Posted by Dave T on December 26, 2000 at 13:18:44:
I had a $20K job done in early 1999. I hired a general contractor, agreed on the scope of work to be done and I approved his written estimate.
I paid one lump sum upon acceptance of the competed project. NO up-front deposit and NO progress payments. Eighteen months later, I noticed that some of the ceramic tiles had recently cracked. The contractor came back out with the original tile sub-contractor, and replaced the broken tiles at no cost.
There are contractors out there that have a strong enough balance sheet that they don’t need up-front deposits or progress payments. Even better if the contractor will guarantee his work because he knows that his reputation for quality and professional service gives him more work through referrals.
You might ask some of the suppliers who their best remodelling contractor clients are – that is which always pay their bills in full and on time. I got recommendations from the lighting supplier, the paint supplier, and the flooring supplier. When the same name was on all three lists, my decision to hire that contractor was easy.
How do I inspire the contractor to work faster? - Posted by AnnaSalk
Posted by AnnaSalk on December 24, 2000 at 07:36:42:
How do I prompt the contractor to work faster on my rehab? Any ideas from past experiences? Do I give him part of my ownership at the re-sale if work comleted before certain date? Do I tell him that I will have to finish the work he started with another contractor? Thank you for any possible suggestions and Happy Holidays!
Get a copy of Myers’ book as Greg mentions. He goes into detail on how to write a contract to protect yourself in this situation-the contractor is rewarded if they finish in advance, or punished if they are late. Check this out for prices:
Posted by Ben (NJ) on December 24, 2000 at 13:43:29:
last year my mom hired a contractor to do a big job on her house, she foolishly paid him most of the money in advance and of course didn’t hear from him for weeks. My brothers and I persistenly haunted him to get over there and do the work. One night I got into a loud screaming match with him and threatened to sue him if he was not at my mom’s house the next morning ready to work. By total coincidence, the next day, I went over to my mom’s house with a couple of burly guys who were giving her an estimate on some floor refinishing work. When I pulled up with these guys, the contractor went pale and started screaming “I’m doing the job,I don’t want any trouble!” The floor guys were like “what is this guy talking about?”. We laughed for days over that one!
Anna, I work with a lot of people in rehabs.The choices you have as far as time limets relate to how much you are paying and the type of contractor tou are dealing with.This time if there was a time problem I would would offer a bonus of 100 bucks ? per day for each day ahead of time he could finish the house.
Next time try subing out parts of the house ie, wiring ,paint ,carpet to independents they have nothing to gain by draging there feet. Good Luck and Happy Holidays. Mark R. (W.V.)
Posted by Dwayne on December 24, 2000 at 08:37:46:
Has the contractor stopped work on your project? Are you trying to complete faster to close a sale? Did you write a contract with a scope of work and completion date? A contractor should be given a specific task for an agreed price to be completed in an set time frame. Are you trying to get the project completed or completed faster? Do not make threats in business if you do not intend to follow through. Someone may call your bluff and what do threats really accomplish. If you need to get another contractor have one in place and have documentation of why you are changing contractors. You may end up in a legal battle (liens ect.) Do not make buiness decisions based on personl feelings. The best advice I can give is do you homework prior to starting a rehab. Set you budget, scope of work, and timeline. Things may change but a road map helps. Post another message if you need further information on questions I asked. Take care and Happy Holidays.
Posted by IB (NJ) on December 24, 2000 at 22:16:10:
time to finish working on another project they consider more important than yours. Maybe it pays more. They’ll even use the down payment you give them to finish up that other project. Stipulate in your contract (next time) that they’ll work on your project M-SA from 8 - 6 until it’s complete. I wouldn’t award them for fininshing early (except with more work). I would penalize them for fininshing late. For everyday past a week after agreed upon complete date, take off a $100.
thats the way things go in nj but not here. Start with you dont pay up front, then you dont hire someone without the time to work on it.maybe its the class of people that you’ve been hiring
Posted by IB (NJ) on December 26, 2000 at 04:03:26:
Class of people? Definitely. But I always thought you had to start by paying the Contractor something? Like maybe 20 - 33%? You mean you can get a Contractor to work on your project without paying til it’s all done? Don’t have me relocating
I’m not sure what you mean by “then you dont hire someone without the time to work on it”.
