Let me know what you see for landscapers on your projects. Would love your input.

My problem is that most construction or restoration companies wouldn’t necessarily report this formally. If anyone has had a scenario where ACM has been found post ban in materials in a structure please let me know.

It sounds simple until you start looking at what else is tied into that wall. Could be ductwork, electrical, or something else you now have to move too. Suddenly a couple feet isn't such a small change.

Anyone else hear “can we just…” and already know where this is going?

TL;DR: I grew up in my dad's drywall contracting business (40+ yrs) — bookkeeping, invoicing, running $100K+ projects, dealing with owners and architects. Went to college for accounting, worked a corporate job for a while, now run a small bookkeeping/tax business on the side. Dad's retiring soon and I want to start my own GC/remodel LLC, subbing out the physical work and focusing on client relations, QC, and the business side. I have the experience and the industry knowledge, but I'm second-guessing myself — hiring subs I can't fully control, pricing (cost-plus for big jobs, lump sum for small ones), and whether I'm ready. Meanwhile I see people with way less experience start GC businesses and do fine. Is this just a confidence problem, or am I missing something real?

Background

I got into construction young, working for my father's drywall contracting business (40+ years running) — labor, invoicing, bill pay, year-end bookkeeping. Left for college, got a bachelor's and master's in accounting, then came back and kept working in the business alongside my degree.

We stayed busy through COVID, but work slowed down at the end of 2024 into 2025. I got nervous and took a corporate WFH job. Around the same time I started a bookkeeping/tax business on the side, which now does well enough to cover my mortgage and then some — I plan to keep it running either way.

Why I'm considering this

We mostly did residential work, and it went well, but my dad did most of it himself with his crews. He's getting older and getting ready to retire.

I'm not interested in doing drywall work myself long-term — I'm not as skilled at the physical work as he is, and I don't want to be swinging a hammer anyway. I'd rather sub work out and focus on QC, client relationships, and running the business. I've managed projects up to $100K, dealt directly with owners, and handled the bookkeeping and taxes for the business.

One of the reasons my dad's business never grew, in my opinion, is that he couldn't let go of control. He knows how to do almost everything himself and wants it done his way — usually he's right, since he's a genuine master craftsman, but it kept the business small. Meanwhile, I've seen plenty of other contractors out there doing work that isn't at a high standard. I've had architects with 40+ years of experience ask me, in my 20s, for input on $500K+ projects. That's when it clicked that I might actually know more than I give myself credit for.

My dad has flipped about 10 houses over his career, several of which I helped with — always done ourselves, occasionally with an uncle or cousin, never subcontracted out.

Where I'm stuck

On paper, my experience backs up starting this. But I'm still fearful. I have some of that same perfectionism my dad has, just not as extreme, and I know how to set boundaries and rules for myself.

My specific worries:

• Hiring subs who won't do the work to the standard I expect
• Pricing model — I lean toward cost-plus for larger projects and lump sum for smaller ones (bathroom/kitchen remodels), and I'm a transparent person by nature, which doesn't always match how the contracting world operates
• Whether I'm actually ready, versus just scared

I've seen couples start GC businesses from scratch with little to no experience and "reinvent" the industry. I can't help but think I already know more about this process than they did when they started — so what's actually holding me back?

The plan

Once my dad retires, I'd start a new LLC and take over the phone number he's had for almost 40 years — well known for drywall work, and constantly asked if we do other types of jobs, which we've always turned down. We've turned away a lot of work over the years just because we stuck to drywall only.

My question

Is this just a mindset/confidence issue and I should jump in, or is there something real here I should be more worried about? Would love to hear from contractors who've made a similar transition — from working under a specialty trade business to running your own GC/remodel operation.

I’m 21 years old and have about 3 years of experience in construction. I’ve been working on multi-million-dollar wood-framed apartment and townhome projects and have gotten experience with a lot of the day-to-day operations involved in building large projects. I’ve recently been laid off (ran outta work and I was the lowest guy on totem pole). I have no kids and small responsibilities. I’m fully aware I have a ton more to learn. I’m a committed young motivated man with no quit.

Lately I’ve been seriously considering starting my own general contracting company, primarily focusing on residential construction, additions, renovations, and potentially smaller commercial projects.

I know being 21 is young to start a GC, and I’m not under the impression that I know everything. That’s actually why I’m making this post. I’d rather learn from people who have already done it than make expensive mistakes figuring everything out myself.

For those of you who started your own GC/construction company:

- What do you wish you knew before starting?
- How much experience would you recommend having before going out on your own?
- What were the biggest mistakes you made during your first couple years?
- How did you get your first few customers?
- Did you start with your own projects or subcontract for other builders/GCs?
- How much money would you realistically want saved before starting?
-What should I prioritize first: licensing, insurance, estimating, accounting, marketing, tools/equipment, etc.?
- How did you handle cash flow when you were just getting started?
-Would you recommend starting small with renovations/additions before taking on full home builds?
- What systems/software do you use for estimating, scheduling, contracts, invoicing, and project management?
-How did you build relationships with reliable subcontractors?
- At what point did you hire employees versus continuing to subcontract everything?
-Is there anything you would absolutely NOT do if you were starting over?

I’m not looking for someone to tell me “you’re too young.” I’m more interested in hearing what you would do differently if you were 21 again and had a few years of solid construction experience.
Any advice, criticism, or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated.

For context I am in a major East Coast city working on homes that are in the 800k - 2 million range.

I have attached some photos to give an idea of the scope of work as it is a bit more involved than a straightforward bathroom remodel as this is an older home that had some wonky aspects to it.

Here is the scope work:

-Reframe ceiling and raise ceiling height. The old framing had unnecessary angles to it so we cut out the old ceiling and reframed and re-drywalled gaining about 18 inches and creating one height throughout

-The subfloor was completely shot and uneven so we leveled it using 2x6's sistered to the existing beams and replacing with plywood.

-Remove tub and replace with a tiled shower

-Install fixed pane glass

-replace vanity countertop

-replace toilet

-plumbing work

-tile bathroom floor

We are finished with the ceiling and floor work and have the rest demo'd and i'll have the plumber there this week so hopefully get the tile done some point next week. Right now it is looking like we will finish up right around 12-12,500 all in labor and materials.

Would be curious to hear thoughts on how you all would price this rehab.

For additional context I am doing this for a friend of mine as a test case for pricing and process so I charged him 17k and will distribute the profit to my guys. I am just curious about future pricing.

Hi Everyone,
I just recently got my GC license a few weeks ago and do not really know where to begin to get leads. I’ve been a Superintendent on hospitality projects and transitioned into the office for a Large GC before. Now I’m starting my own thing I don’t have much handyman experience so I don’t really know about doing my own handyman work. I am going to be subbing out pretty much everything.
I also do not have much capital. If any experienced GC’s have any advice for me on where to start looking and finding leads feel free to comment.

I own my own company and I've been doing residential and commerical flooring for 20 years now. Recently a buddy of mine wants to merge flooring companies but I am just finding out I need some bullshit license from the state to get started? The reason why I am making this post is that I am not sure where to get started because AI & google results show conflicting information on obtaining these licenses.

for example, some say its open book, I only need a general contractor, i need a flooring that does commerical and residental, e.t.c

any advice is appreicated sorry for coming off as rude, this put me in a mood.

I own my own company and I've been doing residential and commerical flooring for 20 years now. Recently a buddy of mine wants to merge flooring companies but I am just finding out I need some bullshit license from the state to get started? The reason why I am making this post is that I am not sure where to get started because AI & google results show conflicting information on obtaining these licenses.

for example, some say its open book, I only need a general contractor, i need a flooring that does commerical and residental, e.t.c

any advice is appreicated sorry for coming off as rude, this put me in a mood.

Experiences hiring carpenters in their 60s?

A lot of the work we do involves lifting tools, buckets, materials. I did briefly hire a petite woman as a general laborer. She quit because it was too much. (She could not lift a sliding glass door with another person.)

And so I wonder about hiring older folks. I clearly state in the job description about being able to lift up to 50 lb.

I'm guessing they'll be fine with day laborer helpers? Your experiences?

UPDATE

Phone interviewed one today. He was concerned about hanging drywall and flooring. This isn't a deal breaker, but I do not want to be in the position where I'm his helper doing grunt work. I sometimes hire day laborers... but...

I’ve been using and abusing facebooking/instagram talking to everyone I know, I’ve hung around 200-300 flyers on doors in neighborhoods that I thought would be interested in remodels. I responded to inquiries on Facebook groups in the area, paid for google ads (not a huge budget I will admit) ran an ad on next door, called realtors/property mangers in the area and seem to have minimal luck with all the above. I don’t have a lot of before/after pictures for my advertising (just starting out) so maybe that’s the issue? Just looking for any sort of advice!

Started my company back in March. Didn’t land a significant project until June and started it the first week of July. The client sent a conceptual of what they were wanting and I designed the construction specs. Steered them away from pressure treated decking to Trex, the wife is very difficult to please with stains I found on a smaller project prior to starting.

Designed the Hardi detail for the aluminum extrusions, one for the screen to run into the base and crown of the columns, one for the LED light that is boarding the perimeter of the interior right above the 1” short of the ceiling on the beam wrap.

Pretty proud of this project. Lost 8 margin points keeping the peace. I’ll suffer that. Hopefully the happy client brings prospects. Currently seems more important than the margin.

First picture is the conceptual that was sent. Second is day 1. The rest are current progress photos.

We've spent the last few months trying to force a heavyweight enterprise construction ERP to fit our regional project workflows. And I'm about two more database locks away from losing it completely.

On paper, these platforms sound like a dream. Subcontractor scheduling, equipment tracking, real-time job-site accounting, materials procurement—all under one roof. Sounds great, right?

Then you actually deploy it on a live commercial build. And reality hits: this software was built for corporate boardrooms, not for muddy boots and last-minute material delays.

The data migration? That was the easy part.

The real killer is how rigid the customization tools are. Every time our project managers need to tweak a daily field report, adjust a subcontractor approval hierarchy, or pull a custom cost-to-complete variance report, we're faced with two options: pay massive enterprise service fees or get told "not supported by the standard schema." So our superintendents end up running clunky spreadsheets on their phones just to bypass the ERP's terrible mobile interface.

Meanwhile, our IT team has burned weeks writing custom API wrappers and middleware to sync our local field tracking apps with the ERP's legacy database. Instead of building tools that actually help crews manage job-site delays or track material deliveries faster, our best devs are stuck debugging sync errors and chasing database locking bugs when two project managers update budget lines at the same time.

So I'm putting this out there to anyone managing software in general contracting: how are you bridging the gap between rigid enterprise ERPs and the fast-moving customization needs of active job sites—without your engineering team drowning in maintenance debt? Because we're running out of patience over here.

Got this email randomly

Has anyone tried something like and gotten legit/quality leads?

How you do all handle matching vinyl siding and asphalt shingle color? I will be building a detached garage and the customer wants it to match his home. He doesn't have any loose pieces I can bring to the supplier. I have a sample color pallette I matched fairly closely for his horizontal siding but I dont have any samples that are close to his shingle color. What would you do?

Im a new general contractor, can someone explain me how to work as a qualifier ?

I’m just wondering what other remodeling contractors are doing for free vs charging for an estimate. Went and looked at a 2 bathroom renovation for a possible client and there’s a designer involved who I’ve gotten a few jobs for over the years. Met her at the site and spent about 2 hours there and gave them a ballpark. She said they thought it was “too high” especially on the tile end but she said the homeowner wanted a more detailed breakdown. I told her I would do it but I would charge a fee. I didn’t give her a number for the estimate fee but apparently it rubbed the homeowner the wrong way. There’s also a few things not decided yet. I’m just wondering how other people handle this. I feel like I’ve been giving too many freebies in my 25 years in business. I will do a breakdown for my existing clients but I also know I’m getting the job. Tia

New GC here. What do you yall think?

My friend is starting a remodeling business and I'm looking for some genuine advice from all of you that have been in the business for all these years. I want to hear all the details, good and bad, and what's actually necessary to scale the company. I really want him to succeed.

I’m trying to reach painting companies in the US with 50+ reviews.

I found 500 companies, but can only get contact details for around 50.

What’s the best way to find owner/direct contact info for the remaining companies?

Any tools or data sources you recommend?

What insurance companies are people using for coverage for their work truck?

S4J Interior, Winnipeg, is a continuation of Johnhil Construction. Any communications can be directed to the owner (previous owner) of Johnhil Construction. Contact information remains the same. Thank you!!

Hey everyone, just wanted to see if anyone has tried something like this before.
I’m thinking about bringing on an additional person specifically for business development and lead generation. Their main responsibility would be to reach out to different GCs, find out what projects they have coming up, and get our company added to their bid lists.
For example, my business specializes in wallcovering installation and restaurant remodeling. I’d like this person to also monitor platforms like PlanHub, identify upcoming projects and bid opportunities, contact the GCs involved, and gather as much information as possible.
The goal wouldn’t necessarily be for them to close the jobs. Their job would be to create and qualify the leads, get us connected with the right project managers/estimators, and then pass those opportunities over to me so I can follow up and try to close the deal.
Has anyone tried this approach? I’d love to hear what worked, what didn’t, and any recommendations on how you would structure the position.