In need of a good General Contractor
“Yo my man”? Faisal, this isn’t helping your credibility.
NeoGrec
in General Discussion 5 years and 8 months ago
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37 replies
donaldmerse | 5 years and 9 months ago
I’m in need of a good, reliable, high quality General Contractor and Handyman.
This will be an ongoing relationship worth 10-20K per year or more. I regularly have maintenance work that needs to be done on my 120 yr old townhouse. I run an AirBnB out of the top floor (we live in the house so it’s legal) and so need work done within a tight time frame. Current projects on deck are a skylight repair or replacement and a radiator valve replacement. Upcoming projects are a new dryer ventilation duct in the basement, and a concrete base and drain for a 2nd floor clothes washer/dryer.
– I want high quality work that will last for many years.
– I do not want BS or stopgap quality.
– I inspect and get opinions on every job. I will not be snowed by excuses and explanations.
– I pay on time and honor all commitments.
– I need work done within a specified timeframe
– I have tremendous respect for high quality -craftsmanship-, care and consideration.
I have been severely bur ned by terrible work and silly excuses on the part of my current GC and am looking to move on.
Send me your recommendations! GC’s looking to form a new relationship, please reach out.
Thank you.
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
do not use a generalist or handyman for skylight replacement.
the problem finding the right person to do all of this is, it is very hard for highly skilled individuals to make money on there own doing these things. we are almost forced to run a crew in which case the list you have becomes too small – we end up chasing pennies even if you pay good. if i did not have health insurance through my wife, i would not be doing what i do. here is the problem: the playing field is not level; we have people who run around this city with no insurance and no license and they will hire help and not give them the minimum protections required by law and these same people, as you just learned to not care of the job – be it caulking or something else, fails in 3 years. it is about money, not a craft, trade, or career.
donaldmerse | 5 years and 9 months ago
Ok great advice! Thank you Steve!
donaldmerse | 5 years and 9 months ago
So how does one go about finding someone to do skylight replacement?
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
i am downstairs working on a pair of doors that i am late with for a customer. my family is at the beach (no worries, i am not fond of the sun, it give us eastern europeans skin cancer). i am here working and have been thinking about the issues you had with the person who did the caulking. i am going to admit to something on here that i have wanted to say for a long time, but i am loath to admit to out of fear that potential customers will misunderstand what i am trying to say and question my abilities, but here i go: no matter what those of us who work with their hands do on a project, it has to be a “struggle”. it does not matter how long we have been doing it, how many times we have done it; to get it right, to get the customer to 90% we have to struggle to get it to 125% and we still have to try for more. even on the doors i am working on right now and i have done the same thing more than 100 times over, i have to “struggle” to get that customer to where i need to have him. if i am not “struggling”, something is wrong. the people who put that caulk in did not “struggle”. they laid it up there and walked away. i could have had my son do better with no training because i would have been right behind him and i teach him so well that he realizes it is a lot easier to hit the books and go college. and to do this right, the way our grandfathers did, you have to “struggle” and, in truth, it is easier to go to college; you have to like what you are doing to do this kind of work; any body who is in this to make a quick buck is either fooling themselves or fooling their customers.
i will get you the name of someone. stand by.
i just saw your post. i bet the guy i send you can do a skylight as well, but a roofer will do that. keep in mind, roofers are pricey as their insurance costs a fortune but that means he is vested in his career.
stand by.
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
listen, i just called this guy. He kind of does like i do, smaller jobs. i have been referring him around the city for years now. his name is tom staggs and his company is Handykraft LLC. he is a workworker, but as such he can handle a litany of other things and he does it all himself (when i met him he was doing a gut reno with a helper and some trades where needed; he is hands on, not a manager). licensed and insured. he explained a couple of things to me: first, he will not do a skylight as “there are companies that do that work and can look at it and know what to do” as they specialize. and secondly, he wants to work on his own house now and wishes to take some time off from other people’s houses to which i said “this is great you can pick up even more of the small jobs i get called for”. he laughed (which might be a good thing). if you have those projects you listed, he is your guy. kind of old school and you will get that feel from hi m when you talk to him. he is not well known as he moves through everything alone, doing it right, himself. no mass production here. No BS.
his email is tom@handykraftllc.com
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
also, please be aware the term GC or General Contractor is very specific and often misused. in NYC, a GC is licensed by the DOB and here as in other cities or states, GC (or General Contractor) is an insurance industry term which means the contractor carries a specific kind of insurance that enables them to write contracts with subs. Not everyone can do that; i cannot legally do that (if i have to hire a sub, i introduce the sub to the homeowner and the homeowner has to hire them). you are looking for a generalist, i assume and someone who will do most of the work him or herself. if you find that person, be very careful about letting them do electric work (especially if you have that air bnb there) and only allow them to make plumbing repairs. even that dryer vent you mention has to be done to code and i forget it myself – but distance and material play a part.
another thing, a generalist’s insurance may not cover roofing. if you find people who are strict in what they are doing and do not claim to know everything and will not do everything (because their insurance does not cover or because it would be illegal for them to do so) you will be playing with a more professional mindset who will be less likely to do something wrong and put his ass(ets) on the line. we have all heard the term “jack of all trades, master of none”.
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
the reason you do not want a gc is because he or she will meet with you, write the quote, and call someone else to do the work and mark it up and send you a bill. in commercial buildings we used to call GC’s for small jobs if we did not know how to pull them together and manage the subs. or if something had to be filed. if i was working for a good boss or after i got more experience, i would manage them myself. but a GC is not needed for the little things you mention.
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
and correction to a post above, he is a “woodworker”. he just sent me some pictures of a staircase “lift” he did for a guy who initially called me. nice work. i do hope he will consider smaller jobs as he pursues the work on his own place; he did tell me he is maintaining his insurance.
donaldmerse | 5 years and 9 months ago
Thank you so much Steve. The experience of calling the GC, watching him estimate, mark it up, collect the check, and sub it out to someone entirely incompetent, with no oversight is all too painfully familiar to me. I mistakenly assumed that the role of the GC was a. to have the contacts of the various workers who were known and trusted, and b. to supervise, re-align said workers as they drift off course, and guarantee a level of quality. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
So if that’s up to me, how to I find and vet talented workers without spending years of trial and error? Sounds like Tom Staggs or yourself may be the guys I’m looking for. For specialty jobs (heating and plumbing let’s say) are there places that one can look to find quality suppliers? Lastly, let me know what pub I can have some beers paid for for you. This is invaluable advice for someone who is learning, slowly but surely.
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
a true gc may not pay attention to things on a small job. they really don’t want to do them. their insurance and the amount of skin in the game keeps them on bigger things (i think they have to maintain a certain amount of cash in the bank as reserves in case something goes wrong on a project).
One thing i can not stress enough is, look for people who are licensed and insured. this shows that they are serious about what they do and are in it for the long haul, not as a “stop gap” until something else rolls along. in so far as finding the other trades and especially with you running that air bnb, always use licensed electricians and plumbers and hvac people (you do not need a fire there; someone once told me if a contractor is unlicensed, then you become the “contractor” in so far as responsibility goes. i am not sure if that is true)
here is a good electrician; tom munetz 718-416-2686 (everyone i have ever sent him to has had something nice to say about him and he likes what he is doing). some others can come on here with the names of other LICENSED trades. once you meet them, you can ask them about other people they know or ask who they use to work in their own houses (such as painters). even for the dryer vent, you want someone who will follow the code so ask someone.
one way to weed people out is to learn a little about the job you want to have done. i am a contractor and i know some things about redoing a bathroom. i had to hire someone for my own bathroom. in the process of interviewing people, i would ask questions, things i knew should be concerns or things i knew the answer to. if they did not know what i was talking about or did not have an answer for me, i moved on to the next guy. it went that way until i called Chris Lombardi. Now i know Chris and i called him last as i was trying to save money. In fairness, i threw the same questions at chris as i did at the others and i saw the difference, chris had the answers right there. In the end, so there would be no issues or unanticipated situations, i paid a lot more money and hired chris. everyone i know who has used chris has said his price was more (sometimes a lot more) but that it was worth it.
there used to be a guy around named “eric paints”. he was driven and would take small jobs and relied on his reputation. not sure what happen to him. others may know. I bet if he said he’d remove the old caulking, he would remove the old caulking.
the reason i am being so forthright with you here is you did not try to cheap that caulking job (and even others thought you were paying a lot). what happen to you, should not have happen to you; contractors should appreciate having you as a customer.
dorkofwindsor | 5 years and 9 months ago
Yes you do hire a GC for their subs, knowledge, contacts and monitoring. Having said that if it is not one contiguous job it may be rather inefficient. I’ve used a service called Checklist Handyman Services (https://checklisthomeservices.com) and they have been good. They didn’t have anyone with a riggers license for one of my jobs, but run of the mill stuff they serve the same purpose: an ongoing relationship with the subs means you won’t be left high and dry.
yurigmusha71 | 5 years and 9 months ago
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yurigmusha71 | 5 years and 9 months ago
CALL MISTER LUIS ARIAS 7186005301
stevecym | 5 years and 9 months ago
i just wrote about what i am going to tell you under another post, but let me say it briefly here. if you wish to check the integrity of a contractor, when you first interview him ask him if he can do something he is not licensed to do (electric or plumbing) and see what his answer is. i’ve worked for professional firms and one thing we never did was hire people who were unlicensed or would consider doing something illegal (our jobs were on the line; in your house, your family is on the line). don’t just ask them if they would move a sink 2′ or change an outlet; that’s not egregious enough (even though i will not touch electric myself). ask them if they would run a gas line for the dryer or run a 220 30 amp line for a dryer or a new circuit for the microwave. unless they are licensed or tell you they can get a licensed sub, do not hire them for anything. read my logic and reasoning on the other post.
and thank you for the offer of beer the other day, i think that was a first on here.
uchenna
in General Discussion 5 years and 8 months ago
Hello, I wonder if I may be able to help you with your work as it sounds similar to the building maintenance work I have been doing for a community center in Boerum Hill for the past 6 years- a 150 year old combined townhouse/chapel. I’m an architect offering Project Management services. I can connect you with good local craftspeople and subcontractors of all trades and make sure the work is done well, on time and within budget. Small detail jobs are welcome. You hire the subcontractors directly and I charge an hourly fee to coordinate and manage. Please feel free to write or cal if you would like to speak further mph@polyarch.studio – 857.600.9079
eliasbstuy | 5 years and 8 months ago
Please call at 718-669-8305. License contractor and doing it for long time and excellent experience. CTG Construction.
admindba | 5 years and 8 months ago
Speaking of licensing: we had gotten a bunch of electrical work done last year. Task was mainly removing old knob and tube and rerunning some new circuits. I had specified at the outset that I needed a licensed electrician to do the work and to give us a document at the end stating that the work was up to code. We needed this for insurance purposes. The GC (same one I’ve been working with for the last year) quoted the work and said that the licensed electrician he works with would not be doing all of the installation but would supervise and “sign off,” at the end. Job cost about $20K all told and essentially all the wiring in two floors out of three were re-done. As you can probably guess, I’ve had a hell of a time trying to get the “licensed electrician,” to come and sign off. GC keeps saying “he’s coming next week.” Somehow I doubt that.
So what are my next steps? Do I need to get an entirely different electrician to come and inspect and sign off? Worst case scenario for me is that all the work needs to be torn out
and done over again. From what I can see the worke r that did the electrical work seemed competent and everything works and appears to be safe. I’m hoping there’s some way we can get whatever needs to be fixed or modified done so that we can get the document for insurance purposes.
stevecym | 5 years and 8 months ago
mr-montenegro:
first i am not an electrician so I can only raise more questions and offer no concrete answers but:
my understanding is any electrical work has to be done with a permit (i heard even changing outlets which i know sounds ridiculous). if you had this rewire done without a permit, the licensed person you call in will have to pull a permit. he is not going to put his license on the line to sign anything without doing this correctly from the get go.
in so far as inspecting it and signing off, I hope that they guy who did this did not bury any junction boxes in the walls as the licensed person will want to check the connections and will have to find the boxes. unlicensed people bury these all the time. it is against code to do so.
In this case, the document for insurance may be the sign off from the DOB, me thinks. so the insurance co may not be looking for something from the contractor, but from the DOB.
does the DOB need to perform an inspection before the walls are closed as with plumbing (rough-in?). again i do not know, but if they d o and a sign off is needed, walls will have to be open.
It sounds to me that the GC might be involved in something here that may go against the rules of the DOB, such as having his own guy do the work. i wonder, is your GC even licensed by the DOB?