bldginsp
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# Posted: 23 Mar 2013 01:20pm
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If you can find a person from this forum who is close enough to where you are, and whom you think has your best interests in mind, that's a great combination.
If not, you will need to find a local builder. Here's what I've learned about finding local workers.
-The closer they live the better. If their commute is too far you either have to put them up or pay their gas, both expensive.
-If you are in a remote area your choices may be limited, so look for as many people as you can and invite them to your site or go directly to them with your plans to talk about it.
General advice about picking a contractor:
-Get references and call them. You want to talk to someone that had this person do a similar project for them, like a small room addition to a house. Did it come in at bid price? Was he/she responsive and easy to talk to? Did they make an effort to finish the job to the owner's satisfaction?
-Decide if you want them to just bid the whole job, or work for you on an hourly basis. If they bid the whole job, one price for materials and labor, they are motivated to do the whole thing as fast as possible to make a profit. If you hire them hourly, they have no direct motivation to work as fast as possible, nor to plan the job. You have to direct them and supply materials as needed.
-If you take a bid for the whole job, carefully structure payments through the job, and never ever pay the last payment until all work is complete.
-Have good, complete plans to work from. A bidder can't bid without them, and remember he/she will be bidding only on what is on the plans and anything else is extra. An hourly worker is wasting time if they have to figure out the design as they go, so having good drawings takes away the head scratching and makes the job go faster.
Your gut reaction that the contractor you have talked to does not have your interests in mind tells me to keep away. It's easy for an owner/contractor relationship to deteriorate fast and then it's ugly. But if you are perfectly clear at the outset with good drawings and a good plan of approach, you can avoid a lot of that if not all.
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