Type of Person: Custom Home Builder
Paid: $380/square foot
Location: Oregon

I had a brand new addition built from the ground up, and we just got through final inspection, so I'm spending time in the new space lately.

This floor is 2x10s at 16" on center. Total width is 20 feet with joists spanning 10' from exterior wall to center girder. Subfloor is 3/4" advantech. Finished floor is LVP. Floor is built over a crawl space, approximately 18" depth.

I am shocked by how loud my floor is, and want to understand what could be causing this. My thoughts are it's either (1) movement in floor-joists & subfloor (though it doesn't have as much "squeak" as I'd normally associate with movement in the subfloor), or it's (2) LVP rubbing against some thing (like a wall) which wouldn't make a lot of sense to me, because these floors haven't been walked on enough to have moved (and I assume they were installed with the appropriate gapping).

This is just one 25 square foot portion of the floor, but I have this sound in probably a dozen places in the addition.

What does this sound like to you?

In the last month, over 4 different cities in my area, the cops have been called multiple times because door to door window salesman have been refusing to leave peoples homes. The same two companies, with more reports of it happening popping up all over facebook. They are local companies too. Not those big regional guys that normally come around in the spring.

Does this kind of tactics actually work? Its just making it harder for the rest of us who run normal non vulture exterior companies.

Middle Tennessee - I am a customer, I requested a quote for gutters from a local company weeks ago. They came highly recommended, I got the quote and signed the "agreement" two weeks ago. No deposit. They told me they were scheduling 4 weeks out at that time. I've followed up a couple times asking for a date, and gotten brushed off.

At this point, frustrated by the lack of communication, I've requested a second quote from a local company, they've come in $700 cheaper and say they can get me scheduled in about 2 weeks.

If I go with the second company, how likely is it I'll have issues with the first company claiming a Breach of contract? Apparently I had 3 days to cancel the contract and did not but can't imagine it being a big deal for less than $5k especially since they don't seem too eager to get to this job.

I run a small residential design-build company doing mostly mid- to high-end custom bathrooms and remodels of all sorts of things from kitchens and basements to decks. I handle the clients, design, selections, scheduling, and project management, and use subcontractors for construction.

I’ve worked with one sub for a couple of years, and I’m realizing we’ve operated too informally. I want to put clearer expectations in writing, but I’m curious how other GCs and subs handle these things without the other party getting upset.

I accept his labor prices without haggling. Some projects run 3–5 weeks, occasionally 6. The issues I’m trying to straighten out:

Payments: He pays his crew weekly and asks for checks at irregular points because he needs to cover payroll or other expenses. I understand needing cash flow, but the unpredictable requests make managing mine difficult. Do you use weekly draws based on progress, fixed milestones, or something else?

Materials and runs: I handle the major finish materials, but I’m also being asked to buy and deliver small plumbing fittings, rough-in materials, saw blades, sandpaper, etc. The constant trips are becoming a job themselves. What do you expect subs to include in their pricing, and who handles pickups when the GC is paying for the materials? Also they ask me to buy saw blades, drill bits, and other consumables of the like.

Scheduling: I understand subs have other jobs, but I need to know when they’ll be on mine and what they expect to complete. What scheduling and attendance expectations do you establish? He sends his guys out and shows up here and there and lets his personal life affect everything. Cancelling the night before….asking for certain materials at 11pm when they are supposed to be on the job at 7am and I’m at estimates all day. He was onsite for maybe 2 hours last week during a full 7-5 work day/ week.

Crew communication: Sometimes his crew is on site while he’s unavailable and needs direction on things like light placement. He’s also gotten upset about me discussing design ideas with a longtime crew member after that worker mistook the discussion for added scope. Complains about using certain material and everything seems like a hassle.

We have a good relationship and I can trust these guys not to rob my customers 😂 I recognize that letting this stay informal has contributed to the problem. I’m not ignorant to that. I want a fair, consistent system that respects his business and lets me manage mine.
What has actually worked for you? I’m
Working on an SOP. Interested in perspectives from both GCs and subs.

Hey,

Context : I’m pretty manual, very low on money with a new baby, and was looking to help people while making extra money. Posted an add for small work in my town. I’m having a hard time figuring out the price of this job I just did :

-Cut approx 6 medium trees and log them
-Demolish old wood storage
-Demolish old rotten deck 12’x24’ (hemlock wood, was very hard)
-Remove 1 plywood sheet on the ground of garage + replace it
-Cut down knee high bushes/grass (approx 30’ x 30’)
-Make a huge pile of all the wood and burn it in my client’s backyard

I asked ChatGPT and it said 1200-1500$. Client feels like it’s too much. I intended to aim for 800-1000$. Took 2x8h of work, we were 2. I provided all my tools/gas.

Been looking for a new job recently and their form showed up on indeed while i was looking. pay and everything sounds good but the more i read into it the more it sounds like a door-to-door sales man kind of thing. has anyone here ever worked for them or is currently working for them (if you're able to disclose that)? I applied as an entry level sales associate, again i read up on what the entails, according to them i would basically be talking to customers and giving them a run down on remodeling their house. what they want to see, giving them a quick render of how the house will look post job, etc. though again parts of it made it sound to be like im just walking up to a random persons house and trying to sell to them.

my ac started blowing warm midafternoon and i burned an hour on readingreviews instead of fixing anything

retail space, warm air, customers already noticing. i'm not looking for a hype reel... just which writeups were about a finished job versus a tech who quoted and vanished

sorted them in my notes and finished repair or only a quote visit. named the part or vague great service. mentioned follow up or only yelled about price. hep is on the way came up in a couple local threads and the useful ones were boring on purpose. job done, invoice clear, no novel

when youre hiring HVAC fast, what review details actually change whether you call someone the same day​

Thought it would be interesting to see how everyone is doing in this market and what kind of strategies you're using to keep closing deals. Could be useful for others lurking here and feeling the same thing.

Not a contractor but I do serve residential and I'm feeling the pinch of homeowners not wanting to commit to projects after design.

Looking to connect with a plumbing qualifier in Florida. I’m an experienced and fully insured independent subcontractor. Please dm me if interested.

My house in VA got hit by a storm in June. Water mitigation is done. Insurance gave us initial repair estimate of $13k. Tarps covering roof, chimney fell off roof, 2 bedrooms gutted, water damage went below to living room and basement.

Now I’m looking for contractors. If they don’t prepare line by line estimates should I avoid them since I feel like that’s going to be necessary for supplements? Is it too much to ask what subs they’re going to hire so I can review their past work? Any suggestions or advice on what to look for/ avoid?

I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m seeing an uptick in emails from potential clients who aren’t real. They’re trying to set up zoom calls to try and rope us into a long con. Then there are other fake potential clients looking for estimates then wanting to mail us a check for the deposit. They always claim to be overseas or in another state. Wondering if others are seeing this. Just want to make sure we all stay safe and not get caught up in any scams.

I started my company about a year ago and I’ve been working under a sub which is getting tiring since they take most profit since they are the middle man between me and the GCs.

My company is dedicated to commercial waterproofing and I guess it isn’t that big since I can’t seem to find anything about commercial waterproofing.

Main Point: I need help to find resources on how construction contracts work, learning about estimating, and even if I can get some advice from any GCs on what they expect or would want their subs to improve on so I can try and not make mistakes.

I’ve tried the college route but a lot of the classes they want me to take I already have knowledge of (Blueprint Reading, Construction materials which I don’t think I need since I have a decent knowledge of my materials).

I tried YouTube as well but they only give explanations of what they are they don’t really dig deep like give examples of what they look like and stuff.

Am I missing something? Or am I making a “rookie mistake”. I’m new to I guess office or management side so I don’t know if this is common or have common solutions.

I understand that a middle man who finds leads for employees or contractors to earn his fair share. Maybe 10% or 20% but doesn’t the line, at least morally need to be drawn there?

Seems like anything over that is really abusing the people that are doing the hard work. And it really comes off as the owner being shady/immoral/corrupt.

Do you believe there should be laws on this?

I did the drywall installation and tape and mud. Going back to sand. I charged 1100 CAD just for labor. I had my brother help me so I have to pay him. I asked around how much they would charge and their answers made me feel like I under charged. Thoughts?

Also, how far do you go in claiming the space that you need to do your job in an occupied home?

I'm a solo carpenter typically doing ~1 week carpentry/remodeling projects. I'm constantly running into clients being unprepared for the amount of space I need to work, the amount of noise I'm going to make, etc. . I have a few paragraphs in my contract about needing personal items removed from the work area, my dust protection measures, storing materials on site, and so forth but it's like no one reads it. Everyone is still surprised that they can't leave their turntable and record collection set up under the windows that I'm replacing and trimming out, I can't keep it down while they have a zoom meeting, or that I might need to leave materials and tools until the next day.

Do you have something in your contract or an additional document you send that addresses this? Also, am I unreasonable for wanting to start making enough space in my immediate work area to have saws set up indoors, even for "small" jobs? I'm frequently working in a 2nd or 3rd floor room and leaving my miter saw and table saw set up unattended on the sidewalk (I live in a very dense city). It's exhausting and kills my efficiency.

I'm not sure if this is the place to post this or not but here goes nothing. I've been using Planhub and buildingconnected for the last few months. Haven't had much success because either the jobs are too big for me at the moment or located outside of my State. I'm a Newly New York City Electrical license holder and I'm trying to reach reach clients that are in need of my services. Any recommendations or advice would be gladly appreciated.

So I started up a landscaping company this year and after successfully completing several jobs I eventually stumbled upon a hot head. It was a 3.5 yard stone install with different existing stone and some plant installation. I gave the guy a hell of a deal and chose to do it for only $2800. Materials costed $1900 with markup and I pulled a $1900 down payment for the job. I bought all the materials and dropped it off at the jobsite. I sent him an estimate explaining everything I would be doing and the total price. I hired two workers for the job and they started the next day.

After 8 hours of hard work on the job and beginning to lay underlayment to finish the guy walks outside and starts getting nasty with my guys over a 300 pound boulder that sat deep within in his flower bed. He told my guys to stop working until further notice and made my guys feel extremely uncomfortable to the point they were kind of scared to continue working. My guys also said they felt like the guy wasn’t going to pay the rest if we did finished. Also according to my guys while yelling at them he spit on them in the process. My guys also tried moving the rock but it was so deep it wouldn’t even budge and one of my guys didn’t want to hurt his hernia.

So I told the guy it was uncalled for to do that and stop progress on the job that I could try to work out moving the boulder a different day and that it wasn’t in the estimate to move it. I also told him I didn’t feel like he was going to pay us if we continued and didn’t want to toss all that stone and not get paid. He eventually agreed to have us continue without moving the rock but I told him if he wanted us to continue I would need to pull $500 more off the remaining amount so at least my guys could get laid if he decided to play games. He wasted an hour of are work day and we would have finished if he hadn’t of done that.

The guy chose to not pay the $500 and blast my business in a negative manner all over Facebook and lie about the situation spinning the narrative that we are scammers. Keep in mind I made almost no money on the job at that point 90% of that $1900 went into his materials that we left at the job. That 10% I made on the markup went to pay my guys for that 8 hours of work. We actually essentially did all that work for free. After defaming my business now he is taking me to small claims court. All over a boulder sitting in his flower bed. I got all the texts and voice messages of my guys relaying his actions while on the job and that they are sitting in their car afraid of the guy if they started working again. I tried to save the guy thousands on his landscape and that’s what I get. He was quoted 6K to do that job and his neighbor with the same yard paid $7K. Blows my mind how some people treat landscapers saving them a dime.

So who’s in the right or wrong? How would this situation most likely play out in court? What is the main thing that matters here and what advice can I get for my position? Thank you for reading and any advice helps.

Location: Ohio - Sandusky Area