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bEatmstrJ posted:I have not had great experiences with contractors which makes me want to do more myself. Perhaps some day when I finally have a good experience I'll change my mind, but the fact of the matter is most of them are poo poo. I think it's cool that you want to DIY and agree that it can be wearisome dealing with crappy contractors. This is quite an ambitious project to take on alone. I'm wondering if you considered talking with your building dept before embarking on this. Slugworth posted:A full schedule is one thing, but I will say I have no patience for a professional who is flaky about communications. Me too. I understand not getting an immediate response for a free consultation/estimate that 90% of the time is a waste of the contractor's time, but 24 hours seems reasonable even if it's a short text or email saying sorry but I can't help you right now.
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Apr 3, 2017 18:54
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Vulcan posted:No contractor wants to come fix a small portion of a DIY mistake as cheap as possible. That's true, but I'm not sure "cheap as possible" is part of the equation. It depends on the area of course too in terms of the supply and demand for contractors. I'd be inclined to seek out referrals from people with first-hand experience.
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Apr 3, 2017 19:36
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bEatmstrJ posted:On the other hand, I have spoken to two engineers that have been very helpful and responsive and both have offered to draw up engineering plans for $500. I'm surprised an engineer would wet stamp such plans, especially for that price.
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Apr 3, 2017 21:04
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Vulcan posted:Really? Thats about the going rate for them here too, for something basic as a few beams. Baronjutter posted:Yeah an architect I do side work for will do stuff like that all the time. He'll come up with a solution he knows will work because basic engineering isn't that hard, he'll get me to do up a set of drawings and notes for it, then an engineer friend will sign off on it for about $500. Maybe it depends on whether permits are involved, where you may not be able to just present drawings of a few joists and the proposed fix.
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Apr 3, 2017 22:33
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Baronjutter posted:Everything needs a permit where I am. The most recent one I did was an asap thing too because a family decided to take out a majority of a bearing wall holding their roof up in order to build their open plan "dream kitchen", hired an interior kitchen designer then got to work them selves but halfway through realized maybe they should get an engineer involved. They just needed a couple columns and a beam to hold up the roof and nothing was in critical risk of falling apart but even that was a "holy poo poo no" situation and the city was quick to fast track everything. I just went with my gut on what would work because they needed a drawing like same-day to submit to the city and then only after get it stamped by the engineer. My guess was correct, hooray!! This sounds very different from how things work out my way but hey it's a big world. Glad it worked out.
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Apr 4, 2017 05:02
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brugroffil posted:My advice would be to hire a structural engineer (which I think you said you're doing already, good!) and contact your local building department to pull the proper permits for the work you're doing. Exactly. Pulling permits isn't always the grueling and expensive process that people imagine, and plan reviewers and inspectors can be incredibly helpful. The work should be done properly, disclosed and on record because no matter how long you plan to stay in the house eventually someone else will be living there.
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Apr 5, 2017 16:25
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bEatmstrJ posted:It's my goal to do everything up to code, and once I get a contractor involved, it's likely there will be permits needed, possibly for other things, which i'll take care of if needed. This may entail removing the concrete board, vanity and countertop. That's when you'll know how serious you are. bEatmstrJ posted:I've done a huge variety of projects in my past (none to this extreme so far), and I know a lot about a lot of different trades. The question is how will you approach the project after this one. bEatmstrJ posted:That being said, my last home had an extensive bathroom remodel without any permits and there were no issues when it was sold. You might consider rethinking your takeaway from this anecdote. bEatmstrJ posted:There's not a lot I can do at this point to get anyone to respect me and I'm not going to try to get people to do that. I think most people are primarily concerned with what you do going forward. You and your work do not exist in a vacuum. While none of us here may be directly impacted by your actions, many of us have been affected by work done by people with a mindset similar to yours. I'm not trying to sound all holier-than-thou. I've made bigger mistakes than yours. You've got a lot of years left. Taking on projects like this with a full-time job indicates serious drive. You might consider getting licensed. Owner-Builder experience counts for the application but you have to do it the right way. If it takes ten years, so what, those years are going to pass by anyway, and it may help focus your education. Anyone can do work that skates around codes and permits. Think about who you want to be.
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Apr 6, 2017 07:25
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bEatmstrJ posted:Here's a list of items the contractor will be tackling for the curious Care to share the amount of the quote?
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Apr 21, 2017 20:45
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Seems like a very good price. Hope it goes well.
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Apr 21, 2017 21:22
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bEatmstrJ posted:It was not itemized. He gave me a price, I got him to add a few more things, then I talked him down another 5k. Being able to knock $5k off should tell you something about the original quote and this contractor. bEatmstrJ posted:Originally he said the company charges about $4500 to have the engineer come onsite to do plans and blueprints which seemed way high, but its all rolled into the price so its tough to say what the cost is. Any reputable contractor will break down the charges on the quote. This doesn't sound like a one-guy-in-an-F-150 operation, which makes it even more surprising that they weren't broken down. You not asking for a breakdown puts an unflattering label on your forehead. Even if things go well with this contractor you might consider taking a different approach in the future because you want to be able to compare quotes item by item.
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Apr 22, 2017 17:05
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bEatmstrJ posted:I can see how that would play into it, but if someone has the option of getting the same house in the same neighborhood but nicer, and has the money to spend, then I'll still get a better offer. This is based on my personal experience of selling my last home in the exact same neighborhood when it was less than 10 years old for well above market value. Drawing conclusions based on a single sale is dicey at best. It's possible that your upgrade was the reason for the above-market price you got, but it's also possible that there were other factors, and possible too that the price you got was despite the upgrade. Even in the same development in the same neighborhood, no two houses are the same, even if it's just that the next-door neighbor of one looks sketchier than another. I suspect that most agents would advise you not to do the current upgrade if the goal is increasing sale price and marketability, which may be something to consider. bEatmstrJ posted:Normally I would agree but they definitely took a different approach towards quoting than others did. I did not get an itemized quote, but I did get a contract that itemized everything that would be done. The contractor has a large number of positive Yelp reviews and I was able to view many pictures of finished work that all looked good. They don't use any subcontractors which I liked, everyone is employed directly, including the engineer which probably cuts a lot of costs as long as they have work coming in. He said they do about 100 projects per month with a team of 450 people. Fair enough. What would you have done if he hadn't dropped the price? bEatmstrJ posted:I'm still a bit wary of all contractors in general but I had a good feeling about this company after meeting several others and that's really all I can go on anyway. It's good to be wary of contractors. It's way too easy to get a license and the field is rife with hacks.
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Apr 22, 2017 21:02
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bEatmstrJ posted:Gotten more quotes, decided who were my top 2 or 3 and made them compete against each other for price. I just hope the $5k price reduction AFTER you added more items to the quote sent a few warning bells off.
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Apr 23, 2017 20:28
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bEatmstrJ posted:It told me that if you don't negotiate, you're probably getting ripped off. This is true in many aspects of life. Agreed. I'd just rather not work with someone who tried to rip me off to this extent as $5k on a $23k project is ludicrous. It sounds like there will be more of these projects in your future and building relationships with trustworthy contractors who do quality work is invaluable, as is having a stellar real estate agent. As mentioned previously I give you enormous credit for your motivation and drive, it's not easy with a full time job to take on such projects and despite the setbacks you don't seem discouraged at all, which is impressive. I wish you the best.
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Apr 23, 2017 21:33
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Facebook Aunt posted:I can see it. Some people just have a hard on for bargaining. Being a 'tough negotiator' is an important part of their identity or something. Driving down the price feels like winning, paying the asking price makes them feel like a chump. A contractor probably runs into a lot of those guys, so he builds in a margin to let them talk him down to a fair price and everyone walks away feeling good. To each their own. It's just not my thing. I wouldn't walk away feeling good on either side of that transaction, but that's because I'd have the quote itemized and would be able to justify each charge even against lower competing quotes. I can see knocking off $500 but not $5k. Maybe I've just seen too many people get ripped off by contractors, often elderly people or those who just don't know any better. If OP had accepted the quote without negotiation, the contractor wouldn't have volunteered to lower the price.
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Apr 24, 2017 01:16
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bEatmstrJ posted:So the engineer just left..... He took measurements of my entire house... This is why the comments earlier about engineers charging $500 for stamped drawings made no sense to me. Figure an hour to measure, an hour travel time, 2-3 hours to draw up plans, an hour to print/scan... these folks aren't working for $90/hr. bEatmstrJ posted:and said he can make it work but he did seem a bit concerned about having the inspector see the joists, so he recommended fixing it (but still leaving my 2" inch drop) and covering it up before the inspector comes over as he thinks it would raise a lot of red flags. This engineer works for the same company as your contractor, right? This is quite an operation. bEatmstrJ posted:But either way, it sounded like he was just going to sister in some 4x10's next to the joists and leave the old ones in place. You sure he's talking about 4x10s?
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Apr 25, 2017 04:34
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brugroffil posted:I'd ask for the guy's engineering licenses number and look it up on the state registry (super easy in Illinois, imagine it's the same in California). You want stamped drawings. That means the engineer is putting their own rear end on the line civilly and criminally. Exactly. A real engineer would WANT the inspector to sign off on it, since it's kind of hard to cover it up since in theory permits would have been pulled to fix the joists, and city-approved plans + inspector sign-off help an engineer cover their own rear end.
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Apr 25, 2017 04:41
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