Some of the best cons are people pretending to be GC's you know, they have the gift of gab.
Everybody likes them when they first meet they have a real upbeat and out-going personality.
They will tell you everything you want to here. There is nothing they wont say or do to make you feel
totally comfortable in giving them the job.Everything sounds great, Right?well maybe not.
You gave him/her a big down payment to start the job next monday.Well monday comes and gos
and still no contractor and they don't answer your calls. You've just been conned and your down payment
is history you'll be lucky to ever get it back,even if the contractor is caught.
Before you ever sign a contract and give any contractor your hard earn money you need to check out
the (California only contractors license #) and make sure their license is in good standing.
When your on the CSLB site (contractors state license board) you can see if they have employee's
or they claim their Workers Comp. exempt with no employee's.If they have any complaints on file
any disciplinary actions on their license.
This is the worst of the worst contractors on the California, Contractors State License Board's website
avoid these Most Wanted Contractors Most wanted, off the streets that is. See thier photo's and profiles
what they are wanted for and who to call if they try to scam you. DON'T CONFRONT THEM just
get their card or phone number and let the CA Contractors State License Borad get them.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Hiring a G.C. (General Building Contractor)
So, you have a home remodeling project you want to do. Where dose one began?
Do you check the yellow pages, call a friend, search the internet for a reliable and Ethical G.C. or be a Owner Builder?
There are pros. and cons. With both options. First, lets look at G.C.'s you must do your homework and due diligence to see what works best for you. If you plan on calling contractors to get an estimate of the work you need done. Make sure they are all bidding on the same project with the same outcome. You must compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges and not bananas to lemons.
Some unethical contractors will give you a lowball bid just to get their foot in the door.
They will use substandard materials to increase their profits. Another way they make more money is Change Orders. A change order is any extra work you want done that’s not on the bid. Another change order could be extra work that has to be done that no one could see inside walls, like water or termite damage to the framing or poor craftsmanship.All change orders, for the most part, are T&M (time & materials) your billed for the labor per/hr. per/man and whatever materials are needed. This is how a lot of the lowball bid contractors make double and sometimes tripple the bid price.
A lot of contractors don’t have employees and hire illegal’s and or other people off the street they never met to work for cash. A good sign of this would be you notice different workers on the job from one day to the next. That’s because a lot of the workers looking for day work don’t always show up for work after they get a little money. Sometimes it’s because their hung-over, got arrested, missed the bus or just didn’t feel like working that day. I’ve work for contractors that would hire people off the street and I’ve heard every excuse you can think of.
Not only is hiring off the street illegal, its dangerous. Do you really want to have somebody working in your house that your contractor don’t even know, is he a illegal alien, a sex offender, a pedophilia (likes sex with children) or a fugitive trying to stay under the radar. Is trying to save some money, really worth your families safety?
GC’s also make their money by adding 5% to 50% or more to the Sub Contractors price for the work they need to do (Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC) and any other trade they sub out. Some GC’s get sub contractors for every trade that’s needed to do the job. So when you add up all the Sub Contractors that you’ll need, plus your GC’s 5% or more on each sub contractors bid, you can see how your home project can get quite costly.Sometimes your better off going with Owner Builder and hire a "WORKING" you know, a hands-on project manager to oversee your project. 8BWW55Q2AHFY
Do you check the yellow pages, call a friend, search the internet for a reliable and Ethical G.C. or be a Owner Builder?
There are pros. and cons. With both options. First, lets look at G.C.'s you must do your homework and due diligence to see what works best for you. If you plan on calling contractors to get an estimate of the work you need done. Make sure they are all bidding on the same project with the same outcome. You must compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges and not bananas to lemons.
Some unethical contractors will give you a lowball bid just to get their foot in the door.
They will use substandard materials to increase their profits. Another way they make more money is Change Orders. A change order is any extra work you want done that’s not on the bid. Another change order could be extra work that has to be done that no one could see inside walls, like water or termite damage to the framing or poor craftsmanship.All change orders, for the most part, are T&M (time & materials) your billed for the labor per/hr. per/man and whatever materials are needed. This is how a lot of the lowball bid contractors make double and sometimes tripple the bid price.
A lot of contractors don’t have employees and hire illegal’s and or other people off the street they never met to work for cash. A good sign of this would be you notice different workers on the job from one day to the next. That’s because a lot of the workers looking for day work don’t always show up for work after they get a little money. Sometimes it’s because their hung-over, got arrested, missed the bus or just didn’t feel like working that day. I’ve work for contractors that would hire people off the street and I’ve heard every excuse you can think of.
Not only is hiring off the street illegal, its dangerous. Do you really want to have somebody working in your house that your contractor don’t even know, is he a illegal alien, a sex offender, a pedophilia (likes sex with children) or a fugitive trying to stay under the radar. Is trying to save some money, really worth your families safety?
GC’s also make their money by adding 5% to 50% or more to the Sub Contractors price for the work they need to do (Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC) and any other trade they sub out. Some GC’s get sub contractors for every trade that’s needed to do the job. So when you add up all the Sub Contractors that you’ll need, plus your GC’s 5% or more on each sub contractors bid, you can see how your home project can get quite costly.Sometimes your better off going with Owner Builder and hire a "WORKING" you know, a hands-on project manager to oversee your project. 8BWW55Q2AHFY
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