/r/AskContractors
This is a community for homeowners to ask questions to contractors. Get the answers from industry professionals here.
/r/AskContractors
332 Subscribers
Hiring foreign workers to build my
Has anyone hired workers from like Mexico to build houses in the United States? If so what is the experience
05:32 UTC
Finished Floor Elevation
I am trying to determine finished floor elevation and need help! I am building a 40x84x14 enclosed pole barn oon fiber mesh concrete slab that is 40x84x4". The topographic survey says the existing ground elevation is 90.90 on one side and 94. on the other. NAVD 92.2. DFE is 93.2.
Can anyone help?
21:40 UTC
Home foundation question
Looking at this house to buy. Noticed inside that one of the rooms goes downhill. I crawled under and saw this - notice one of the beams is cracked, and some of the beams are new. 1929 house.
How hard or expensive is it to fix the sagging? How big of an issue is it?
03:52 UTC
Water mitigation
I had a washer leak-it was bad, it was on the 2nd floor. Damage to basically all flooring in the middle of my home (which translates to pretty much all flooring because carpet and shitty laminate). My ceiling in the center-15x18 ish and some parts of the walls, all have moisture/water damage. My insurance sent in a water mitigation company who is saying 10k+ just to demo. Which, I get it’s a lot but that feels…insane. It’s 1200 sq feet total.
I had to pull teeth to even get that number, I asked day one and they kept saying “insurance would cover it” which I knew I had an exclusion clause so the reality is, no they aren’t and then I have to pay to you know, put my entire home back together. No one can even guess what that number will be. I know there’s no way to really have an answer here but does that feel like a big number? I feel like they just take advantage of insurance and are overcharging. I’ve ripped out some of the flooring myself already to dry it and I will rip out the whole place if that’d actually save me money but I’m more nervous about putting holes in walls.
01:57 UTC
Framing and insulation Estimate
With your roughest ball park, what is the least you would estimate? How much for the work you see done so far on cleaning the foundation, spraying with mildew/mold paint, insulating and framing the 600/700 sq ft basement? Begining of video is how it was with 25% or less flaking
21:59 UTC
Concrete thickness recommendation
Plan on moving and converting a small grain bin into a gazebo. Currently thinking for a slab thickness between 3.5"-4" with 10"-12" on outside and around fireplace. Current plan is a donut with fire place in middle but built up to 3' approximately and approximately 3'in diameter. The bin is 16 feet diameter and 8 foot sidewalls. Concrete will have rebar in 2' grid.
Any potential problems that anyone can see with the concrete portion of this?
16:05 UTC
Mould in tight places
Hi
I would like your help with the following. I have a garage that is built into the ground and the entrance gate is just above ground level. There is also earth on top, about 60 cm. It is waterproofed from all sides with multiple layers. My problem is mold around the garage door and between the metal holding the garage door and the wall. I have attached several pictures from the side, from the full and from the front.
My question is what could be the cause? It is insulated from the bottom and top and I don't think it is leaking from there. In the winter it is 5-6 degrees inside the garage. I can think of heat bridging between the wall and the metal and moisture condensation causing mold. What solution can you recommend? I'm thinking of sealing this narrow area and blowing it out with foam.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance
10:51 UTC
California condo renovation - question re WC/General Liability coverage
Trying to harmonize conflicting responses. We are entering into a contract with a contractor to renovate our bathroom in our SF Bay Area condo.
The contractor was Workers Comp and Commercial General Liability Insurance. Our HOA requires that for Workers Comp the HOA be listed on the certificate of insurance and for the general liability, the HOA "and its clients" be listed.
Should we, as individual owners of our unit, require a separate Certificate of Insurance for us specifically?
Thanks in advance.
23:23 UTC
Accommodation for projects
Hi everyone, how do you usually sort out accommodation for when you travel for projects? Does your employer sort it out or do you have to do it on your own?
15:07 UTC
Need help cooling down a room
Can someone please suggest me something to cool down my studio room during the hot summer.
There’s just the rooftop above my room with direct sunlight falling on it.
Some suggestions I have come across :-
Put 6 inches of mud on the concrete floor and grow grass on top of it. Water it daily [The cheapest way].
Get a layer of bricks (with concrete between them) laid on this rooftop [This would burn an index-finger-size hole in my pocket though].
Get some potted plants and place them on the rooftop. Water them daily [This would be moderately expensive for me].
Totally welcome to more suggestions though. I barely have cash, so prioritising financial costs here.
12:54 UTC
Crack in ceiling
I noticed a cracking in my ceiling that goes across the entire ceiling. How concerning is this? What needs to be done?
04:47 UTC
Question
So I have a question. I had signed a contract for a company to come out and do 15 windows, convert a larger window into French doors and fill in two doors just make them one with the wall. Got quoted 27000. After actually looking at reviews after the fact I have a gutt feeling I should cancel the contract because of the work I've seen and all the negative reviews. And plus the door to door salesman told us to check them up on bbb, on one of the reviews I seen that they got revoked from bbb. So now that plays even more into the wanting to cancel, we have until Tuesday to cancel. What would be the best way to go about canceling, because I seen on a review that they will ignore customers who are trying to cancel
03:45 UTC
Question about cleanup?
Hi! Not sure where to ask this! Just moved into a duplex, the unit is owned by my stepdad. The community or association, or whatever it is, takes care of a lot of things, like lawn work and painting. There have been people here for a couple of weeks working, and they got to my place Wednesday, so I haven't been able to park in my driveway. This afternoon, I picked up nails off of my front driveway, while they were still here, cause I knew I'd be able to park for the weekend. When I got home this evening, my private back patio had nails (lots) and some pieces of wood/scrap all along the sides and they also left tools and a ladder.
The hoses were here, on the fence (they aren't working on the fence) but I guess they got in the way!
Is this normal? Thank you!!.
Also, not trying to report or anything, just a bit annoyed and curious 🤔
03:46 UTC
Need opinion on bathroom work we had done
We just had someone do a bathroom remodel for us and to much frustration they have done a number of things without informing us. We opted to keep current trim, fix drywall, new shower tile, flooring, move a light switch, add a wall outlet, and we would paint it ourselves. For eletrical code they added a 12 gage wire through the basement and drilled a hole into our wall for the power box while we were gone (didn't tell us). As well installing the exhaust fan they left a big hole in the attic without reinsulating or cleaning up the mess.
They installed plastic tile over existing linoleum, the adhesive had come loose around the toilet base, they said they normally don't removal old linoleum and were confident the water damage from the toilet leak was safe (they never actually saw how the subfloor looked under linoleum). We were under the impression the floor was coming out. They drilled holes for the shower rack but any standard curtain you put on will be hitting the floor (this shower material is onyx). They as well installed a new trim piece which is not the right size for fit. They tried to fix the wall hole but unfortunately you can't patch wallpaper and try to paint match. I actually do new construction painting so for a fact I know it won't work, wall needs redone.
My question is if the remodelers did actually do anything wrong and if this is how the process is normally done. When we talked to the contractor about our issues he almost seemed like he was defending his decisions rather than trying to make things right. The shower curtain situation he told us to look around for a shorter curtain for example.
02:29 UTC
Cost plus 15% for a GC: tax and markup on tax billing billing (Canadian)
Residential construction is such an informal space where I live (Canadian west coast). I have a GC that wants the above method of billing and we’ve agreed to the high-level calculation in principle but I’m now realizing that there are accounting (CRA) rules and complication in how it could be interpreted.
Details: I live in a 7% PST and 5% GST jurisdiction.
I’m trying to understand what I ‘should’ be charged by the GC for 1000 pre-tax materials.
My impression is that this should be:
1000 x 1.15 markup x 1.05 GST (the obvious part) + 1000 x 0.05 for the GST charged to the GC for materials (passed on to me) + 1000 x 0.07 for PST charged to the GC x 1.15 markup x 1.05 GST (PST is an unrecoverable cost for the GC)
= 1207.5 + 50 + 84.53 = 1342.03
I don’t want down-the-road angst nor confusion so I want to get transparent with this up-front. I wonder how he’ll take even addressing this. I get the impression that many clients before me just don’t ask don’t care (and are ripe for being taken advantage of). I trust him but trust only takes me so far.
Would value any constructive insights.
Thank you.
01:14 UTC
Bought some hurricane straps to tie down my shed, per the plans submitted for the permit. Question is, how am I supposed to attach them to the beam?
17:34 UTC
I'm buying a home with my girlfriend and MIL. I'm in charge of finishing some attic space for the In-Laws suite. MIL wants it permitted, so I'll need to do it "properly". Can somebody help me figure out where to get started?
For context, I'm a commercial subcontractor (commercial doors) with some experience in the industry. I can read plans, but I can't make them.
After my girlfriends father passed, her mother decided the home they lived in was too secluded for just her to live in. We considered it, and decided it would be practical and affordable for the three of us to move in. She's easy to live with, and the home has plenty of space for my projects and to get away from them, if need be.
The house has a "bonus" area with what appears to be a recently finished area attached to it, with an office and a half bath. The office area has an opening into a massive attic space that my MIL wants to finish and turn into a bedroom and closet area. She also wants the bathroom furnished with a shower.
I was able to drag the final plans out of the city after some back and forth, so I'm able to show you here. I'm unsure of exactly how large the room will be or exactly how we want it, but I don't know how to draw plans and I don't have any connections to residential architects.
Spacer
(Issue with footer notes) Current unfinished attic area
Current office (Room you walk into when walking through LH door that used to go into attic space)
2nd view
Bonus room/"Game room"
How should I get started? Who should I look for to draw the plans up? What do I need to keep in mind to get this addition permitted? How much should I expect to pay to have plans drawn, and to submit permit requests? Am I in the hundreds, or the thousands?
I expect the project to be relatively simple- framing, electrical, drywall, and furnishing. For the bathroom, some adjustments to plumbing to accommodate a shower. I intend to manage the parts of the project that don't require a license and leave the plumbing/electrical/framing (if load bearing) to the experts.
I want to note that I need to expedite this as much as possible. My MIL isn't wanting to move in until the project is finished, and double paying a mortgage is going to be difficult for the three of us to manage. I don't know what the budget is yet, or what I should expect it to be. I just know it's going to have to get done.
If I missed anything, please let me know and I'll try to update. Thanks for your help in advance.
TL,DR: I need to get plans made, and permits pushed through ASAP. How should I find somebody, and how much should I expect to spend before starting the project?
02:19 UTC
NewAge Pro Install Tips??
Hello
Trying to some feedback on the best way to install NewAge Pro Cabinets (14 piece from Costco) floating when I have a concrete foundation that is 14 inches high but sticks out about 1.5-2 inches. In addition it looks like the garage walls might be a bit bowed in some areas , not by much . Studs are 16 inch on center , ceiling height is 10.5 ft for a 3 car garage, 676 sq ft total for floor.
I think I was going to attach a 2x10 ledger to the top and bottom, using Fastenmaster Headlok 4.5” lag screws to each stud. Then use the brackets to be bolted to the ledger board. The bottom ledger would rest on the concrete foundation “lip”. And was going to add 2x4 vertically between the ledger board as well. Few questions …..
Is this a sound plan or am I missing something?
I was concerned about the weight of the cabinets all on the stud walls , will the plan above support it?
I rather over build/install if possible to ensure safety and longevity, anything else to add?
Appreciate the feedback
22:16 UTC
Home Reno change orders
Are following change orders/timeline changes are reasonable right out of the gate?
We are remodeling most of first floor and adding a partial second floor. The total project cost is $560k. We have paid $170k so far. So far, they’ve completed demo, received lumbar pack, and waiting on permits to clear.
Issue #1: GC owner consistently told us during contracting the project length would be 6-8 months. During first meeting with PM, they said it would be at least 10-12 months (nothing has changed). We moved out of house so this is added monthly rent expense.
Issue #2: Just got a change order for an additional $10k for permitting fees. The description is: Overage of permit at city ($14,334.55 contract cost - $5,000 estimate cost = $9,334.55 + 12% mark up)
^^So my GC’s estimate was off by $9300… and they now get an additional 12% mark up?
Issue #3: Have already had billing issues where they issue me an invoice for something included in the estimate I’ve already paid.
I fully expect CO’s to address the unknowns of the actual construction work… but this feels like poor estimation at best (or at worst, low-balling to get me in the contract).
Am I being unreasonably wary or is this normal behavior?
19:59 UTC
Composite Deck Framing
Hello
Anyone here have experience with a deck that has a substructure built with composite structural Lumber?
Background: had a deck built in 2012 using pressure treated wood for the substructure, Azek pvc for the floor boards and timber tech rails by a reputable company from North Jersey. After 11 years the substructure pressure treated wood rotted away starting with the beam and spreading to joists and stairs. I was extremely angry as we chose the top rated builder and we believe he used sub standard products and subcontractors. Won’t mention their name but they won the Naddra award a few times. Had a few other contractors come by to check and see if the deck was salvageable, but all said would need to reframe which is basically a new deck. Top of deck looks fine but substructure rotting away. Some contractors also stated the deck was not built correctly.
Looking to rebuild my deck (not by me) and want to make it rot proof. Was looking at the following for the substructure: https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/composites/product/structural-lumber
Anyone have any experience with this or know any contractors that have worked with this product in NJ/PA area?
18:55 UTC
water somehow not going into pressure tank. whyyyy
Please help me fix this before I lose my shit lol. Backstory: live in an area where we use water from cisterns. I was at work when I guess we ran out of water in one cistern, the knuckleheads I live with noticed something was "off" but did not switch to the second cistern or unplug the pump (I'm sort of the unofficial GSO officer/ maintenance so they usually wait for me to take action). By the time I got home the pump had burned out and fucked up the "in" pvc pipe. My plumber installed all new pvc to wire it all up plus a new pump. HOWEVER THE PRESSURE TANK IS NOT FILLING. This means that every time water is used, the pump kicks on. since it's brand fucking new, I'd like to avoid burning it out. My plumber seems reluctant to come back to address this 🙄 is there something I'm missing? You can see that on that little gage the water is under pressure, there's just zero water in that tank. Tank is maybe a year and a half old. When I open the little brass spigot that leads into the tank, water comes out. Help me obi wans
17:51 UTC
Should I engage a subcontractor early (D&C tendering stage) as an oversea steel fabricator?
Hi guys,
We are expanding our market overseas and are currently keeping an eye on some of the projects in Australia. Most of the projects we are following are in tender for D&C; only 1 or 2 projects have been awarded.
For the awarded projects, we have engaged with some subcontractors (steel structures) to offer fabrication services and engineering design. For the projects in the D&C stage, should I also reach out to offer the service? I did that with a few subcontractors, and they did require us to quote for the project without a BOQ or detailed design, plus the chances of winning those projects are up in the air.
I am quite unsure of how to approach this. Should I approach subcontractors only when they are in later stages? Or should I just go blazing and reach out to as many as possible?
00:39 UTC
Looking for advice on how to optimize garage roof/ceiling for installation of a climbing wall
20:16 UTC
Botched concrete driveway
I had a driveway company replace my old asphalt with concrete. They forgot to replace a drain, forgot to replace three stairs, and decided not to pour a colored concrete perimeter, all of which were in the contract. I got a partial refund and hired someone I trust to fix the first two issues.
He just discovered that it’s 2.5” thick, they didn’t lay down reinforcing mesh (they’d said they would), and they didn’t remove all the asphalt, which is why the concrete sits about 1.75” higher than the street.
Is this grounds for demanding a full refund?
19:04 UTC