Milt, I'm all for your price increase, as long as if I hire you I get the old rate.

Yeah, 20% discount for Pelicans (-20% gets you back to the original rate before 25% increase, right?) But don't make me out to be a hero, I simply install replacement windows. I'm a general contractor, but I've narrowed my business down to something I can handle insurance wise. My insurance co won't even write for a general doing general work. I started in windows and doors full time in 1985. I hung my first door in 1968, what a mess. I know what I'm doing, but that's not all the business. Returning calls and showing up for an estimate and then returning with the estimate promptly gets me more work than prices. Then performing the work on time, neat and clean (I carry a vacuum cleaner with me to every job) gets me referrals. No smoking, drinking or swearing allowed and no boots in a furnished house is how I work. Even with all that, I get a customer now and then that jerks me around. It's their nature. It's not an easy business at all and when someone takes a wide shot at contractors, it pisses me off. Over the years, I've become somewhat of a jerk in my own right.

I'd like to hear John Walker's take on this subject of mechanics and contractors.

I'll stay out of the detail, but both professionally and personally I have come across few contractors who are good.

By that I mean will do:
a) The work they have tendered for
b) Do it to the price they have agreed and within the time frame they have agreed to
c) Will not require a number of return visits etc to attend to remedial works.

But, that is why, to have a successful building project you need the following:-
Good drawings and specifications of what you want done
A knowledge of the codes which will apply
Good idea of the level of work to be achieved.
Time to supervise the project, from before you go to site to close supervision of the site itself.

I know it sounds anathema to many here, because most seem to be very 'hands-on' people, but hiring somebody to do the majority of the design and supervision work will actually increase the chnaces of success.

Sure they cost money up front but save you money in the longer term....a bit like getting a good shop to look after the P-car.

Milt, sounds as if you are a joinery and door contractor, you therefore work in a precise and detailled way, if you're no good it shows up straight away. It is not as obvious if you have a poor electrical contractor or plumbing contractor to say nothing of any structural work.

If you think the cost of construction is high over there you should try building over here in Europe......

Joinery is a term not used too much here. If you're inside the shop, you're a mill worker, and if you're installing milled products, you're a finish carpenter. That's basically my trade. And, you're absolutely correct, it's a subjective business; everything you do is right out in the open.

Sort of an interesting analogy comes to mind. An engine builder works so much with the internals, miching the clearances and torquing to specs. You never see the bulk of his work A little beadblasting and a little powdercoating make the engine LOOK good, no effect on performance.

In my work, it's all exposed right from the get go. And, yes, I have seen where once the walls were buttoned up, some of the elec outlets or switches didn't work. They had to tear open the walls to fix the problem. Plumbing is usually tested prior.

So, there's a positive aspect of working on finish products, and the fact that one is not going to get away with anything. At least we don't have to tear up the walls to fix it.

This has turned into kind of a fun thread. Just don't swipe at contractors or mechanics. :p

<i>"Just don't swipe at contractors or mechanics."</i>

I was going to say, 'the best carpenters are the ones who can hide their mistakes the best'. But now I won't ....... ;)

Where on Lake Huron???

Sand Point near Caseville - the "thumb" area.

A friend recently had what I consider to be a brilliant strategy. He hired a retired home builder. This retired builder is one of those whose homes sell for a premium around here, simply because he was the builder. So, for a $15,000 fee, my friend had his own "building inspector"...step by step through the process of building his new home. The contractor agreed to this before the contract was signed. There were issues the 3 of them had to work out...but in the end, my friend ended up with a well built new home, and he considers the $15K he paid the retired builder to be money well spent...Should I ever want a new home built? I think I'd go the same route. Hiring somebody with knowledge to represent your interest alone is always a good move. Ask any Lawyer. Which is another thing my friend did...a good contract lawyer never goes to court. That's because he/she writes contracts in a way that no court action is warranted.

PW,

Like your friend's strategy. But would an architect not have been able to do a few of those tasks as well as making sure the building was designed well in the first place?

I know that you'll need uilding Inspections etc as well as the legal advice, but that's what architects are supposed to do.....

$15,000 is cheap by architect's standards. For planning and full blown supervision, they are likely to charge 15% of the cost of the construction. But he didn't say where the plans came from. Maybe it was plans in a box. If so, no architect. $15,000 over 6 months is only $ 577 a week.

it is simple, be a smart consumer, get EVERYTHING in writing, and know what you are paying for, and dont pay for it unless you get it. it is what i do for a living, and i deal with millions$$