Hiring a Contractor: 9 Things You MUST Know

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[cristianstoica]

Long time ago I've learned that the project is not the project. The project is finding the right people to do the project

[moparcasey]

My grandfather told me the more you can do for yourself the less you’ll have to depend on other people, I try to live by that.

[twestgard]

As a contractor, I love working for people who have done their background research because they understand what they’re buying. The problem jobs are the ones where the customer doesn’t think through what they’re asking me to do, and then they don’t like the surprises that come from their own ignorance.

One minor example happened to me yesterday. I’m replacing a deck in a back yard and the customer was surprised and upset that I expected to have access to an electrical outlet. “Don’t you have a generator?” Well, yes ma’am, but you’re literally the first person in decades who thought I just drag it to every job.

[imout]

I'm not a contractor and I've got no employees. I do all my own work. Occasionally I bring in electricians or plumbers and I explain to the home owner and the tradesman I'm not profiting on their work and the homeowner pays them separately. I just do drywall, stairs, doors, int/ext painting, bathroom updates, concrete patios.... all kinds of small stuff. I get 50% up front and the rest the day I finish. I always got more work than I can do. You can make a very good living being and honest man and doing good work...I never understood the crooks when many could do better doing honest work. I really appreciate your channel. Wish I had time to watch more. Ya'll be blessed

[markjohnson]

This is 100% the truth.

I am DIY guy...wanted a retaining wall built....got multiple contractor quotes between $30k to 42k.

I couldn't swallow the cost so I built one myself...$5500 in materials, another 9k to buy a skid steer and plate tamper and I was still less than 50 of the lowest quote....and I still have the skid steer and tamper to sell.

I'll be in it 20 to 25% of the lowest quote. Youtube videos were golden!

[fong.justinm]

4:18 1. finding the right person
5:01 2. how to interview these guys
7:21 3. learning to read between the lines on the bids documents
7:49 4. when it's time to make an agreement, don't be in a hurry
8:01 5. be a little bit careful about negotating the bottom line
9:10 6. beware that your actions can slow down & hurt your job
9:25 7. money is your only muscle
10:39 8. fast, good, cheap

i missed a few, but i tried.

[JW-mxqg]

Here is my take (being a GC for 30 years) I pick who I want to work for. There are too many people (perspective clients) that I would never work for. It is the ones with attitude, cheap, and just difficult to work for. No money in the world world would give me the satisfaction for working with a client who doesn’t appreciate a good quality product without cutting corners and being honest.

[frattman]

I'm primarily a tile guy (20 years) - bathroom, kitchen remodels. I have never advertised besides the shirts on my back that my wife designed and my business card. This is really good advice. I've never signed a contract - ever. I've worked on million plus dollar houses. Trust is key, trust is best achieved by a reference from a friend. It helps that I work by myself, and, now, I do all of the work myself. There are no subs, there are no employees. I almost never ask for money up front, and most of my jobs are paid in full at the end - I've been screwed over twice and I've had less than 10 call backs in 20 years. Honesty and respect among contractor and homeowner is essential.

[CorwinBos]

The trade gap is real...
But here's the issue, everyone complains about not finding younger generation people that actually want to work. Then they turn around and say they only want to hire people with experience. My son has been a victim of this. He wants to be an electrician, lots of local places all looking to hire, but none want to hire a 19 year old kid and teach him when he is willing to learn. I went thru this when I got out of the USMC in '96, but it is far worse now largely because I think that the current generation of workers has gotten a bad name for themselves.

[lindacgrace]

Yup. I agree wholeheartedly. I assessed my skills: (1) I know a LOT about designing houses from years as a commercial interior designer and working with my husband flipping houses, (2) I'm good with languages, (3) I'm a 5'3" retiree and unlikely to do any significant amount of the work myself. Venn diagram intersection: brush up on my Spanish and hire contractors from Mexico (I'm building in Arizona) who are here on a green card. Create my own plans and build models of the tricky bits. In my experience, once you have one great contractor, when you ask for referrals, they are very careful to give good referrals so as no to upset the goose that lays the golden eggs. My trick? I start from the top down. Who knows the best foundations companies? Framers! So ask them for referrals. Who knows the best drywall crews? Painters (it's their job to cover up any of the mistakes the drywall crew left behind - trust me, they know). Etc. Works a treat. Love your content - Keep up the good work! 🤩

[christiansantos]

Trade gap. My Supervisor started electrical 15 years ago at $14/hr. I started 6 years ago at $14/hr. My appretince is making $16/hr nowadays.

[BradBehr]

R&R are absolute gold standard! Thank you for shouting them out!

[lheigert]

I found good contractors are busy and in demand, if you are not in line with thier timeline, costs or other needs, they move on quickly to the next customer.

[dnk]

Thank you. I’m about to hire a contractor for a bathroom remodel. This video was helpful.

[twocoolnerds]

Just a quick comment Scott...I've never been one to suggest that someone can't do something...I'm proof of this over and over again. But a DIYer better do their homework especially when they may feel there's none or little to be done...yes, someone can stick a tile to a wall, floor, or countertop but there are many critical details to the preparation of the substrate that will make or break an installation's durability. I have taken many jobs over the last thirty years where I was asked to redo what a homeowner tried to do first. It usually begins with "Can you fix the grout that's cracked?" They were unaware that this was a result of deflection, aka improper prep work. Fill the joint again and it will crack again in a couple of weeks. I've fixed showers that leaked into an adjacent room or a floor below due to improper prep work. Aesthetically, experience helps as well when doing tile layout. "Everyone's a painter"..."every carpenter is a tile setter"...these are often said upon the frustration of a second round of doing the same job someone did without the needed knowledge or attention to detail. Elitism is a bit much and self serving but it's good to be very aware of where we tread as we take on something unfamiliar. Thanks for the videos. I will spare you the things said by tile setters about concrete guys!😉

[johnsrabe]

Great advice. I’d just add a couple corrolaries:
- Do not be cowed by a contractor who won’t give you references, says “you don’t really need a permit” for a big* job, or won’t give you a detailed estimate. Tell them, “that won’t work for me, ” and move on. Good contractors are happy to do those things and will prefer to work professionally.
- To save money, can you do the lightly trained monkey part of the job? Like demo’ing the concrete slab, or removing the kitchen cabinets and tearing off the drywall?

*Here in LA you “need” a permit to do lots of minor and medium jobs. Whatevs. But yeah, pull a permit for a new roof.

[davidsawyer]

Retired Electrician here. Do not let the amount of time someone has been in business be a factor. Many high quality trades people go out on their own. You might be customer #1. You might be customer #10. As stated as long as they are licensed, bonded and insured. You're more than likely good to go.
I don't know if this was covered. Trades people know who they like to work with. Ask the electrician the name of the plumber he likes to work with. The cabinet guy probably has a favorite tile guy. So on and so forth. There is a lot of great trades people out there.
Appearance?! That's another thing that can throw people off. Just because someone looks like a model doesn't mean they are worth your time or money. Do they answer their phone? Had a plumber come by he looked like he woke up in the weed patch. He always answered his phone. He never squirmed, gave excuses. He was polite and respectful. He wasn't cheap either. Had a problem with his work. He was back before the day was up to rectify the issue. No extra charge. He was a word of mouth contact.

[ncooty]

You nailed a lot of it in the intro. After we bought our first house, we had nothing but frustration and disappointment trying to find competent or decent contractors. Nearly every one we considered was just a salesy jackass pretending to be a pro as part of their get-rich-quick fantasy. They'd talk a big game, but didn't know what they were doing and tried to use incompetent, exploited laborers to do the work.

We gave up on them. The industry doesn't police itself and resists regulation and accountability, so I just bought a bunch of books and tools, and learned to do it all myself. The more I've learned and done, the more I've valued the REAL pros (truly) and the more I've despised the jerks who just call themselves "pros"... and there are just too many of the latter to bother with it.

Heck, even many of the competent guys cut a lot of corners and do sloppy work if I'm not there babysitting them. When the industry acts like a group of professionals that works to police itself, it'll be worth considering. Until then, no thanks. I'd rather have it done correctly.

[dutchcreek]

One of my red flags, as a contractor, is hearing a potential client say, “I saw this on YouTube.”
Lighting, editing, tools, appropriate codes, and so on…all put aside in the mind of the client for the sake of getting it done how they saw it on YouTube.
DIY is a flimsy term. I prefer self-sufficient. Often, being self sufficient means knowing when to give me a call. Perhaps your piece of mind is more valuable than chewing up your time trying to make it look like YouTube.
I love these videos. I learn so much.

[BradFess-joto]

I’m a Builder and this is all great advice. I use the “Good, fast, cheap, pick two” example all the time. Also, great advice on how hard you negotiate up front. The good guys are just looking for a client to be fair. Not trying to rip anyone off, but do want to be compensated fairly for the knowledge we bring to make your project go quicker and be built better. Thanks Internet Dad!