For solar I basically price it per watt and the way I figure it is that I kept raising my prices until I stopped going further into debt.
(I did cut a lot of expenses too. Doing everything solo is really the way to go. 50/50 I lose money on this bathroom.)
I’m a GC in Oregon. Although I have just been daddy daycare since March.
I get sick thinking about how many jobs I under bid. My problem has always been with clients wanting to change stuff middle of project. I just don’t charge them enough for that.
It’s possible I may be involved flipping a house with my niece around Sweet Home, OR (little East of Lebanon) at some point down the line. Her husband is a carpenter I think. What part of OR are you in?
I’m in portland area.
Cool. I lived in Beaverton through Jr. High and High School. I know by Oregon standards it’s a long way down to Lebanon.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but it seems like a lot of the value of a GC is having the right subs to all the work. I’m sure most GCs are knowledgeable enough to do everything, but have a hard time believing that a GC is going to be better at tiling than a tile guy, plumbing than a plumber, etc.
So if as a GC you’re working out of your immediate area it would seem that you lose a lot of your value. True or False?
I’ve been a GC and/or subcontractor of one sort or another for 23 years. For the past 6 I’ve been a company of 1 and I do 95% of all the work myself. I’ve never made more money with less stress than now, and I’m delivering my highest quality work.
I’m sure some of that is experience, some of it changes to the projects I do and where I’m doing them. But there’s really not that much to know about all the individual trades, and there are a lot of really shitty subs out there.
It varies a ton. Some GCs hardly know any trades. Paper contractors. I have a GC because it was easier for me to get at first than the electrical license that I got a year later. I’ve done something from most trades here or there, but I’m really only a pro at solar and electrical service upgrades.
Obviously some GCs are like zz, but it’s actually pretty rare around here anyway. I would not expect a GC to be good at more than one specialty trade and often not even one.
I figured it was something like that. I was more or less feeding you the lines that I got fed by the company that did my job.
Honestly, half the reason I hired them is that they were the most responsive about getting back to me. My lay opinion is that their work was good, but I guess I can’t really tell. Their real advantage is that they were well organized and were very easy to get in touch with for even minor issues. That was their real competitive advantage in my mind. Of course, I definitely paid the price for it.
I’m talking about the license holder (qualifier actually) in particular. If there are employees, then who knows? A GC can certainly have as good employees as a specialty contractor.
I’ll answer for Cali. You have to have a license to do home improvement work for someone else where you are paid > $500. Some cities/utilities require an electrical license to make up the point of connection with the utility. In CA a GC can not just take a plumbing or electrical job. The work has to involve 3 or more trades or you are required to have the specialty license*. Homeowners can do the work for pretty much anything, or unlicensed workers if it’s <$500.
There are no national rules for this afaik. I’m sure all states have their own rules and some cities or counties add requirements as well.
*CA specifically allowed GCs to do solar - could say it involves 3 trades (electrical, roofing, and mechanical or something) but w/e, it was specifically allowed and that’s why I got a GC first.
Seems pretty tough to enforce.
What happens if you knowingly hire someone who isn’t licensed?
Presumably no one is going to rat anyone out if there are no problems. But if it comes to light, who gets punished? Homeowner? Worker? Both? And what is the punishment?
If you pull a permit they check your license. If you do work that is unpermitted and not inspected then no one will know unless there’s a complaint. But, a homeowner may want things done legally so they have more recourse if something goes wrong. There’s plenty of unpermitted, unlicensed work though, at least for smaller jobs.
Contracting without a license is some sort of crime around here. Not likely to get caught, but I’m sure there are fines and some threat of jail and making it hard/impossible to ever get a license in the future. I don’t think there is any punishment for the homeowner, although the city can make you tear out unpermitted work.
yep. gotta remove that shield to use some of the larger discs. I nicked a knuckle once, stupidly not wearing gloves.
and the grinder can catch on whatever you’re cutting if you apply too much force, and the whole thing pulls pretty forcefully if that happens. can travel into a dangerous proximity to head, face chest etc
I started doing this as well. I still sub out electrical work and plumbing and some other things when needed. It’s really nice to not have to worry about a sub not showing up or getting a call that they just cut a water line and can’t find the shut off.
Aside from this bathroom, this is true for me for 3 or 4 years now. Occasionally I have one person help me. I’m not rolling in cash or anything, but doing better with money and sooooooo much less stress.
This is basically what I’ve seen happen and only a few times. A couple times the work was ok and the HO just got a permit. On one job we did solar and they had an unpermitted little addition. We opened up the walls so the inspector could see stuff and it was good enough to pass. A couple times I’ve noticed a lot substantial unpermitted work and told the prospective client that they could be opening a can of worms if they do solar and they’ve not done solar.
Can you use your electrical license in all states or is it Cali only?
Limited reciprocity in Arizona, Louisiana, Nevada, and Utah. Some states may not even require licenses (certainly not New Hampshire - more like Alaska or something) and of course some states, like CA, don’t if the payment is less than a certain amount.