Handyman v. Contractor v. Other

Hi All,

I’m a new member of both the online community and of this group of proud owners of brownstones in the NYC area, and love all the great info on this site, so thank you all for all the help!

I’m planning some work on our new home, which involves (1) painting (which will require scraping off old existing lead paint from the walls), (2) refinishing floors, (3) minor non-structural demo of a few built ins, and (4) capping a gas line and reconnecting another gas line that is already capped. I’ve spoken to contractors that are quite expensive but very qualified, and some handy men / others that aren’t contractors who say they can also do much of this work at far less expense.

My question to you all is where do you use a contractor and where do you use someone else? I’m ok paying a premium where the work requires it (I wouldn’t have a handyman knock down a load bearing wall for example, I’d hire an engineer and contractor), but I don’t know where to draw the line for a lot of this work. What’s been all of your experiences?

Thanks!

garaypetra17

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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eman134 | 6 years and 8 months ago

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you would be a fool to hire anyone home depot recommends…. worst contractors available

resident2 | 6 years and 8 months ago

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All home owners should have a local plumber that know your building and routinely comes to do annual checks, especially for those that have no experience.
A plumber can check your boiler & heating system including flues etc before each heating season. If you do have an emergency, they will come to regular customers first as well as teach you a few things about how to do things yourself.
It is also useful to have a local handy person in your contacts; consistency with maintenance is key. Not only so that you do not get constant conflicting opinions, but they again know your building… saves you money to not keep repeating things….
No you do not want a general contractor; they add on 20-30% for their subbing fee and it is another chain in the communication that gets lost.
As someone else has said a Painter is a skilled job, sanding and refinishing floors is a skilled job. Anyone that tells you they can do it all is either subbing it out & taking on a sub fee or literally doing it all and nothing properly!
And I second Bob Marvin: “Home Depot???” contractors that work th rough Home Depot are because they are not capable of working off their own referrals. Because they have no GOOD referrals.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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Home Depot??? Please????

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Its best to get Home Depot contractors so all are in writing. If you are not satisfied, they will go over until all are done well.

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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You don’t want a general contractor for any of these as they would just sub out most of the work.
1) For painting, hire a painter; it’s a specialty
2) For the floors , hire a floor refinisher.
3) For the demo, a handy-person or carpenter would be fine.
4) For the gas work hire a licensed plumber.