How to Select a General Contractor

  You have a big project (or a small one for that matter) and you’re not sure if you need a general contractor or not.  How do you decide, and how do you ensure you have the right one.  There are several key indicators that separate the good guys from the shoddy ones, but often the final decision comes down to price, reputation, or just your gut feeling (do you like or dislike the guy.)

  First of all, you may wonder if you even need a General Contractor.  These points may help you decide.

1. The bigest thing a GC will do for you is save time.  If you don’t have the ability to manage the project all day every day, or you don’t have the know-how to do some of the things you want, you should get a GC.  What a GC brings to the table is experience, and the fact that this project is his full time job.  He will schedule, manage, and supervise the entire process, so you don’t have to.
2. A licensed GC knows the local code, and most likely has a good relationship with the building department and inspectors.  While you can pull a homeowner permit yourself, you must be familiar with the codes, and still must pass inspections.  A good GC will pass every inspection the first time, saving time, and the potential for fines from the building department.
3. Contractor relationship.  A GC alleviates the need for you to find all of the contractors to do the work.  If you were to try this yourself, you will spend days interviewing and reviewing contractors and bids.  And each contractor will have or require their own contract, and possibly insurance.  A GC has already established these contacts, so he has everyone in place, and they are trades that he knows and trusts (or he wouldn’t be using them.)  So a GC provides you with a single point of contact (himself) for you to work with if anything on the project is not satisfactory, then it’s his job to deal with the sub-contractors, not yours.
4. Most GC’s have contractor accounts with material suppliers, providing them with a large discount, and a good GC will pass on some of that savings to you (there will of course be a mark-up, but most likely the material costs will still be lower than you could get on your own.

  So, if you are not willing to deal with the above issues yourself, then you should get a General Contractor for your project.

Now that you have established that you need a GC, how do you find and select one. 

1. Word of mouth is always the best bet.  If you have a friend or a co-worker that has had work done, ask what they thought of their GC.
2. Do a web search (google, etc.) for your area.  Often you will get links to posts or forums that mention specific GC’s, good and bad.
3. Last resort is the phone book.  Let’s face it, there are tons of choices and no real info for you to decide from.

  ALWAYS meet face to face with your GC before you commit to anything, that will tell you alot about them.  What is your first impression, this will give you an idea of how it will be working with them.  Do you like the way the interact with you, do they explain things well, do they make you feel dumb for not knowing things?  Etc, etc.  All of this will tell you a great deal about how you will work with that GC.  Remember, there are tons of GC’s everywhere, so if you are not comfortable with one, keep looking until you are.  You must have a good relationship, and feel good about using a GC or it will make the project long, difficult and painful.

  I always recommend getting at least three quotes or bids from different GC’s.  Even if you are using one that your friend loved, or you really like a certain GC and you know you will use them, still get competing bids.  If you get 2 bids that are way lower than the guy you liked, you can go back to him and tell him you really want to use him, but his price was too high, I can almost gaurantee he will come down in price. 

  *** One note on competing bids, DO NOT tell each GC what the other bid was, that is very rude and disrespectful to those GC’s.  If you must, just say the other bids were higher or lower, but don’t specify.  On the same note, if a GC asks you to tell him what the other bids are, or says he will beat whatever the bid is if you tell him, DO NOT USE HIM.  That is dishonest and very unprofessional, and is a sign that he will probably cut corners and cheat you to get as much profit as he can.  A Good GC has pricing that he has preset, and if he knows his stuff, he will stand behind those prices.

  So know you have found the GC you want, and you know his bid or quote.  Congratulations, that’s the hardest part.  When you accept him as your GC, there will be a contract between you, read it carefully, and don’t be afraid to ask for a day to read it over, or have a friend or lawyer review it.  That contract is wht is going to settle any disputes, outline the schedule, and most importantly, set a price and a resolution method for overages and variations.

  So take the above advice for what it’s worth, and remember, the cheapest is not always the best.  You want a GC you are comfortable with and your gut tells you is OK. 

  Finally, here are some warning signs that indicate a GC that you should avoid at all costs.

1. You don’t like the way he interacts with you, or looks, or talks, or anything that make you uncomfortable.
2. He asks what the competing bids were or tries to beat or match them.  ( a good GC will give you his best pricing, no matter what, and will stand behind that pricing with confidence)
3. He will not set a completion date, or has a clause that says he can extend the timeline without your approval.
4. He has an “overage” price built into his budget.  This can simply be called wasted money for you.  If a GC cannot confidently bid a project without having to set aside money for something he didn’t plan on, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.  What you should have is a clause in the contract that states that if there is a problem or variation that requires more money, you both agree to the resolution with a Change Order, and then adjust the total price.  That way if no issue arises, you haven’t paid the GC for nothing with his ridiculous “overage” line item.
5. The GC provides a bid or quote that simply states a blanket price (this may be ok on a small project like installing a new door, but is totally unacceptable for something like a basement finish.)  The quote should have line items that specify at the very least a cost per phase, and really should line out everything such as plumbing = $$$, framing = $$$.  This way you know where your money is going, and it will allow you to compare with other bids easily.

How to Find a Wall Stud

  It seems one of the most difficult things to do when hanging something on a wall is finding the stud (or wall frame) to hang it on.  Sure you can use mollies or butterfly anchors (and sometimes you have to for a specific location) but those methods don’t work very well and cause damage to the wall.  So how do you find the stud?

  The most direct method is of course a stud finder, but they are not always accurate.  Here are some tips for using a stud finder that will help you out.  To get a general idea of where a stud should be, so you can better know if the finder is accurate, use some logic of how the wall is framed.  Here are some guidelines:

1.  There will always be a stud at a wall corner and within 1.5 inches of a door jamb.

2.  There will be a stud directly to one side of an electrical outlet or light switch.

3.  If it is an exterior wall (i.e. on the outside of the house), the studs will be at a spacing of 12 inches on center (common) or 16 inches on center (less common).

4.  If it is an interior wall (i.e. inside an existing room), the stud spacing will be 24 inches on center (common) or 16 inches on center (if a load bearing wall).

  By using these guidelines, you can generally tell where a stud is, even without a studfinder.  One of the best ways to double check for a stud before you go drilling and hammering is to use a very small drill bit.  Once you think you have located a stud, use a small drill bit (like 1/32″) to make a small hole.  If the bit moves freely after a 1/2 inch, there is no stud.  By using this small bit, you can make several holes along a wall to check for a stud, and easily patch them later (usually a small drop of paint will seal this small of a hole.) 

  For example, on an interior wall start at a corner and measure out 24 inches along the wall.  Keep repeating this until the end of the wall.  Now everywhere you marked 24 inches is most likely a stud.  Drill a small pilot hole to check.

  By using these tips and guidelines, you can check the accuracy of your stud finder before you tear into the wall, or even find a stud without even having a stud finder.  Good luck and good hanging.

Have a Solid but Flexible Budget | Budgeting Part II

  The next step in your buget (after you’ve created one following the guidelines in the budgeting part I post) is to prioritize your budget items to create some flexibility.  what this means is that you want to know what items you can cut down the cost on (if you need to) in case other items go over.  This will give you flexibility to overcome budget overages in some areas by cutting out parts of other areas.  However, this will only be effective if you are 1) confident in your original budget costs, and 2) disciplined in sticking to your budget.  A budget is no good if you didn’t do proper research before hand to create a solid budget or if you don’t follow your budget and keep spending extra on items you shouldn’t.

  So, assuming you have created a solid budget and that you are sticking to it, here are some tips to create flexibility to get you out of budget trouble if you have unforeseen overages.

1. Make sure that your early stage budget is very solid.  You need to be very accurate with your demolition, framing and even rough mechanical (if possible) budgets.  These are some of the first things you will do, and they are not accurate, they will ruin the rest of your budget in the beginning of your project.
2. Research material costs and lock them in early.  Materials are one thing that is very easy to budget.  If you accurately measure and plan, you will know exactly how much lumber, trim, doors, flooring, and cabinets will cost.  If you stick to your plan, you know that you will not be surprised by a new door, or the floors getting bigger (obviously the house won’t grow bigger while you are asleep.)  Because you know how much of all of this you will need before you even start, you can find suppliers that meet your budget and “lock in” these prices.  This way you will have a large portion of your budget solidified and you can tailor the rest around these costs.
3. Determine which items you are willing or able to “sacrifice” if you need budget flexibility.  In other words, identify which areas you can downgrade if something unexpected happens (like a leaky pipe behind a wall).  For example, you plan to use mid grade brushed nickel lights throughout the house and you budget $750 for them.  But while your plumber is roughing in the wet bar, he tells you the main supply line needs to be replaced.  This is something you must do, so you have to pony up the $250 to fix it.  Now you are over budget.  But because you added some flexibility into the lights budget, you know that you can downgrade the bedroom lights without effecting the market value of your house.  So you use low grade white lights in the beds instead of the nickel, and that save you $250 on you lights.  Now you just made up for being over on the plumbing, and it didn’t effect the desirability of your house.  It would have been nice to have fancy lights in the bedroom, but not neccessary.

  As you can see, it is important to have flexibility in your budget to make up for surprises that inevitably will occur.  Remember, the most important thing is to know your budget and stick to it.  Also, you must idetify items that you would like to have, but can be downgraded without effecting the overall market value of your house.  If you do thi, and stick to it, you will be able to handle the hiccups and still hit your original bottom line.

Budgeting Your Flip Project | Budgeting Part I

  Having a solid budget for your flip house is an incredibly important step in making money, and sticking to that budget is even more important.  Many people enter a flip with no clue of how much money the are going to spend, or what they are going to spend it on.  You MUST know how much it will cost you, and what you are going to spend money on, or you WILL lose money, I can almost guarantee it.

  The biggest mistake that flippers make is “guessing” on a budget, or just planning to spend what you want on something, rather than tailoring your budget for what you can afford.  For example, some people look at their new flip, and tell themselves that they must have air conditioning to be competitive in their market.   But they don’t do their homework when making the budget, so they just guess at a cost and only want to spend $1000 on it.  So they budget that for $1000, but unless they know some secrets that I have never encountered, the AC will probably run closer to $3500.  Now, because they didn’t research how much AC would cost they now have to make a decision.  They can either not put in an AC, which will make their home undesirable in the market (not good), or pay for the AC, and now suddenly they are $2500 over budget.  Now that they are over budget, they either have to make cuts somewhere else (which will probably make their home less desirable again) or lose that $2500 from their profit.  If they had just done some research (even just on Google) they would have realized this and they could have re-looked at their budget, and possibly decided this was not the right house.

  Now, I’m not trying to say that I am a pro and nail my budget to the penny on every house I do (that would make me a billionaire).  Nor am I trying to say that you can foresee every problem you will have that may cost more than you were planning.  I am saying that the less surprises you have in a flip, the less profit you will lose.  Also, if you have a pretty good idea of what everything is going to cost, you can make educated decisions about what to cut or reduce if you end up having an item go over budget.  Another example here.  On one of my flips, I had a good budget, but a low profit margin, meaning that I could not afford to spend too much over budget before I started losing money.  I had not budgeted any money for new kitchen cabinets because I had planned to use the existing cabs.  However, as I worked in the kitchen, I discovered several problems with the cabinets that required them to be replaced.  Now since I had a good budget plan, and I knew how much everything else was going to cost, I knew exactly how much I could cut out of other items to be able to purchase caninets.  I looked at the countertops and saw that I had $1500 budgeted for some nice granite tile.  In order to get the money to replace the cabinets, I downgraded the granite tile to a cheaper one, so now my counters were only goin to be $500, meaning I just paid for my $1000 cabinets without going over budget.  In fact I was within $160 of my budget on that house, even though I had a “surprise” $1000 extra I needed t spend on cabinets.  So as you can see, a good budget not only lets you decide whther the house will be profitable before you buy it, but it also lets you “see” your entire plan on the house so that you can make educated adjustments for unforseen expenses and still hit your budget.

  Another extremely important part of your budget is knowing when to say when.  Each house falls within a certain market, and if you produce a finished product that is not as nice, or too nice, for that market, you will either not sell the home, or you will lose money.  If you are doing a small, low priced house, don’t waste your budget and profit on doing granite slab counters, marble tile, and high grade hardwood flooring.  This will be way above the market quality of your competition and therefor will not add value to your home.  Yes these things will make a beautiful and desireable house, but because you spent alot of money on these high end items, you either have to price the house so high that nobody in that market will even look at it, or you have to price it competitively for that market, and lose money because your budget was so high.  Instead of all those frills you put in, use granite tile instead of slab, use ceramic tile instead of marble, and use laminate flooring instea d of hardwood.  Save the fancy stuff for the million dollar home and make an affordable yet attractive home for the smaller ones.

  Remember, you are not remodeling your house for you.  You are remdoeling your businesses house for someone else.  Place yourself in the shoes of your target buyers and try to imagine what they expect, and go just one step above that.  If your target is an newlywed first time buyer, they will probably only expect a home with low grade appliances, vinyl flooring, formica counters, and maybe some ceramic tile in the shower.  Just pick one of these things, and make it one level better.  Do tile floors in some areas instead of vinyl.  Put in porcelin tile in the shower, or upgrade to stainless appliances.  Any of these single upgrades will give the buyer something better than they expected, and that will make them excited about your house.

 OF COURSE NONE OF THAT MATTERS IF YOU ARE NOT DISCIPLINED ENOUGH TO STICK TO YOUR BUDGET!

So You Want to Flip a House (Intro)

  This section will contain several articles related to house flipping.  I will share with you some of the do’s and don’ts I have learned while flipping houses.  This is not meant to be a “blueprint” for you if you flip a house, nor is there ever (ever, ever) a garauntee  that you will be successful.  These tips are simply meant to share with you some of the things I have learned to help you be that much more likely to make money at it.  So read on and good luck.

  First of all, you want to make sure you are committed to this as a business, not as a hobby.  If you approach a flip as “something to do”, you will most likely not be successful.  You must approach it as basically a full time job, and devote yourself and your time to getting the house done and on the market quickly.  The longer a flip takes, the more profit you lose, and if you go more than 3-4 months, you risk having the market change on you and you will be stuck with the house.

  When looking for a house to buy, keep this in mind.  You make your profit before you buy a house.  What that means is that the most important factor in determining whether you will make money is the research you do before you buy a home.  You must ensure that:

1. The house fits the market you are in.  (You don’t want a small 2 bed 1 bath house if everything selling in the area is larger 3 bed 2 bath houses).
2. The house will not require more money that you can spend (look for hidden problem like poor attic insulation, signs of mold or water damage, and structural problems)
3. Make sure that any work that has been done on the house was permitted (If you buy a house that someone converted the garage on without a permit, you either can’t count that space when you sell it, or you have to pay to bring it up to code.)
4. What is the profit margin on the house (we will cover this in another section, but basically you need to make sure that it won’t cost more to bring it up to market conditions tan you will be able to profit from the house — i.e. make sure that a+b doesn’t equal a negative number when you sell it.)

  There are many other factors when looking for a house, and we will cover some in other articles, but the bottom line is you need to do your homework and make sure there won’t be many surprises down the road.  The more time and effort you spend on research, the less profit you will lose when you try to sell it.

Repair Trim Nail Holes

  Any time you add trim such as baseboard or casing, or scribe or toe kick on cabinets, there is a small hole left by the trim nail.  These holes detract from the finished look, but can be easily fixed.

  First, on painted surfaces, you can buy painters putty which will dry to a nice paintable surface.  Simply take a small piece of putty and rub it over the hole with your finger.  When it is dry, take very light sandpaper (200 grit works well) and sand the putty smooth and flush, then paint.  If you cannot find putty, caulking will work just as well but you cannot sand caulking, so make sure it is smooth when you apply it.  The super cheap, yet effective way is to simply use toothpaste.  It probably isn’t something you’d want to repair your entire home with, but on one or two holes, it will work fine and will hold paint.

  Stain grade surfaces can be more difficult as the hole patch will be visible through the stain, and putty usually doesn’t stain very well.  This applies to stained trim such as base or casing, doors, or cabinets.

  The best way to fill stain grade holes is to purchase a wax touch up stick in the same color as your stain.  Typically cabinet manufacturers carry sticks in all of their colors.  However, this may be difficult to find in the exact color you need.  If you do have a touch up stick, simply rub it over the hole so there is some excess material around the hole.  Then rub the area with a rag until just the hole is covered and the excess is gone.  That’s it, no staining required.  These sticks work best when warm.

  If you cannot find touch up sticks in the exact color, the simplest solution is to buy a jumbo pack of crayons, the ones with more than a hundred colors.  You can match just about any color with that, and it will work exactly the same as a manufacturer touch up stick.  Just rub the crayon over the nail hole and wipe clean.

Adjust a Sliding Closet Door

  Many homes have sliding closet doors (also called by-pass doors) that slide to one side or another, usually in sets of two doors.  Occassionally these doors need to be adjusted, either to be flush with the side jambs, or because they are dragging on the flooring.  Fixing these issues are simple and can be done in minutes by you.

  To adjust these doors, there are two brackets with wheels on them at the top of the back of each door.  These brackets have two screws in slots (indicated by the red arrows on the picture).  To adjust these doors, loosen both screws just enough to move the door up and down on the bracket (noted by the blue arrow on the picture).  Now simply raise or lower each side of the door until they are adjusted correctly and tighten the screws.

Adjust a sliding closet door

  To adjust the doors to be flush with the jamb, raise or lower only one side until the door and jamb are flush.  To raise the door to keep it from dragging on the carpet, adjust both brackets.

  When you are finished, close both doors and compare the tops of each door to ensure they are the same level to give it a finished and professional look.  That’s it, good job adjusting you doors.

Plug a Screw Hole

  You’ve probably had the problem before of making a small adjustment to something screwed in, and not being able to re-secure it because the screw keeps trying to jump into the old hole.  If you have made a small change in the location of a screw, you need to plug the old holes in order to get a secure fit for the new screw location.  This is easily done with a golf tee.  Just pound the tee into the old hole and break it off flush with the surface.  This will give the screw something to wedge into as it makes the new hole and will give you a tight fit in the exact new location.  If you do not have any tees, a sliver of wood from a shim or something similar will work just as well.  Obviously wood filler will have the same effect, however you then have to wait for it to dry, and it tends to be brittle, not always providing a secure fit for the new screw.

How To Adjust A Loose Door

  If your door does not latch when you shut it, or it is loose or rattles when it is closed, you must adjust the door latch.  The two pieces of the door knob that affect this problem are the door latch (the spring loaded wedge shaped piece sticking out the side of the door) and the strike plate (the hole and plate on the door jamb that the latch secures in).

  If the problem is that your door does not latch when you shut it, then the latch is not seating itself properly in the strike plate.  If it is only loose, scroll down to the loose adjustmentsection below.  The first thing to check is the alignment, to check this, look at the latch and strike plate as you shut it, you should be able to visually see if they are aligned.  Another way to check this is to use a permanent marker, and color in the wedge part on the door.  Quickly close the door, and it will transfer some of the ink to the strike plate.  The wedge latch should align completely with the hole in the strike plate, i.e. there should be no ink above or below the hole.  If this is aligned correctly, go to adjestment one.  If it is not aligned go to adjustment two.

  Adjsutment one:  if the latch is aligned properly but does does latch shut either the strike plate needs “fine tuning”, or the strike plate must be moved.  On the front side of the strike plate (the side towards the way the door opens) there is a small tab bent into the hole with a screwdriver-head sized groove in it.  You must bend the tab flatter, or more into the hole, to allow the latch to go into the hole more.  If this is already flush and cannot be bent in any more, you must move the strike plate out a little.  To do this, remove the screws on the strike plate.  If it is morticed, or cut in flush with the door jamb, you may have to chisel out a small amount more to give room to adjust it.  You should move it towards the direction that the door opens.  Only a small adjustment is usually required, maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch.  Once you have moved it forward a little, you will have to fill the old screw holes in before reattaching it.  A golf tee works great for this.  Just pound it into the holes and break it off.  Now screw the strike plate back on in the new location and make sure the latch catched the strike plate.  If it still won’t latch, then recheck the alignmwnt and move the strike plate out more until the latch seats securely.

  Adjustment two:  If the latch is hitting above or below the strike plate hole, you must move the strike plate.  To do this, unscrew the plate from the jamb.  If the plate is morticed into, or is flush cut with the jamb, you will have to chisel out a small amount.  Move the strike plate enough that the latch will completely seat in the hole.  Fill in the old screw hole with a golf tee and resecure the plate.  Your latch should now shut securely.  If it is now aligned correctly but does not latch, see adjustment one above.

Loose Adjustment Section.

If you have the other type of problem, where the latch seats in the strike plate, but you can “wiggle” the door because it is loose in the stike plate hole, there is only a simple adjsutment to make.  On the strike plate in the door jamb, there is a small adjustment tab bent into the hole with a screwdriver-head shaped groove in it.  Simply insert a flathead screwdriver in the tab, and bend it out (into the hole) a small amount.  Keep adjusting the tab and checking the door until the latch catches, but there is no play in the door once it is shut.  If you adjust the tab too far out, so that the latch no longer securely seats in the strike plate, simply bend the tab back in slightly.

How to Square a Corner

  A square corner is one of the most important requirements of construction, in particular, framing.  If you do not have a square corner, you will not have a square room, causing the walls to be different lengths, cabinets won’t fit, etc.  Obviously a framing square is one of the best ways to ensure a square corner, but this is not always practical or available.

  So, without a specific tool, how can you ensure a square corner?  All you need is a tape measure and geometry will do the rest.  The method we are going to use is called the 3-4-5 rule.  Geometrically, if you have a triangle (which by definition means you have a 90 degree ,or square, corner) that has one side at 3 units (such as feet) and another side at 4 units, then the diagonal will be 5 units. 

  To use the 3-4-5 rule, simply measure out two sides of a triangle, one side for each wall, on the inside of the corner.  This is easiest to do before you build the wall or set the plate.  Often it is best to do this with chalk lines or a single piece of wood until you have found square.  Measure one side (wall) to 3 feet and make a mark.  Measure the other side (wall) to 4 feet.  If your wall is square then the diagonal between the two marks will be exactly 5 feet.  If the diagonal measures more than 5 feet, your corner is over 90 degrees and you must move one of the walls towards you.  If you are under 5 feet your are less than 90 degrees and you must move one of the walls away from you.  It is that simle.  Just keep adjsuting the marks until meet the 3-4-5 rule.