When rehabbing, what do you guys prefer?
Handyman - the do it all type of guy
Sub contractors
Do It Yourself
or even finding a general contractor
What have you done?
What do you suggest?
Why?
Just looking to get a feel for what you have experienced…
I hire subs. If the house needs to be painted, I hire a painter, if the house needs a roof, I hire a roofer, if it needs carpet I hire a flooring guy.
I have used a contractor and I have done it myself. Doing it myself takes too much of my time since I do have a job. The contractor takes too much of the money and really dosen’t save me any time.
For certain major jobs (roof, heater/AC, major landscaping) I sub it out. I’ve done almost all of the remaining work myself. However, after my last major rehab I’m coming around to bringing in some help. I now realize that TIME = RISK. After 2 major rehabs I’ve got a much better idea of how long it REALLY takes to do a variety of jobs. With my next rehab I’ll be doing a cost tradeoff on time vrs rent or sales to determine what to sub and what to do myself. My current thoughts are to continue doing the high vaule work (electrical, plumbing, design, kitchen, tile) and sub out the grunt work (sheetrock, roofing, HW floors, carpet) or work I am not capable of (AC, big landscaping, septic)
jmd_forest
It depends on how much free time you have, and how much you enjoy doing the work yourself.
Typically, a handyman is good for every-day fix-it sort of things.
Hiring subs is best for specific tasks mentioned before, like flooring, painting, roofing, etc.
If you are doing a huge job and don’t have the time, money or resources to manage the entire job yourself, consider hiring a contractor, but make sure you pay them on time, stay out of their way and make sure you lay out all the terms when you start.
I have had great success in hiring eccentric contractors who have a hard time maintaining mainstream work due to their personalities…but I have a degree in Psychology.
They are more readily available and if you allow them their eccentricities they give you a great price and appreciate the work.
I use a handyman who likes money so much he’ll do everything on the cheap. Sheetrock is way to much work when I can get a whole house done for under 900 bucks labor(try holding a sheet of sheetrock over your head with one hand and screw with the other–not fun). I do the electrical and plumbing myself. Carpet I leave up to the pros, but tiling is way to easy for me to spend money on that. Painting is always hired out to much time to paint homes and I don’t have the equipment to spray.
I do everything myself, except some major HVAC. I’d rather be waterboarded than work with contractors or handymen.
Mike
<<I’d rather be waterboarded than work with contractors or handymen.>>
I’ve still got some buddies on active duty – we could hook you up Mike!
LOL…
Keith
I do everything myself except for new electrical, roofing, HVAC and major new plumbing. Stuff has to be to code, so licensed people do those things for me.
Oh, I also decided that I won’t refinish hardwood floors myself. Tried that and realized that the time it was taking me to do 1000 sf and the cost of the sandpaper was not much less than having a crew come in and finish in 2 days.
Locally, handyman means “claims he can do any type of repairs, but can’t do any of them right.”
There is one guy who is pretty good, but he charges $60 an hour and anythime I’ve needed him on short notice, he wasn’t interested in the job. He also won’t take any job where the work is hard or dirty. With tenants, every job is short notice, so he is worthless to me. Plus, I can do the easy jobs myself in 10 minutes. i’m not going to pay $60 an hour with a 2 hour minimum.
I mostly hire subs for the big jobs, or things I can’t do or won’t do (I do NOT go up onto roofs). But I won’t hire anyone who is not licensed and insured-- which means they are actually contractors that do their own work.
I do not hire a general contractor unless it is to build an entire house from the ground up.
So, I guess my answer is I hire small independent contractors who do their own work and don’t have employees.
<<Locally, handyman means “claims he can do any type of repairs, but can’t do any of them right.”>>
Ah, the epitome of a comprimise: Does lots of stuff, none of it well!
Keith
I agree 100%.
A handyman has to be good at everything, not just be able to do everything.
Check your local FIRE STATIONS!!!
If you have FULL TIME Firefighters in your area most of them do side work in construction. The best part about these guys is THEY SHOW UP, they aren’t counting on this income for their survival, and most have connections with every tradesman imaginable. I say Full time because if your area is volunteer they won’t be there when you stop by the station. But if you do have a full time force stop by and drop off some cards, get some names, find out what these guy’s do and what they want to do. You’ll be surprised.
They also have access to dozens of additional helpers (other firemen) that will work for 1 or 2 days for some pocket money. GREAT FOR DEMO!!! Nothing better than having 4 Engine Companies worth of brute force tear out all the old wall board and toss it in a dumpster while you cook hot dogs for them on the grill. In and out in 1 day!!
Great resource that is rarely if ever tapped by most REI people.
great idea!
Quick question though:
Do you just walk up to the firehouse? And then what, just ask them if they do sidework in construction?
Seems silly, but just not sure what to say to them…
Steve
That’s exactly what you do!
Believe me…there’s 2 things that are ALWAYS welcome at a Fire station…
A pretty girl bringing food…
and a guy looking to hire guy’s for construction work.
Just knock on the door (or ring the bell) and introduce yourself. Tell the guy’s you rehab houses and your looking for guy’s with construction experience to do demo, carpentry, painting, windows, anything related to rehabs. they may send you across town to another firestation to talk with a few guy’s there too. get some contact info and tell them about what you do. Believe me, they’ll be interested.
Treat them right, pay them a fair wage, and they’ll be there for you ANYTIME you need them. When I say pay them a fair wage what I mean is don’t insult them. I usually just ask whoever the lead guy is to give me a price for whatever I’m doing. He handles getting the guy’s there and paying them you just have him give you a bill and hand him a check.
Theses guy’s are good people. Their jobs are all about helping.
I think you’ll like dealing with them.
One word of caution…if your an @ssh*le, word will get around that Department in about 2 seconds and NONE of them will have anything to do with you. Treat them right and your golden.
Sounds great. Thanks for the advice.
I think I’ll bring a box of donuts or a couple pizzas with me when I stop by.
I have done projects all three ways. If I’m not getting paid (for my day job), I might as well do the work myself, especially if I don’t mind doing it and I know it will turn out fairly well.
I wouldn’t call a handyman for anything, but a remodeling general contractor will know how to do siding, roofing, drywall, plumbing, electric, concrete… whatever. I have been very happy with the results when I gave a remodeling contractor a list of let’s say 50 things to do, and the whole place gets a face lift.
Sometimes it is worth the money to hire things out. I’m pretty good with tile, but when you call a guy in who does tile all day every day, the results are impressive. A job that would take me 40 hours, takes a team of 2 guys 8 hours and the end product looks a lot better than it would if I did it.
There can be liability issues. If you decide to do an electrical job or a plumbing job and it results in a fire, dry rot or mold, then subsequent owners of the property (or tenants) can look back at building permits and find out who did the job or whether a job that was supposed to have a permit and didn’t, then you could subject yourself to lawsuits.
I like fdjake’s idea, not just because it’s a good idea to use firemen, but because he brings up the point of having connections. Some guys go into construction because they really can’t do anything else with their lives; some guys go into construction because they like to build. When you get into the inner circles of the guys who like to build, you can get jobs done for a fraction of the money that it would take to hire it out of the paper or phone book.
Wow, some good answers. My 2 cents. Depends what your budget is. Your skill level, time you have available, what specific goals you have in mind.
I know some fellow rehabbers that do couple houses a year, have a regular job, got the house on cash or subject 2 so they don’t have to worry about payments, they do most of the work themselves as they enjoy the satisfaction of seeing something accomplished with their own hands. Now there is some investors that are in between all this. For me I am a General contractor who’s been in the business for 25 years. doing most of the work with my son and myself. BUT we are more “serious” about our rehabbing as it is the cash flow for our buisness… I tell my son our biggest challange is taking the tool belt off…When we put it on we lose the abilty to “manage” to grow our business and work on the areas that will give us continious growth. Such as Marketing for buyers and finding motivated sellers. It is sooo easy to put the tool belt on and feel “productive”. We are going to try a partnership with a general contractor that will put up the rehab money and do the work for half the profit. We (General and us) find the “right” house so it will be marketable in a 60 day turn… so thats the plan. If you have time constraints (Paying montly mortgage–been there done that) you will want to get the work done ASAP–which will take others to do. I would recommend individual licensed specilized contractors to do the work ie electrian, finish carp, painter etc… you will need to become a general (don’t need a license here if you are your own) so you can schedule the work in a Right Timely Flow pattern.—the Trick— You will go through a weeding period… Using one guy sometimes turns out to take much longer then individuals --my experience-- Good luck–John K sr, JJACK Inc. San Diego and Denver
I do it all myself ( well with a couple college kids i pick up here and there ) as I have been in the construction business my whole life. If I cant do it or dont want to, I have enough contacts to get someone in who will and for the right price. :beer