the line (I have never checked with my insurance co because i will not do electric in a customers house, but my guess is if i did and something went wrong, they would not pay the claim) to do something they are not licensed (that can kill somebody) is not worth having on a job site and if they have no regard for themselves or their family, they certainly will have no regard for the safety of the other trades on the job or you or your property.

i have had to select contractors for buildings i have worked in, in commercial. we had a list of criteria we used and questions we used to check people’s abilities. if you are really interested, i can continue this conversation.

Really appreciated your response Steve. I didn’t know very much when I started so when my contractor told me he could do the doors. I thought well that’s fine. Now I know better. I realized as I started meeting with new GC’s all the good ones have specialists for each trade that they call upon. My ex contractor on the other hand thought he was a jack of all trades. And he was master of none ha. And to your point yes some GCs can do some of this stuff and will do so in a pinch and do it well. And yes always interested in what you have to share. Thank you.

Yes I’ve had the problem of a carpenter claiming to do more than they know how. At this point it’s more important for me to find a knowledgeable and experienced contractor than to rush the job. @janedrew I will try Tambi.
And of course still appreciate other suggestions. Thanks.

Yes I’ve had the problem of a carpenter claiming to do more than they know how. At this point it’s more important for me to find a knowledgeable and experienced contractor than to rush the job. @janedrew I will try Tambi.
And of course still appreciate other suggestions. Thanks.

so what you have to do with people claiming all this and that is read a bit about what you want done. a good bit. get the names of some products and ask some questions. even if you make a mistake and suggest the wrong thing – and customers make mistakes with products and processes all the time – he should be able to talk to that point and tell you a better approach or product.

for example, when we had our bathroom done, the width of the bathroom was not great and we were pulling an old tub. i interviewed two people. i asked them both this “will a standard size bathtub fit in that space?” if someone is doing this day in and day out, they should know. the first one said “i will have to check”. wrong answer. the second nodded yes without even taking a tape measure out. it was obvious.

even painters now. it has gotten so bad that people will argue with you about sanding between coats of finish and they will want to roll trim. they don’t know what primer is – during a conversation, ask what kinds of primer they prefer to use. if they don’t k now what primer is, show them do the door. if you are going to do off color whites, ask them if they think it is a good idea to “tint” the primer. if they do not know what you are talking about …….

if they will be doing any clear work, putting poly on wood work. ask them what grit they like to sand between coats with (180, 220 is correct. maybe before last coat 320). if they do not know what you are talking about….. the door.

ask what they use for tack cloths. i use microfiber now. they still make the gluey ones. and some people will use a wet t-shirt or spirits soaked t shirt. if they look at you funny…..

the stuff i mention above is very basic but many have not a clue. you can find questions like this for any of the different areas of the job.

do not make the mistake of thinking their not being able to communicate is the problem – it may be the problem but if it is, it is not the only problem. if they are new here, they might have been farmers where they are from and did not learn this there in their native tongue. so they had to learn it here. but if they cannot communicate they cannot ask questions, cannot call the tech teams at finishing product companies and cannot communicate with vendors and it is constant learning in this industry. changes, changes, new products better ways.. the way people learn this is by watching, doing, and listening. take any one of those away and the job is a mess.

i would be less concerned with doing this with licensed electricians and plumbers. they know their jobs.

do check license and insurance. if someone is on the web better. the more exposure the better as that only makes them strive to do the right thing and there is no cover if the mess up.

@JaneDrew, thats the problem with some contractors it used to be a General Contractor meant that they contracted out to the appropriate tradespeople, getting the best prices and quality work for your client while making sure all the trades got their work done harmoniously, like a conductor conducting an orchestra.
Now you get many that are general “jack of all trades” master of none.

@SteveCym another one of my pet peeves, people who call themselves painters because they own a brush. To summarize your point it’s all in the prep work.

As far as prep. between coats on poly we like to use another method, #2 medium coarse steel wool between coats, 220 on occasion and for some flat work.

Haven’t tried microfiber for tack cloths, I will keep that in mind to try. I am partial to the 50lb boxes of washed white rags from Greschlers. Plus you get a laugh out of some of the interesting undergarments that come out of those boxes from time to time.

I used to be lazy and buy the premade tack cloths, but we stopped using them years ago when we noticed they were causing some issues with our finishes.

bill, buy the microfiber. when they first came out Norton was selling them as a specialty product for like $10 for one or maybe two. now you go on line and a pack is like $14 for a whole bunch of them. i will give you some to try when you make your way over here. remind me.

Speaking of paint I discovered my contractor used at least four different paints in the entry way. Flat, Eggshell, Semi gloss and I believe gloss as well. I’m partial to rags for cleaning and microfiber for fine dust and avoiding lint.

@jane. when someone works on my house i tell them what they will use and when they start the job and even as they move through it, i look at what they are using. if they pull some off brand out, they will not get paid. it cannot be simpler than that.

years ago (i know, the story) i was working in a commercial building as an employee. we had to touch up a wall that had only been painted the year before. the senior management gave me the ben moore numbers they had specified for the job and i went to janovic to have it mixed. it did not match. i racked my brains out trying to figure out what I WAS DOING WRONG (i went back to janovic and probably had them mix more paint). i finally called the contractor who did the job and he said that he used “another brand” but had their color matched to the Ben Moore. If a customer specs something, that is it – same brand, finish, stock number, color. the contractor cannot change on his own (what they try to do is use paint they have leftover from other jobs, on these small jobs) (in many jobs, the contract will st ate “change orders must be in writing”). when i pushed him he tried to SELL me the name of the brand he used (extortion); he had a contract. in short, this was fraud. this was not only his fault but the fault of my predecessor for letting him in the building (he probably took a kick back to look the other way) and the fault of others for not taking pictures of the products they were using. in the end i cut a piece of the drywall out and ran it to janovic so they could put it under the spectrometer.

I know all this now but a bit late in the game. I wish there was a resource that educated homeowners. You and someone else on this forum should write one 🙂 I was going to say urban dad and restoration contractor but they’d have to get past their tiff.