[spazzyfry123]

For those that have used general contractors for renovation work, what has been your process for vetting? We're looking at purchasing a fixer-upper in a great neighborhood, but unsure how to find the right guys for the heavy lifting in a new city with no references. Our real estate agent has a few lined up, but curious if there's a catch all website to track testimonials and track record.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

For those that have used general contractors for renovation work, what has been your process for vetting? We're looking at purchasing a fixer-upper in a great neighborhood, but unsure how to find the right guys for the heavy lifting in a new city with no references. Our real estate agent has a few lined up, but curious if there's a catch all website to track testimonials and track record.

Angieslist.com or homeadvisor.com have ratings/reviews for local services

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

For those that have used general contractors for renovation work, what has been your process for vetting? We're looking at purchasing a fixer-upper in a great neighborhood, but unsure how to find the right guys for the heavy lifting in a new city with no references. Our real estate agent has a few lined up, but curious if there's a catch all website to track testimonials and track record.

I would not rely on website testimonials to select a contractor and I would not rely on a realtor for anything. I’d be much more inclined to ask neighbors and friends / family / co-workers in the area, which will give you contractors to call and others to avoid. Diligence in finding a contractor is far more involved than looking in one place.

The first step is being sure you know what you want to do so you can talk specifics. Think about walking into a car dealer with no idea what you want or what cars should cost vs. being an informed shopper. Same concept applies. Houzz is a pretty good place to get some ideas, as well as some example costs.

I usually meet the contractor in person to get a sense of their attitude and attention to detail. When we meet I establish what I am looking for in a bid / estimate. If they can’t give me a reasonably detailed quote of cost and time in a timely manner I don’t bother calling them back. Once you have an contractor and estimate that seem reasonable, get references and call them. Ask at least one reference if they wouldn’t mind showing you the work the contractor did and look at it in detail. You’ll also want to check their license and BBB status. You’ll be surprised how many contractors you’ll need to call just to get to this point with 2-3 of them.

Personally, I also try to find at least some of the subs and buy some of the materials myself. Some GCs won’t allow that so they are also out. We have a carpenter, electrician, painter and plumber we like. I want to pay these subs directly rather than being forced to use someone I don’t know that a GC forces on me to mark up their costs. We renovated our master bath for $32K but had numerous estimates that exceeded $50K. I also try to heavily back weight payments to when work is 100% done but am generally ok with progress payments. That said, don’t try to nickel and dime someone with a reasonable quote. They need to make a profit and as long as they are earning it, I have no problem paying it. I just don’t want to pay unnecessary markup on subs and materials that I can avoid with minimal effort.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I would not rely on website testimonials to select a contractor and I would not rely on a realtor for anything. I’d be much more inclined to ask neighbors and friends / family / co-workers in the area, which will give you contractors to call and others to avoid. Diligence in finding a contractor is far more involved than looking in one place.

The first step is being sure you know what you want to do so you can talk specifics. Think about walking into a car dealer with no idea what you want or what cars should cost vs. being an informed shopper. Same concept applies. Houzz is a pretty good place to get some ideas, as well as some example costs.

I usually meet the contractor in person to get a sense of their attitude and attention to detail. When we meet I establish what I am looking for in a bid / estimate. If they can’t give me a reasonably detailed quote of cost and time in a timely manner I don’t bother calling them back. Once you have an contractor and estimate that seem reasonable, get references and call them. Ask at least one reference if they wouldn’t mind showing you the work the contractor did and look at it in detail. You’ll also want to check their license and BBB status. You’ll be surprised how many contractors you’ll need to call just to get to this point with 2-3 of them.

Personally, I also try to find at least some of the subs and buy some of the materials myself. Some GCs won’t allow that so they are also out. We have a carpenter, electrician, painter and plumber we like. I want to pay these subs directly rather than being forced to use someone I don’t know that a GC forces on me to mark up their costs. We renovated our master bath for $32K but had numerous estimates that exceeded $50K. I also try to heavily back weight payments to when work is 100% done but am generally ok with progress payments. That said, don’t try to nickel and dime someone with a reasonable quote. They need to make a profit and as long as they are earning it, I have no problem paying it. I just don’t want to pay unnecessary markup on subs and materials that I can avoid with minimal effort.

That's what we did on our house in Atlanta. A good networking base to help establish the good from the bad. This go-round we live in a different state many hours from those contacts. We are in an apartment now while we finish up the house hunt. Our friends and neighbors are typically within the apartment community with no family nearby and we both are home-based for work. We're on a bit of an island unfortunately.

I'm tempted to play general contractor; this is what I did on my last remodel. Saved about 50% on the overall cost compared to what the GC's quoted in initially. But I knew the subs. So far my best recommendations in our new town are coming from realtors that are probably getting a kickback and what I've been able to find on the internet (which I read as, who gave Google the most money).

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

looks great! where did you buy the panels and what's it made out of?

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

The most similar thing I can find online would be this.

Although there is a Bed Bath and Beyond going out of business near me. I went in and asked what they were doing with their fixtures, ended up buying a whole wall of their industrial display boards. I also got a few boxes of all of the different attachments for hanging things like the baskets and whatnot. I got ~320 sq ft. of this and more hangers than I will ever use for under $200. All in all, quite the steal. I also have a 4'x8' board down over my workbench for most of my tools.

I used Gladiator Wall Track for mine. Not horribly expensive and it comes up on Amazon at a good price every now and then. Plus, you can get the 4ft sections from Lowes and Home Depot (as well as order the 8ft sections). There is a Garage Store kind of not horribly far from me that I can get them at, too. I had put up Gladiator stuff in my last garage and kept my cabinets so I'm baked into their mounting system.

I'd previously posted what I put up in the corner near the Moupe. This summer, I put some up by the other cars. I haven't gotten to completely organize things yet, though, and plan to order another small cabinet for near the Moupe. Al the shovels (so many shovels...more than shown here since the pix are old) and landscaping stuff are now hanging from the newer section.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by bosstones

I used Gladiator Wall Track for mine. Not horribly expensive and it comes up on Amazon at a good price every now and then. Plus, you can get the 4ft sections from Lowes and Home Depot (as well as order the 8ft sections). There is a Garage Store kind of not horribly far from me that I can get them at, too. I had put up Gladiator stuff in my last garage and kept my cabinets so I'm baked into their mounting system.

I'd previously posted what I put up in the corner near the Moupe. This summer, I put some up by the other cars. I haven't gotten to completely organize things yet, though, and plan to order another small cabinet for near the Moupe. Al the shovels (so many shovels...more than shown here since the pix are old) and landscaping stuff are now hanging from the newer section.

I like the cabinets a lot, I just couldn't justify paying that much more for some cabinets. Have sunk a lot of money into a brand new house already trying to get it all personalized... much more than I had expected to!

Even without the cabinets I am a big fan of the track wall already. It is a pretty robust storage solution!

[prateekgupta]

I will use for my garage walls and one 16 sq ft section for my workbench in the basement, all for $70.

[Nachbar]

My (now finished) project

[lsturbointeg]

spent time over the Weekend working on the basement room. because the ceiling was removed I had to finish up some of the wall to extend to the top of the floor above using drywall. the closet I removed I finished up redoing the wall since it had to be repaired along with a nice round corner. already sanded and applied 2nd coat of joint compound. once it's dry it'll be time to break out the hopper and apply texture. wait for that to dry than paint!





i'm gonna say i'm very pleased with the flat black ceiling and how it turned out. can't wait to continue this throughout the basement

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I like the cabinets a lot, I just couldn't justify paying that much more for some cabinets. Have sunk a lot of money into a brand new house already trying to get it all personalized... much more than I had expected to!

Even without the cabinets I am a big fan of the track wall already. It is a pretty robust storage solution!

I hear ya. I was already invested in the cabinets. No way was I going to leave those behind in my townhouse!

Yeah, it adds up quick! I've spent too much on tools and equipment that I didn't have before (table saw, router, etc...) so I can start doing more stuff myself (or at least do some things easier). I'm also going to play around with building some furniture myself. Lucky for me, I like simple and clean lines. Plus, wifey is on a kick for modern/rustic so any mistakes in finish will be labeled as 'rustic' by me. lol

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by Nachbar

My (now finished) project

I think you and ShopVac should have a build off for the Bimmerpost title!

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by bosstones

I hear ya. I was already invested in the cabinets. No way was I going to leave those behind in my townhouse!

Yeah, it adds up quick! I've spent too much on tools and equipment that I didn't have before (table saw, router, etc...) so I can start doing more stuff myself (or at least do some things easier). I'm also going to play around with building some furniture myself. Lucky for me, I like simple and clean lines. Plus, wifey is on a kick for modern/rustic so any mistakes in finish will be labeled as 'rustic' by me. lol

Yeah same here. We have wire shelving in all of our closets and in the walk-in pantry that I am going to be building shelving and drawers for so I am currently justifying a few tools I do not have yet like a nicer planer, table saw that will take a dado blade, and plate joiner to name a few.

[Nachbar]

Because I got so much love for my Project, here some vids of it. Btw, the Manufacturer is Brustor

[PoorLurker]

Wow! Some really cool projects here! I can't wait to get my garage redone!

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by Nachbar

Because I got so much love for my Project, here some vids of it. Btw, the Manufacturer is Brustor

I was on Bruster website and they do not show the sliding glass panels, it talks about the various movable sun shades but do not show the glass, is that something you added or do they offer that as a package, I would image the glass panels add some significant costs.

[Nachbar]

Originally Posted by Maestro

I was on Bruster website and they do not show the sliding glass panels, it talks about the various movable sun shades but do not show the glass, is that something you added or do they offer that as a package, I would image the glass panels add some significant costs.

Originally Posted by Maestro

I was on Bruster website and they do not show the sliding glass panels, it talks about the various movable sun shades but do not show the glass, is that something you added or do they offer that as a package, I would image the glass panels add some significant costs.

Brustor does not install themselves, but partners. They offer and install lots of different glasses. Mine was +14k

[Nachbar]

Home project 2019

[Bongoxxx]

Slowly finishing the basement....

Insulated all the walls with R30 for additional insulation (R20 already installed) Laid dri-core subfloor before installing the pergo extreme vinyl flooring - the planks are 72”x10”.

KEF speakers all around with Marantz receiver.

Cheapest quote i received was $35k which did not include the stonework and fireplace or all of the custom wiring.

So far including all of the wiring, fireplace, stone work and TV/audio/speakers I am all in for $11k. Man, you can save yourself a lot of money if you’re handy

Just waiting for some hardware to install a glass railing for the upper level and planning on staining the stairs tomorrow.



[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2177099&stc=1&d=157344 8426(/IMG]

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by bosstones

I think you and ShopVac should have a build off for the Bimmerpost title!

I thought I already won this thread?

[infinitekidM2C]

Originally Posted by ShopVac

I thought I already won this thread?

No no no. Finals at my house. Let's see what you can do with my backyard and dining room. GO!

[eluded]

I saw,
Therefore,
I am.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by eluded

I saw,
Therefore,
I am.

Is that kind of like

The blind man pick up his hammer and Saw?