The current situation is complicated. If you're looking to capitalize on this crazy situation, and use the skills you've learned on the channel to make $$ you'll want to watch this 👉🏼ua-cam.com/video/5GOfX7YsLx4/v-deo.html
If you’re fishing for contractors on the open market, it’s very difficult. HOWEVER, if you do find a contractor you like, mine them for connections. Real recognizes real, and there can often be some kickback appreciation. Realize that there are a HUGE number of contractors who operate exclusively on referrals.
It really shouldn't be this difficult. Not saying it isn't, but it shouldn't be. It should be as easy as ordering a pizza. And if they don't show up in thirty minutes the job is free 👍
My wife and I got super lucky. We found our contractor when he did a sub job on an addition that we had done at our old home. He has been so helpful and we have become friends. I’m a young dad and his kids are older, and I started asking him if I could help with the projects to learn. I have learned SOO much from him and he told me he enjoys passing along his knowledge as his sons don’t seem to be interested. And besides making a friend and learning all these new skills, it has given me the confidence to tackle bigger projects knowing that I can call on him to help me if I get stuck. I recently asked him why he’s so receptive in a time when no one can find good contractors. His answer “you and your family are nice, friendly, appreciative and I genuinely like coming and doing work for you guys” Just gotta hope he never moves 😂
people love working in a great environment. If your contractor is not showing up maybe it's time to look in the mirror and ask if you are creating a good work environment for them.
Hey thanks for keeping a balanced opinion on contractors. People always bash contractors but never talk about cheap or crazy customers! The trades is not easy it's highly skilled work, most guys I know cant do more than 1 or 2 trades, so the people that can do multiple and also manage projects deserve to make money
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY I got 16 years of framing experience , some renovation experience ( 3rd house complete renovation ) being a contracting isnt for everybody , I replaced my boss for a few weeks due to an injury and now i know it's not for me . Sirs i raise you my hard hat before i get back to work .
I recently bought a fixer upper and have been renovating it with my dad. It's been great learning all the skills and knowledge he's accumulated over the decades as a homeowner and carpenter. Its amazing how much there is to learn about home maintenance and construction. It can be daunting sometimes, but very satisfying once a big project is finished.
I agree. I did the same. It's a lot of frustrated noises, but it makes you feel so accomplished to learn how to DIY house maintenance, and then even renovation eventually.
I start my drywall project in my basement this weekend. I’ve watched your A-Z video multiple times with notes! I plan on rocking it out thanks to your great instructional expertise! Cheers!
You'll screw up at least 100 times. I learned from his videos as well, didn't even know a drill had a reverse setting before. The wonderful part is that drywall is a WONDERFUL thing to screw up as you have mud, foam, and sanding. You can fix anything you mess up until you get good at it. I just finished floating our kitchen that I tore down to studs and it went at least 2x as fast and smoothly as the first time I tried just doing some patching.
At this point I've given up on contractors and am DIYing everything. Either they never show up, never return my calls, or they do crap like leave their garbage all over the place and never do things to code. If I'm going to rebuild this cabin I'm going to do it myself and do it to my spec.
So true. I called up 4 electricians for a Tesla 240V charger installation. 3 did not respond. One came out said he'd do a load calculation and never heard from him again.
I'm glad you made this video. I'm learning to be my own contractor just by watching your video's. As you say you are your best contractor. I believe that. Thanks for showing and teaching me what to do. Cheers!!!!
if nothing else that breakdown of experience is GOOOLD! I have been telling this to my family for years and getting frustrated and into arguments about who to choose to be our contractor. Now I finally have the why behind paying more for the job and justifying it. Thank you so much.
one thing ive learned is to make friends with an experienced "flipper" and ask who they use (and trust). They go have been through the good and bad of hiring/ firing contractors
Here's something I've been thinking about too. I'm a laborer. Only been doing concrete masonry and sheetrock work and granite for 7 years. I don't call myself a finisher or pro by any means when I approach a customer I let them know up front how long I've been around and doing the work. I've worked with the big leagues and man let me tell you guys there is no fake it till you make it. There's a reason you see them driving these nice new raptors or trucks or whatever. They are masters with there hands. But i use this analogy a lot. "I'm just like a tadpole that just grew legs. They can hop leaps and bounds above me as toads, but in time I'll hop to it as well". You have to want the craft noones going to teach you it. So this channel is invaluable with information. Don't try to be a big dog. Grow into one
Plumbers (2 to do the job) wanted $4K to replace a 36" fiberglass shower. I already removed the old shower and purchased the new shower and valve. I was going to do the drywall. All they were doing is the labor setting the shower and attaching the drain and valve. $4K??? No thanks. I bought a Pex crimper and did it myself in a couple of weeks taking it slow.
I’m semi-retired & my income is somewhat limited. DIY is my best way to go. As a younger buck I was in the electrical trade. I still have the desire to learn how things work & function. Watching guys like Jeff & others has taught me a lot. I’m not as fast as I use to be but I still pay attention to detail. Do it right or don’t bother even starting.
I see a Sennheiser MK4 but I don't hear one. Okay I see now... Your mic is facing the wrong way. You're speaking into the back (i.e. null, i.e wrong side) of a cardioid mic. The talky side has the _S_ logo and the cardioid symbol which is currently facing the camera. Spin that thing around 180 degrees. I learn a little contracting; I teach a little audio. Even Steven.
@@marymccowan6629 The first thing I noticed when the video started playing is that the sound is significantly shy of great. That's why I looked more closely at the microphone and that's why I left a comment. I'm pretty certain that if you heard him speaking into the correct side you'd prefer it to the current configuration.
Great advise. We are currently in the process of splitting between a great GC and DIY. We worked with a designer to fully redesign the interior of our home. They recommended some GCs and we ended up pausing due to covid. A year later we went back to the same folks to get quotes and start up again. We found the price had skyrocketed and lead times doubled. We hired the contractor we wanted but had a 1yr wait to start and a $200K price tag. To keep costs as low as I can and take advantage of the wait time, I am remodeling our laundry room and 3 bathrooms myself ahead of the GC starting work. It is amazing how much the market shifted in a year.
@@JOIHIINI in our case I am not because I don't have companies I already trust for most of the work. We are doing the final work on our home and I want it done as well as possible. I trust the GC to make sure that will happen. It is a greater risk to the project to try to find skilled tradesman if you don't already know who you want. I have been bitten before and offsetting that risk to someone else is worth the cost to me.
Very true. I’m in my first year out on my own and giving 110% every day trying to build a name and reputation for myself. I treat every job as if it was my own property and go above and beyond every time… even on the first few jobs that I didn’t make any money on due to totally under estimating the amount of work, time and hidden surprises I would find. It sucked, but took it as a learning experience and didn’t cut any corners because of it. Take care of your customers and treat them right by being honest and taking pride in the work you produce and you will always have work.
I'm a mechanic on heating units, boilers and heatpumps. Because of your videos, actually thinking about picking up renovation work! Thanks for your videos
Just happened to me with a local window company. Laborers and installers did a great job installing the window but when it came to building a roof structure over the top. (Brand New bow unit) it was unsatisfactory and downright hazardous the first three times. Long story short the company ended up getting their illusive heavily booked subcontractor to come out and do it and now it's beautiful.
Yeah...we hired a contractor who told us what they thought they could do...but they could not. Then...we had to hire another contractor to fix the problems the first one did. The first one tried, but they did not have the skill or knowledge to do the job right, or to repair the damage they caused. Nightmare!
Sandy the fact that you could even find 2 contractors tells me you are also taking bids from guys who are available. best to wait until you find someone who is not available and wait for them to be.
Jeff, you talk a lot of sense. I have recently started doing lots of repairs in my house. Dry wall has always been my fear. You got my butt off the couch by saying if I do the job myself I will make 300% towards my Equity. Thanks for that. I now have the excuse to do it myself and not have the wife tell me to call someone else to do it.
Just remember to buy a shop vac first if u dont have one and drop sheet all entryways, very thoroughly my wife will never live down my first time skim coating lol
So right about DIY. I’ve spent hours on watching your vinyl plank installations and recommendations. I already have most of the great tools: table saw, miter saw… Better off than most! So now I have the encouragement, thanks so much for this vid! And of course, as you say, will do a better job as I have seen the flaws in many of my neighbor’s installations and I know they’re flaws because you have them pointed out!
Yep I watched the vinyl plank video and others for weeks. Finally knocked it out this spring at my moms place. It turned out great and can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner!
Had to get a roof repair where a few shingles blew off. altogether it was not more that 3 square feet of shingles so I called up 3 different companies for quotes and all of them told me the same thing they charge a 500 dollar minimum for repairs. Naturally I watched some videos and made the repairs myself. The repairs blend in and haven’t had any problems since. Now I have more confidence going into those types of repairs
Great video!! Here's my little story that happened this last week. I install cameras at the biggest casino in the US and specifically only work with low voltage wiring. I've never done a remodel of any kind and definitely never worked with 120/240 voltage. I'm starting my own bathroom remodel and began with the ceiling but ran into a problem right off the bat. I needed to remove my existing exhaust fan in order to hang the new ceiling. I couldn't find an electrician so I submitted a work request on the "find a pro" program through Home Depot. Literally my request sat for 2 weeks until 1 person responded and said their quote would be $400 just to prepare the wiring for the new fan. This didn't include adjusting the hole size for the new fan or mounting it or venting it. They basically assumed the existing housing would have 120 voltage at the fan so they would come and show or prepare the power wires needed to connect the new fan. I laughed and watched UA-cam videos for a good week and then decided to take my best shot at the install. I determined the existing housing didn't even have 120 voltage so once I found where my 120 was at the switch on the wall, I reran new 14/2 from there to a new box I prepared in my attic where everything landed. I spent an entire day labeling all my existing wires to make sure everything would work after hooking it all up. While in the attic I found the existing fan had been improperly vented into the attic. I ran insulated 4" ductwork and connected it to the outside outer wall. I properly completed the install on my first try and not only did I not have to pay for the install, it paid me with the satisfaction of completing it by myself. I will say I wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for people like you Jeff and all the other people with great content on UA-cam!! Keep up the great work!!
I started diy on my first house just because shortage in labor and high material prices. I get few things wrong, but no one can give you that expirience. Im pretty sure i can do 50% better already after first try. I have made tables, benches, windows, bricklaying, isolation, roofing, plumbing, laminate installing, chainsaw tree droping... At the moment i work with plastering, tileing, ppr welding in bathroom. Day by day its going well, and its not big problem at all.
Yes! DIY is the way to go for so much. As a HIC myself who knows others in the trade, I tell people all the time that many of these guys presenting themselves as professionals are far from it, and they do not care about your home like you do. That extra care will take you farther than 90% of these guys out here will
My wife and I just went through the contractor conundrum this past year. We bought a lake house in the north east US and it turned out to be a gut renovation. Was hard finding a contractor and the company we hired was a just a headache of sloppy work and slow progress. Overall they did a good job but we had to DIY some things over. Even had to hire another plumber/HVAC to fix mistakes our contractor did. Your channel is a big help, thanks for helping me become a better painter.
I live in the Balkans, but damn man, this is 100% true and real. It seems like all the people that knows what they are doing are just gone. (with exceptions ofc.
The good guys are too busy and/or won’t take small jobs. My wife and I went to a well known Reno company endorsed by a very well known and respected contractor celebrity (sorry Jeff, not you) and they flat out told us it was a year wait and they didn’t take jobs under $60k. So I hired myself, binge watched Home Renovision, and bought new tools at HomeDepot. Win win.
Funny how the big company needs a t.v. actor to be their best representative. that should be your first clue there are not enough positive reviews. I think you dodged a bullet! Cheers!
I am pretty sure I know what company you are talking about in Ottawa / Orleans and I had a buddy quit working for them. I too think you dodged a bullet like Jeff suggested
I literally just went through this. Hired a guy to do what I thought was a small project. He said it would take a day and a half. It took him 4 days to do whatever he did. I had to keep checking on him. He did not do the best job. I decided I am just going to finish the work myself.
I hired a crew to install a pergola. Two girls showed up, sat on my lawn for 4 hours talking, then they wanted to lag bolt the 6x6 beams to the composite deck on a prefab build... without doing anything else. I put a stop to it before they destroyed my new composite deck. In 4 hours they accomplished installing 4 screws on the metal feet. paid them off and did it myself in a few days. Took them a week to come pick up their tools.
Between 15 to 18, while in high school I worked part time for a residential electrical company, doing new home installs. Between 18 and 20 while in community college, I worked full time for a small commercial electrical company, doing strip mall units and renos. Between 20 and 24, while finishing up my college degree, I worked fulltime for a residential/commercial electrical service company. After finished up a college degree in graphic design at 24, I decided to take the electrical master's exam, having met the in trade hours requirement for my state. At 25, I started my own electrical service company. After a few years of home owners asking "if I knew a guy" for this or that, I started leaning different trade crafts. At 32, I started a new company for home repairs and basic renos. I wanted both companies to remain small, so only had a crew for each and I would bounce between the two when needed. In my mind I am successful, both companies make enough money to pay crews a full 40hr week when weeks are short, here and there. I advertise by "word of mouth", which even in this modern day keeps us busy. At the end of the day, your definition of success will determine your work ethic.
When we bought our house, we had 2 HVAC flex ducts which needed to be replaced. Of the 3 companies I asked quotes from, one refused the job, another quoted over $3000 and another said they could replaced all 10 of our aging ducts for $3000. I ended up replacing the 2 ducts myself for $200, but needless to say the third company had the best quote. When our HVAC system shut down they were the ones we called and they did a great job diagnosing and fixing it. We always use and recommend them when we need that type of work
Contractors are faster than DIY? Maybe they usually are but my next door neighbour had their 2 little sundecks replaced and the little company they hired took no less than 10 months to complete the job! No doubt the contractor was doing the merri-go-round with 5 contracts at once. Then they had a mini split heat pump put in and it cost them 8 grand. I fixed my similar deck structure myself for around 2,000 and put in a 2 ton mini split for 2500. Also 8 weeks ago had Anderson quote me $22,000 to replace 6 windows. I just completed 4 of them cost me about $3k all in, custom size and high quality locally made windows (only 3 weeks from order to delivery too). I just completed our lower suite kitchen remodel and moving on to a bathroom remodel and 4 car garage build this winter. I'm at an age and finances I could hire it all done but can't find anyone to do it in a timely manner. But also .. I find the DIY a lot of fun after taking 10 years away from it.
I’m young but my father/family has always worked trades. So I would borrow any tools I need. Get the job done faster and I save money. Now I’m acquiring tools so I don’t have to borrow. Seeing how much GC’s charge vs how much a project actually costs in material is crazy to me. I have to say tho. That I will gladly pay when I know something is out of my league.
I don't really expect to get too far at 45 years old, with only a couple years of framing. But, you gotta try. Hope that construction management associates can give me a lift up. I've been doing labor jobs all my life. Something must give
I would suggest you start doing side gigs to develop your skills. gain confidence and fix up your cv to get a better job. Cheers! 45 is only half way through the race. finish strong.
I totally agree. If the young people today are not willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears of doing the trade, you're better off doing it yourself. I have little to no free time to do my own projects and am always looking for people to do work for me. It's a shame that the younger generations today do not have a clue how well they can do IF they pick up a trade. Honestly, I enjoyed learning about electricity. I SHOULD HAVE become an electrician! I totally enjoy doing the work. I've had professionals and inspectors check my work and receieved high praise for what I had done. It was some of the most rewarding work I could have ever done. And now, there is a huge shortage of electricians. My goal is to future proof my home as much as possible over the next 10 years. That way when I retire, I don't have to worry about the onslaught of expensive repairs when I'm not capable of fixing in my 70's and 80's.
Buy a house to find that all prior work was done subpar. Find drywall behind reno bathroom installed with 6 roofing nails. Redon kitchen has hot outlets pushed into wall instead of removing and running 6' of new wire. Addition floor joists not tied into ordinal home structure. Everything touched on the home done improperly. Old owner didnt know any better on who he hired.
Thank you ever so much Jeff! Such a relevant topic...and yes, it has been 4 yrs struggling with the logistics to get a big extension started. A month ago I was ready to give up! Once local retired contractor reached out to help me, a sort of contractor advisor, wanting nothing but agreed to something$. Your erase board was effective! Thank you.....and yes, advice was to first get the draftsperson to get the plans, a few months for that task, then go get the permit, on Prince Edward Island that will take many months as there are so few and they quit. Once these two are done, WAIT for the contractor....just like you said....Wait for the next year if you have to for the better contractor who is booked years in advance...of course I am talking about an extension, ICF foundation with 3 storey high, to match the height of the original home. 🙏🙏🙏 Jeff.From East Canada.🇨🇦🍁
Hey Jeff, all kidding aside - I want to address one key point you made. It's not that the younger generation don't want to do labour...it's that the education system in North America (or at least Ontario) has had a GIANT push towards getting students into University. Regardless of whether or not it's beneficial for them financially in the long run. There's a reason why these pointless majors such as Gender Studies are growing in enrollment in acamedia. Universities don't care because it allows them to pay for the bloated administration wages. We have also defunded technical teaching heavily so many people get zero exposure to any technical trades in high school. The younger generation simply don't know any better. I'm speaking from my own experience as a high school science teacher in Ontario.
It's mainly about a big demographic shift towards aging population and excessive stimulus creating a global worker shortage in every industry, not any worse in construction than it is in health care that is for sure! The schools were pushing kids away from the trades in the 80s and 90s too when I was young. Have to admit I regret not entering the trades as a youngster even though I make more than them now working in health care. But I much prefer doing DIY renovations, so should have stuck with it. I have some very wealthy neighbours: electrician, framer, plumber have the 3 nicest houses on my street which is all wealthy professionals. The framer built himself a stunning modern 6,000sf house for himself 9 years ago, right across from me. The electrician has 6 car garage and lift for his Porsches. Both those guys' homes worth well over 2 million now. Vancouver Island is the most lucrative market of all for skilled trades imho.
As a young guy another reason is contractors never wanted to take on apprentices. What the hell was I supposed to do when no one wanted to give me a change and if they did it paid minimum wage. WTF was I supposed to do. Jeff is just another whiny boomer, god forbid people today want to get paid enough to survive.
Sorry not a boomer. and not whinny. I spent years working for 11 bucks an hour to learn the skills I have. now I am a millionaire trying to hep others. The attitude you just displayed ism why nobody brought you on. We can smell a sense of entitlement a mile away. start with humility and it will take you far.
The reality is every last guy I work with who is over 45 looks absolutely beat to hell... My cousin's who worked government for 20 years who now are around 90-127k per year are literally bored at their jobs enjoying long walks on their lunch breaks.. frequent vacations and work from home 2-3 days a week or off every other Friday. They buy new cars every few years... And will be retired and healthy around age 55. The guys I know who run construction are in their 60s and don't plan on stopping. They spend so much money on overhead, tools, gas ect.. plus I've seen so many injuries. Any man who has installed flooring for weeks or done framing in the middle of the summer knows what it feels like to be exhausted. I'm not even 35 and have been building for 18 years. though I make great money as a owner I watch endless young guys making $18-25. I always tell them to leave their relationships behind and get into union and commercial. These guys are making double or triple . This kills the home market but it's just hard for the contractors to share the wealth because new tools and toys always take priority.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY okay boomer. I was just fired and stiffed by one of your kind. The guy I was working for was convinced I had never worked a day of painting in my life. Fired me for being cocky and arrogant because he didn't like the look on my face or something. Funny thing about that is that it was the same guy I worked for on my very first construction job ever 10 years ago. Sometimes you're just being a boomer. We don't all want to work at a crackheads pace.
Someone ruined my bathroom also. It took me three years to dig out of it by redoing it myself. I'm slow and the situation really depressed me so I would so some work and then take a long break. It was awful. I do most things myself now. Except electric. Watch enough youtube videos until you feel confident to fix your bathroom. You can demo the tile and get a nice surround - Maax Utile surrounds are actually pretty nice - looks way better then a bad tile job.
My dishwasher caused major water damage in my kitchen due to a busted supply line A YEAR AGO! I had a remediation company come out and basically destroy part of the kitchen. I get that it was necessary, but after insurance paid part of the claim I have been struggling to get anyone out to repair my kitchen including base cabinet repair, sheetrock repair, and new flooring. I have started repairing the cabinetry myself, not knowing what I'm doing, and only having a drill and a jigsaw and a Home Depot 3 miles away. I got lucky and found a great drywall guy who fixed all the holes in the wall. And I'm in the process of hiring a flooring company. It's incredibly difficult to find a contractor to do all of that these days. This nearly 59-year-old widowed lady is learning some things. 😉
In today's market I would suggest not taking the cash value of ma claim unless you can do the work yourself. Cheers! Happy to hear you are learning and hope you get this figured out. Cheers!
I have changed my name to "DIY" because i have started doing everything myself (within reason). I have learned alot, broken alot, and repaired alot of things within the past 3 years. I fixed a bathroom leak recently and had no idea what to do... I called a plumber friend of mine and he walked me through all of the parts to get, tools that i needed (we had a 30 minute talk of crimp vs clamp for pex) via facetime. Then he guided me through assembling and testing the install once complete. I think there may be some kind of market for a service like that, where an "older" installer or a "tradesman" with injuries can still make money by walking a "DIYer" through their project and giving them the support and knowledge so they can be confident making their upgrades. This could be offered as a remote service or onsite.
I hired 2 contractors. One to install floor and the other for the floor. The guy for the floor wanted us to do all the labor amd all he does is install the vinyl planks. Told him to F off and found some else. The guy for the drywall we are his side job. He is honest and does good work. Just a pain in the ass as he wants to do what he wants to do and not listen to what we want. Im to the point where I would rather learn and DYI.
Another fantastic video!! 👏 you truly are amazing and I genuinely mean that Jeff. You have no idea how much youve helped me with a variety of projects. I had grown up doing this stuff with my father, and as I got older and a little wiser, some of his lessons didnt seem to make sense to me, my intuition lead me to try and learn more and more which eventually led me to your channel.... long story short, ive ditched most of my fathers teachings when it came to constuction because of you and honestly im glad I did. Youve simplified the process and have even EXPLAINED WHY!!! Which was HUGE for me. Im by nature a visual learner. So again Jeff, truly thank you for All that you do. Love your family team. I would love for my family to get into this as well. Right now, its just me, making small renovations to our first house and your videos are truly GOLD!! Thank you again, God Bless and safety for you and your family
I feel this deeply. My house was built in the 80s and I have a switch plug that runs off of a 3 way switch. I am looking for someone to come and pull a switch leg to my ceiling and make that plug always hot. I have some electrical experience as I worked as a helper for years but this is above my comfort level. I have almost all of the parts, and the lowest I've been quoted was $500 to do this job.
that sounds like a reasonable offer. consider truck travel and business costs and profit sounds like they are going to make $300. then pay income tax. there are millions of people willing to pay so you decide. The electrician is not sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. Cheers!
Angie’s list is the worst here in the US for finding contractors. Nobody but the worst sign up with them. I was told early on in my business to stay away from them, but they still call me every week trying to get me to join. Every customer I’ve talked to who says they looked on Angie’s list first never has anything nice to say. Find a good contractor either by word of mouth, then Home Depot or Lowes, and then the thumbtack app.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY exactly. A flooring guy told me he kept getting sent leads and when he’d contact them, they actually wanted something totally different, like painting for example. So I’m getting the idea that all the good contractors left them. By the way, thanks for an amazing channel. Your info on here helped me build the confidence to quit my corporate desk job and start my handyman business. 1 year in business next week! Thank you for your hard work in building an amazing channel!
Spot on sir...I'm here on the Maryland Peninsula US and this has been noticeable for years...many are aging out and unfortunately the younger folks are not as trained and that leaves a gap also... ...some retirees are taking GC jobs...
In my small town area, we do our own work. But we had a bunch of Work from Home people from the big cities buy up all the houses and push the costs high. Now those same work from homers are whining because they can't get any contractors to do anything. Hey you wanted the small town life, you got it. As a trades guy, its been fun watching our salaries increase while theirs decrease, supply and demand. Dont like it? Do the work yourself, or move back to the city where you have more conveniences. Also, the reason you don't have more trades, is because the old timers don't want to train any apprentices, because it cuts into their money and creates competition for them. They didn't plan their finances.
It is much harder to get a contractor in the city than any small town. This is happening everywhere not just in Canada, and no doubt those WFH people moving to the country get a lot more house to live in than they had stayed in the city. They still get to earn big city wages which are invariably higher than the usual small town wages.
Yeah, the problem with not having enough new people joining the trades is squarely the convoluted and broken apprenticeship system in Canada. Because trust me -- I tried becoming a year 0 electrical apprentice, and goooooood luck getting ANYONE to accept you. They all want year 4 apprentices. It's not a people problem. It never is. There will always be people willing to work for good money. This isn't the 1960s and 1970s anymore Jeff, when you were young and everyone was looking to train people, and you could just walk in on a site and get an apprenticeship. Today, unless you get in by nepotism, you aren't getting in.
I have been renovating a house in the midwest of the U.S and finding a good contractor has been a job in itself. Needed a whole house drywall work, I called about 6 contractors, but only 3 answered, one had to wait for about 3 months, and the second one came out and quoted for a reasonable sum with a wait of 4 weeks. The third one was two highschool age boys showing up with blaring music in their car, without me showing them the entire house they quoted me a ridiculous sum. I asked if they do the work, and they told me they would sub out. That night one of the boys accidentally sent me a text intended for the other with a youtube video showing how to do drywall. Needless to say, I went for the second contractor and they did well on the drywall job. The moral of the story for me is that we are willing to wait and pay more for good contractors nowadays.
Lol I got super lucky signing $150k remodel in Jan 2020. Priced doubled before we were done. I inspected their work EVERY DAY, and pointed out deficiencies. Found electrical wiring (2) swear labor just pushed hot wire to look like it was in a box. Passed actual building inspection because no inspector pulls on every wire. I pulled and traced every wire. I actually drew every wiring path and circuit for my reference. Same with every utility. I pointed out this quickly do they could be resolved. I also had a copy of citied current version of Residential building code The high dollar contractors filed bankruptcy 7 times around here. They all suck. They just charge more. Paying same subs! So true on DIY, I saved 40k doing large portions myself, but I knew my time limits. All Demo, flooring and painting. Things that didn’t or wouldn’t hold up contractor.
Great video and so true. I paid a fortune for my renovated kitchen like the price of a car but the contractor I chose had such great reviews I didn’t bat an eye about his 30 day warranty and all but 3% to be paid before he completed the job. I feel that this contractor’s intentions was to make as much as possible off me even doing work that he generally hires subcontractors to do. My porcelain floor has been a constant issue and cracks under the even lightest impact. Everything except for the plumbing was ripped out and replaced and reinstalled due to poor workmanship. The entire renovation took over a year to complete. Next time I’ll be sure to request contact info for testimonials or reviews.
I’m a homeowner with decent DIY skills that learned from you and applied in my own house. Now I’m considering offering myself to do those projects for other people. Small drywall repair, painting, trim carpentry, installing shelving and TVs, etc. When I’m quoting jobs I figure I’ll estimate the hours required and multiply it by $150CAD, add the material cost x1.3 and then give them the quote as a lump amount. Does this sound reasonable-ish?
I'm a Professional Engineer and don't even get close to $150/hour for pricing small projects; let alone adding 30% overhead on materials. I think we need to be a bit more reasonable.
on average handymen make 85$ an hour in north america. However in certain markets you can definitely get $150 which really upsets a lot of educated folks but supply and demand dictate the market. if you can close 30% of your quotes then there is nothing wrong with your pricing. Cheers!
I think you had a lot of really good points Jeff! I myself have been an installer for quite a while and have been steadily picking up different skills over the years and spending time improving them but been modest and know I’m not gonna take on big renovations...especially if i didnt have some wizards of the trades that i could sub things out too. Even some whole room renovations I don’t feel comfortable taking on even if I have the skills. Its like you said, I pick a handful of what I like and leave the rest. An absurd amount of work out there. And as you know, it goes both ways. Sometimes its better knowing which jobs arent worth the headache that comes with them (*coughs* homeowners)
I cant agree more about checking out the job sites or previous projects done by the contractor. I did that while looking for a drywall mudder and this one guy who was recommended by 2 neighbors wasnt even a drywall guy. He was just an after regular job guy that did mudding on the side. His work quality on my neighbor's house was terrible and yet they still recommended him. I also did the same for my landscaper by visiting a previous job and talked to the home owners. My visual of a great work product on their house translated to my house as well. The homeowners also warned me of an extended timeline from this contractor which i was williing to wait due to the contractor having a huge backlog. This way, i wasnt caught off guard. Waited a year for them but got an amazing finished product.
I am in the gas trades with a decade and a half experience with my Gas Contractors License and am swamped with repeat customers I have had for 5-10 years and with new offers all of the time. I tell them how far out I am and they ask for referrals. I don't have much to refer them to, a lot of the people have retired and a lot of the younger inexperienced ones I won't put my name and rep to. I turn away work and I charge $125/hr min plus parts. This time of year is primarily service work for me [mostly fireplaces/firepits and such], and I am booked until February already. I don't want to start a big business with a lot of employees, lol. I am happy doing it part time [20-30 hrs a week]. But right now am doing 40-50 hours a week. It was supposed to be part time so I can slow down and look forward to retiring, lmao. Don't get me wrong, money coming in is always great, but, having a good reputation can also be a pain. I have regulars that constantly refer friends and family. I regularly turn down work, either because I don't have the time to get to them or quite frankly, I don't want the work and want to slow down. Helluva a problem, I tell you. LOL.
Lordy, just had my bathrooms renovated, and your discussion hits a nerve. My father was a cabinet maker and finishing carpenter to boot, so I expected a lot. Cheers.
This is the kind of video that makes someone just want to sell the old house and look for a new one just to avoid dealing with contractors of any kind.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Oh the contractors would just love that wouldn't they? 😄 Here's the thing. I've designed a flawless home which will last ten lifetimes, immune to the elements, which will never need a lick of maintenance. Oh you want the blueprint do you? It's a secret 😁
You are not wrong! I hired somebody I knew trying to help out his business. He cost almost as much as a professionals who were going to fix my piping issues. Now I have a new bath tub very poorly installed. And I still have my plumbing issues. This is what I call poor man's tax. He was a bit cheaper but now I have to pay double like you said.
I think this video just came at the right time. Called 3 companies. One replied and pretty much said no thanks. 2 didn't reply. I have 20k I am willing to spend and I think I'm going to try to do a lot more/ the 50% remaining on my own also.
Jeff. I’m one of these “installers” that you describe in the video. I’m self employed. I only paint and do drywall patches (sometimes repair doors etc). Owners ask me to renovation projects and I decline all that work since it’s illegal. (I’m not a licensed contractor). I’ve worked on many renovation projects as a laborer/installer though in the past. I really want to be a renovation contractor or GC someday, but in Florida you have to have 4 years of school/experience under a GC including foreman experience. I don’t even know a single licensed GC and if I found one to hire me it would be at $15.00/hr which wouldn’t be enough for my bills. I wish there was like a 1-2 year in person course I could take to become a basic level renovator and learn everything I need. I really enjoy renovating and do it on my own house just for a hobby, but can’t see a reasonable way to do it for customers without going to college for 4 years.
I’ve been waiting since at least November of last year when I started my siding request from a buddy of mine and his family business. I finally got them to come out in June to take a look at what I needed and the next week I picked out a sample and as of right now I’m “Still on the list…….”
I had a contractor buddy tell me two things many years ago that always stuck with me 1) A contractor who doesn't want to take a job will never turn down a job however they will over price it hoping you will go with someone else. And if you still go with them, then bonus for them 2) If they are available to start tomorrow don't go with them. Times have changed.
minor quibble - we were TAUGHT blood sweat and tears is not a good way to make a living. College college college college was drummed in since middle school if not younger.
Great video 👍👍. U hit the nail right on the head 🤪😃. I'm 64, been in the business over 40 years. I'm a Liscensed GC in the State of New Mexico, it take 5 years of experience, plus a Contractor to sign u off to get you GC Licence. I'm now living in Fl over 20 years and I Was a Renovator and I'd hire Licensed Subs when necessary. To find ANY help is impossible and the DAMN thing out here, the home owners don't want to pay for the cost of most jobs. I've just got into a Big Remodel job, an addition and I called an acquaintance that I've worked with that is a Liscensed GC, he does excellent work and he said quote " Na, I don't do this any more, (he's my age) I'm just taking care if my rentals". I asked him if he new of anyone he could reccomend that could or would get involved and he said not really, everyone he dealt with is also retiring. What I'm getting at is, this new generation DOES NOT want to work this hard to even get into the trade and if u find someone they are GREEN, trying to be the big contractor!
Should really know more about the contractors to hire. If they have some portfolio they could present, the better. These people's job is not just a "physical job", it's Skills. Great video as always!
you have to be a tradesman a manager of people and materials an administrator an accountant and a salesman and a marketing genius. just to tape drywall. Cheers!
Hired a contractor to work on a gut job vacant home. He worked there for months and would leave the one functional powder room smelling like urine. Terrible aim I guess. One day I catch him pissing in the driveway when the powder room was very near. I found this to be very offensive especially since my neighbor has two young teenage girls. He saw that I pissed off. :). But weeks later I smell the faint smell of urine in my hallway... and I lost it! Instead of confronting him I got pay back. He had been working on my house for months and he had several tools in the garage and tool bags etc. So one evening I decided to not piss in the powder room but rather went to town in all of his tool bags. Felt great.
@@Wazupiseeyou Noo I had a hunch he was going to quit and leave me hanging. That happened and he spent hours packing his tools. The feeling was glorious.
Agreed 100%. Just had dome work done. They were booked for 6 months and I was willing to wait. They had an opening do do part of the job as someone cancelled - I thought great no problem- - they left a 21 year old inexperienced person to do the job. It's a mess. I have to now try to fix it. They are supposed to come back for more work - now I'm not so sure I want them. If you are willing to leave a learner bee alone and they do a terrible job - do I want you back? I have to question the contractors judgement now. While he didn't do the work, he left them alone, inspected it and should have seen the fact that it was bad. Finding people to do the work is hard sadly but I may just put it all off until I find someone as some of this other work is pulling up cement to put in a shower / bath. Not work I want just any one doing. It's rough. Thank you for posting this. I feel less like all this was my imagination. In terms of the people around and the wait times. It makes more sense now.
So long story short good help is hard to find and you get what you pay for. Yeah I learned that one he hard way a few years back which brings me to my question for you: Is there a minimum level of quality or standard practice that can be expected if not otherwise written in the contract? For example I had a retaining wall built with limestone cap and the contract only said x feet of limestone cap and at the time I didn’t think about needing to be more detailed than that and he didn’t go into further detail. There were of corners and not only did he not miter them (I understand that’s very hard to do with stone even though I’d seen it done) but he also put the seams in the most visible spot possible. There are even more examples in that one project but you get the idea. In this situation did I have any recourse at all or is it just pay him and lesson learned? FYI The adhesive was already set by the time I saw it or I would have gladly paid for extra material to have it redone. Moving forward of having to hire a contractor I try to be as detailed as possible but sometimes things arise as the project progresses or are things I didn’t know at the start. Is it bad practice to try to micromanage and helicopter over the contractors as their working so I can stay ahead of things and make sure the final product turns out as I had pictured it? This is why I can’t agree more when you say “you are your own best contractor” and I try to do as much as I can myself. I appreciate the long read. Can you maybe do a video on these types of situations? Cheers!
every industry has standards. the sad truth is that most new housing projects build below that standard. combine that with poor minimum code and you get a lazy shortcut filled learning curve for most laborers out there. they spend 5 years working and think they know all they need to be a contractor. kind of like a 10 year old who doesn't need anyone's advice anymore. they think they got this. Cheers!
I almost always start with $1000 worth of work with my clients, I find it difficult to get big jobs with people I don’t know. Then they give me $10-20k worth of work because they know what they are buying. My advice to clients who can’t find a contractor: start with a small job easy to quote. You’ll have a better chance to attract contractors. Don’t try to find a contractor for $50k worth of work. Some will add a ton of padding so they don’t get burnt. Others won’t even bother quoting because they don’t want to spend 5-8 hours quoting a complicated job for nothing. Start with the powder room, then move on to the bathroom if the guy is good. Don’t give a $25k bathroom to a contractor just because your gut says you can trust him. You’re not a blue collar, your gut doesn’t work. Be rational.
I think a lot of the new generation of workers are in computer science who can develop apps, work for silicon valley corps and still make 6 figs and work from home. Its still a really new labour market and new workers these days are in the first generation to grow up with internet access their entire lives. A lot easier on the body than working trades, and doesn't necessarily require schooling either.
I was a coder for 4 years before moving to contracting. I had a bad back and was weak from sitting all day. Now in trades, im strong and feel good. Working from home is over rated lonely and pointless. Regards.
@@BenVanCamp Exactly, can't imagine ever working in an office for a day, let alone a career. Maybe it's for lazy people that wouldn't survive an hour in the trades but not good to sit in a chair all day breathing in recycled air. Must take decades off your life.
Maybe Rob, but anyone in computers knows they don't have a job in 5 years with the development of A I all those skilled techies will be better off joining the labor market now and develop their business before the wave develops too great!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Sorry Jeff, but as someone in IT there are a lot or ridiculous claims about AI. It is very good at well defined narrow tasks. The kind of artificial _general_ intelligence (AGI) you are talking about is absolutely not going to be available in five years. A decade ago experts guessed with a mean of 2081. Also, let me put it this way... anything intelligent enough to do my job will be intelligent enough to do anyones job, including all skilled labour/trades/contracting.
The thing that frustrates me the most as a retired (disabled) tradesman is how the general homeowner wants everything for nothing. When I was working, everyone wanted me to do "side work" at a discount. In local social media, I constantly see people looking for a "handyman" to do cheap work because they don't want to to pay for the knowledge and experience of professional tradesman. It has driven all the "good" labor into a commercial/industrial work which exacerbates the problem leaving the turds to cover the residential market.
I've learned I can probably learn it and do it myself better in most cases. Drywall and plumbing not withstanding. Can't lift the sheets, and I hate leaks :) Gypski contractor from next door framed two walls in my shop. I looked at what they did, and framed the rest myself. Drywall guy came in and asked me if the gypski's walls were the ones I put up because the others (The walls I framed and secured) were professionally done and so they couldn't be "mine"... (yea, right) Oh, yes, I watched your entire series on drywall, but found out I was too old to hoist 5/8" myself and I had no helpers that "wanted to work", so I had to find a 'guy'. He did a 'mediocre' job, left a shyteton of cleanup to do, as well as the walls unsealed, but that, I can handle.
Nothing wrong with that. keep learning and maybe do side gigs to develop your skills. just be honest with folks about your experience and you will be surprised how many will hire you anyway.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY yessir that's a good plan. I'm in my early 30s so I'm happy with it. And that's why I don't take on remodels yet. Like Benjamin Franklin says, honesty is the best policy.
I know the feeling, I've been a insulator/ Heating and cooling ,HVAC rap installer. I've been offered the business and it's a profitable one. I've been doing it for 25 plus years, For the last 2 years we haven't kept any young guys on from the age of 20 something. Like 10 guys we have gone through that time. They just DONT want to WORK!!!
Have been following you for sometime and absolutely enjoy the information and education I have received. Only one complaint....on this side of the 49th we pronounce the last letter of the alphabet "Zed"....not "Zee" . Thanks and let's ensure our Canadian identity remains strong
My area doesn't allow homeowners to do plumbing, so the plumber I hired to put a bath drain and shower lines for a new tub/shower had to do the install twice and now there's a leak. And it cost $1k for maybe $100 in materials.
I'm going to do my own remodel, even if it turns out crappy. I just want to do it. But I can't start for months. My house is wiggling around all over the place because of a leaky drain pipe under the slab. I'm not doing that myself. My question is, what is the etiquette when people are working on your house? Like do you hang around them and watch? Does that piss them off? Just leave them alone? I work from home, but I can't really do much of that when there's all kinds of stuff going on around here, so I think I'll be hanging around watching them. I know better than to get in the way and all that, but I'm just a curious guy. On the other hand, though, I wouldn't want people hanging around watching me work.
I just did exactly what you talked about. Couldn't find anyone worth their salt and not able to find anyone anyhow. So I DIYed it all and saved myself huge bucks. UA-cam is a powerful advisor as long as you take time to look at many videos of particular types of work. I installed a combi boiler, installed electrics and plumbing, installed the gas lines, hung doors, installed flooring, installed stairs, installed a water softening whole house system and much more. All of that I have never done before and thsnks to UA-cam and guys like you I did it all without any errors or problems. Most of that I would never be allowed to do it myself because of town/city building codes. However the town I'm in has no codes to prevent it and in fact they don't even have occupancy permits. And you are absolutely on the mark about quality of work. I am fully invested in a good job being done. But in so many instances I've had contractors who "do just enough" to get by and collect a check. In over 20 years and owning 3 different houses I have only had 3 fully competent, honest contractors. The rest fell into a range between dishonest to absolutely horrible...one I had to ban from ever coming on my property.
I'm having a shop built in the South. The exterior will be painted T1-11 until I install vinyl siding after a full season or so. If I was vinyl siding now I'd put the "vapor barrier" over unpainted T1-11. So in this case Do I put vapor barrier behind T1-11 against the wall studs ??
Tremendous video! Forwarding to my son. Supports what I have been telling him for a career. I have been always DIY. Off topic. What is your laptop and specs? Mine crashed. Probably like usage. Thanks for your efforts!!
My wife and I learned pretty fast that being desperate to get someone to do a job, because of the shortage of the market and availability, has cost us more in the long run. We hired a landscaper that supposedly came highly recommended, but for what we needed him and his crew to do, ultimately felt like it was done by amateurs. We are now fixing his mistakes ourselves though, instead of hiring someone else, but now we're gun shy about finding any other contractors to take care of other issues. I'd love to be able to take care of them myself, but I'm far from qualified so we either wait a year, or try to tackle it ourselves. We had a plumbing problem about 6 months ago, hired a big name plumber, charged us a considerable amount of money and did a crappy job. We wound up calling in another plumber who charged us a reasonable amount of cash to fix some mistakes, but did a far better job, so maybe we got lucky, or we did find genuinely qualified guys that we'd happily call in again, if needed.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Part of the peoblem was moving to a remote location, where contractors were already sparse. I really hate to talk ill of anyone who tries to help another but you know, if a contractor can't do something, they need to own up to it rather than make like they do know what they're doing and ultimately screw up the job. We've learned some hard lessons of late, hence why we're making every effort to do a lot on our own. In hindsight, what was done, was a far sight better than what we had, but as you say, why pay for it twice? Once will do thank you, as long as you truly know what you're doing.
I believe Jeff is understating the severity of the issue. AND, the big thing here which Jeff alludes to is that the effective rate that DIYers are paying themselves right now is about 3x what it was 3 years ago I'm my area. For most projects I calculate that I'm making somewhere around $150 per hour doing my own work. For example sprinkler blow out guy told me last week he wants $200 for a blowout that takes me 1 hour and he charged $75 for 3 years ago. I am not overlooking the fact that $200 paid to the "irrigation expert" is after tax and my savings is pretax since I can put that money in a pretax or tax deferred investment account so it actually costs me 25% more than the $200 or $250 for mr. irrigation expert to blow out my sprinklers. In addition DIYers are easing the pressure on the market by freeing up some of Mr. irrigation experts time.
My experience with hiring people no mater what level they are or how big/small there company is, is they are all idiots. Hired one of the best a/c companies in Vegas to install a new unit and it took them 3 tries to get it right. Unlike there motto “we do it right the first time.”
Jeff, the biggest problem homeowners fave hear is that contractors/ Handymen won't show up when they say they will and then most will tell customers that their project is too small and won't touch it. I'm usually booked out a minimum of 3 months and up to 8 months right now. I agree with you that the young and up coming generation is not willing or just has no interest in this type of work. Great video man! Thanks David
@@pavlokraievskyi2391 I have 3 magnetic signs on my truck and business cards. I'm in South Carolina and we have a app called Nextdoor Neighbor which is a site that neighborhoods use to get recommendations for services needed. Mostly it's word of mouth and repeat customers that saw me recommended on the site.
Schools in USA also have gotten rid of shop classes etc…. Something that would peak interest for young ppl to go to school for building sciences and trades; and can go to vo-Ed school/university or be an apprentice. Now, it’s completely different, sad
Just finished writing the formal notice for the licensed contractor that did my shower following a hidden flaw that I went in court for. Now the new shower is leaking and tiles are dislodging after two years… no wonder now I do everything myself and working on getting my license here in Quebec…
I totally get it. In the old days you could ask the contractor to show you proof of the training course for products but they threw that away since it decreased sales.
The current situation is complicated. If you're looking to capitalize on this crazy situation, and use the skills you've learned on the channel to make $$ you'll want to watch this 👉🏼ua-cam.com/video/5GOfX7YsLx4/v-deo.html
If you’re fishing for contractors on the open market, it’s very difficult. HOWEVER, if you do find a contractor you like, mine them for connections. Real recognizes real, and there can often be some kickback appreciation. Realize that there are a HUGE number of contractors who operate exclusively on referrals.
Totally agree
Agreed...I say after 3 years if you're good you'll be working just repeats and referrals, unless your a really big company
It really shouldn't be this difficult. Not saying it isn't, but it shouldn't be. It should be as easy as ordering a pizza. And if they don't show up in thirty minutes the job is free 👍
@@UToobin75 you obviously didn't watch the video
@@naughtyorgneiss Yes I did. Now carry on.
My wife and I got super lucky. We found our contractor when he did a sub job on an addition that we had done at our old home. He has been so helpful and we have become friends. I’m a young dad and his kids are older, and I started asking him if I could help with the projects to learn. I have learned SOO much from him and he told me he enjoys passing along his knowledge as his sons don’t seem to be interested.
And besides making a friend and learning all these new skills, it has given me the confidence to tackle bigger projects knowing that I can call on him to help me if I get stuck. I recently asked him why he’s so receptive in a time when no one can find good contractors. His answer “you and your family are nice, friendly, appreciative and I genuinely like coming and doing work for you guys” Just gotta hope he never moves 😂
people love working in a great environment. If your contractor is not showing up maybe it's time to look in the mirror and ask if you are creating a good work environment for them.
Hey thanks for keeping a balanced opinion on contractors. People always bash contractors but never talk about cheap or crazy customers! The trades is not easy it's highly skilled work, most guys I know cant do more than 1 or 2 trades, so the people that can do multiple and also manage projects deserve to make money
That is a really good point. great project manager is worth a great salary. Cheers!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY I got 16 years of framing experience , some renovation experience ( 3rd house complete renovation ) being a contracting isnt for everybody , I replaced my boss for a few weeks due to an injury and now i know it's not for me . Sirs i raise you my hard hat before i get back to work .
I recently bought a fixer upper and have been renovating it with my dad. It's been great learning all the skills and knowledge he's accumulated over the decades as a homeowner and carpenter.
Its amazing how much there is to learn about home maintenance and construction. It can be daunting sometimes, but very satisfying once a big project is finished.
Yup something you can be proud of and pass along to future generations the skills and knowledge.
I agree. I did the same. It's a lot of frustrated noises, but it makes you feel so accomplished to learn how to DIY house maintenance, and then even renovation eventually.
That is awesome!
I start my drywall project in my basement this weekend. I’ve watched your A-Z video multiple times with notes! I plan on rocking it out thanks to your great instructional expertise! Cheers!
You'll screw up at least 100 times. I learned from his videos as well, didn't even know a drill had a reverse setting before. The wonderful part is that drywall is a WONDERFUL thing to screw up as you have mud, foam, and sanding. You can fix anything you mess up until you get good at it. I just finished floating our kitchen that I tore down to studs and it went at least 2x as fast and smoothly as the first time I tried just doing some patching.
I followed the steps too and although daunting, it came out pretty good!
Stay positive and remember that you can always sand away your mistakes haha
Well done Aleks. a pro in no time! Cheers!
At this point I've given up on contractors and am DIYing everything. Either they never show up, never return my calls, or they do crap like leave their garbage all over the place and never do things to code.
If I'm going to rebuild this cabin I'm going to do it myself and do it to my spec.
So true. I called up 4 electricians for a Tesla 240V charger installation. 3 did not respond. One came out said he'd do a load calculation and never heard from him again.
Hi Jason, Glad to be here to support Diy'ers. Cheers!
@planes and bikes so much for going all electric cars in a few years. there is no one left to do the installs. LoL Cheers!
I'm glad you made this video. I'm learning to be my own contractor just by watching your video's. As you say you are your best contractor. I believe that. Thanks for showing and teaching me what to do. Cheers!!!!
Cheers Randy you got this!
Likewise im a house painter but he taught me to hang gib and plaster without the stress, great videos. Dan, New zealand.
LOL, love the cut of your Gib! Cheers!
if nothing else that breakdown of experience is GOOOLD! I have been telling this to my family for years and getting frustrated and into arguments about who to choose to be our contractor. Now I finally have the why behind paying more for the job and justifying it. Thank you so much.
nothing wrong with paying good money for the right contractor the first time. Cheers!
Do you mean your spouse or do you and your kids fight about it too?
one thing ive learned is to make friends with an experienced "flipper" and ask who they use (and trust). They go have been through the good and bad of hiring/ firing contractors
Here's something I've been thinking about too. I'm a laborer. Only been doing concrete masonry and sheetrock work and granite for 7 years. I don't call myself a finisher or pro by any means when I approach a customer I let them know up front how long I've been around and doing the work. I've worked with the big leagues and man let me tell you guys there is no fake it till you make it. There's a reason you see them driving these nice new raptors or trucks or whatever. They are masters with there hands. But i use this analogy a lot.
"I'm just like a tadpole that just grew legs. They can hop leaps and bounds above me as toads, but in time I'll hop to it as well". You have to want the craft noones going to teach you it. So this channel is invaluable with information. Don't try to be a big dog. Grow into one
Well said. Cheers!
Plumbers (2 to do the job) wanted $4K to replace a 36" fiberglass shower. I already removed the old shower and purchased the new shower and valve. I was going to do the drywall. All they were doing is the labor setting the shower and attaching the drain and valve. $4K??? No thanks. I bought a Pex crimper and did it myself in a couple of weeks taking it slow.
Cheers Tom, that is pretty much market rate right there.
I’m semi-retired & my income is somewhat limited. DIY is my best way to go. As a younger buck I was in the electrical trade. I still have the desire to learn how things work & function. Watching guys like Jeff & others has taught me a lot. I’m not as fast as I use to be but I still pay attention to detail. Do it right or don’t bother even starting.
I see a Sennheiser MK4 but I don't hear one. Okay I see now... Your mic is facing the wrong way. You're speaking into the back (i.e. null, i.e wrong side) of a cardioid mic. The talky side has the _S_ logo and the cardioid symbol which is currently facing the camera. Spin that thing around 180 degrees.
I learn a little contracting; I teach a little audio. Even Steven.
No matter what sise he is speaking into on the mic, sound is great. No matter
@@marymccowan6629 The first thing I noticed when the video started playing is that the sound is significantly shy of great. That's why I looked more closely at the microphone and that's why I left a comment. I'm pretty certain that if you heard him speaking into the correct side you'd prefer it to the current configuration.
@@helmanfrow I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I noticed was AC/DC!
@@julietphillips1991 Ha, yeah, that stood out as well.
Loving it. I will keep that in mind! Cheers!
Great advise. We are currently in the process of splitting between a great GC and DIY. We worked with a designer to fully redesign the interior of our home. They recommended some GCs and we ended up pausing due to covid. A year later we went back to the same folks to get quotes and start up again. We found the price had skyrocketed and lead times doubled. We hired the contractor we wanted but had a 1yr wait to start and a $200K price tag. To keep costs as low as I can and take advantage of the wait time, I am remodeling our laundry room and 3 bathrooms myself ahead of the GC starting work. It is amazing how much the market shifted in a year.
If you're not building extensions why not sub out work?
@@JOIHIINI in our case I am not because I don't have companies I already trust for most of the work. We are doing the final work on our home and I want it done as well as possible. I trust the GC to make sure that will happen. It is a greater risk to the project to try to find skilled tradesman if you don't already know who you want. I have been bitten before and offsetting that risk to someone else is worth the cost to me.
great point Aron, you hire a G.C. because of the connections and warranty. hiring things yourself multiplies your risk.
I've seen licensed contractors do horrible work and handymen with no license do amazing work. There is no one measure that determines anything.
Agree
Very true. I’m in my first year out on my own and giving 110% every day trying to build a name and reputation for myself. I treat every job as if it was my own property and go above and beyond every time… even on the first few jobs that I didn’t make any money on due to totally under estimating the amount of work, time and hidden surprises I would find. It sucked, but took it as a learning experience and didn’t cut any corners because of it.
Take care of your customers and treat them right by being honest and taking pride in the work you produce and you will always have work.
I'm a mechanic on heating units, boilers and heatpumps. Because of your videos, actually thinking about picking up renovation work! Thanks for your videos
Go for it! It is a great side gig. Cheers! more videos coming on that subject.
Just happened to me with a local window company. Laborers and installers did a great job installing the window but when it came to building a roof structure over the top. (Brand New bow unit) it was unsatisfactory and downright hazardous the first three times. Long story short the company ended up getting their illusive heavily booked subcontractor to come out and do it and now it's beautiful.
there is always room for trying a new cheaper guy. LOL
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY I think i'll be trusting myself and trusty contractor neighbor from here on out. 😂
Yeah...we hired a contractor who told us what they thought they could do...but they could not. Then...we had to hire another contractor to fix the problems the first one did. The first one tried, but they did not have the skill or knowledge to do the job right, or to repair the damage they caused. Nightmare!
Sandy the fact that you could even find 2 contractors tells me you are also taking bids from guys who are available. best to wait until you find someone who is not available and wait for them to be.
Jeff, you talk a lot of sense. I have recently started doing lots of repairs in my house. Dry wall has always been my fear. You got my butt off the couch by saying if I do the job myself I will make 300% towards my Equity. Thanks for that. I now have the excuse to do it myself and not have the wife tell me to call someone else to do it.
Cheers David, don't forget there is also that great feeling that comes with a job well done.
Just remember to buy a shop vac first if u dont have one and drop sheet all entryways, very thoroughly my wife will never live down my first time skim coating lol
Vancouver carpenter is also a great channel for all things drywall
Best of luck! 👍
So right about DIY. I’ve spent hours on watching your vinyl plank installations and recommendations. I already have most of the great tools: table saw, miter saw… Better off than most! So now I have the encouragement, thanks so much for this vid! And of course, as you say, will do a better job as I have seen the flaws in many of my neighbor’s installations and I know they’re flaws because you have them pointed out!
Yep I watched the vinyl plank video and others for weeks. Finally knocked it out this spring at my moms place. It turned out great and can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner!
Glad to help
well done Chonyi R.
Had to get a roof repair where a few shingles blew off. altogether it was not more that 3 square feet of shingles so I called up 3 different companies for quotes and all of them told me the same thing they charge a 500 dollar minimum for repairs. Naturally I watched some videos and made the repairs myself. The repairs blend in and haven’t had any problems since. Now I have more confidence going into those types of repairs
I totally get it. today it costs a lot of money to get toa job and set up and be safe.
Great video!! Here's my little story that happened this last week. I install cameras at the biggest casino in the US and specifically only work with low voltage wiring. I've never done a remodel of any kind and definitely never worked with 120/240 voltage. I'm starting my own bathroom remodel and began with the ceiling but ran into a problem right off the bat. I needed to remove my existing exhaust fan in order to hang the new ceiling. I couldn't find an electrician so I submitted a work request on the "find a pro" program through Home Depot. Literally my request sat for 2 weeks until 1 person responded and said their quote would be $400 just to prepare the wiring for the new fan. This didn't include adjusting the hole size for the new fan or mounting it or venting it. They basically assumed the existing housing would have 120 voltage at the fan so they would come and show or prepare the power wires needed to connect the new fan. I laughed and watched UA-cam videos for a good week and then decided to take my best shot at the install. I determined the existing housing didn't even have 120 voltage so once I found where my 120 was at the switch on the wall, I reran new 14/2 from there to a new box I prepared in my attic where everything landed. I spent an entire day labeling all my existing wires to make sure everything would work after hooking it all up. While in the attic I found the existing fan had been improperly vented into the attic. I ran insulated 4" ductwork and connected it to the outside outer wall. I properly completed the install on my first try and not only did I not have to pay for the install, it paid me with the satisfaction of completing it by myself. I will say I wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for people like you Jeff and all the other people with great content on UA-cam!! Keep up the great work!!
I started diy on my first house just because shortage in labor and high material prices. I get few things wrong, but no one can give you that expirience. Im pretty sure i can do 50% better already after first try. I have made tables, benches, windows, bricklaying, isolation, roofing, plumbing, laminate installing, chainsaw tree droping... At the moment i work with plastering, tileing, ppr welding in bathroom. Day by day its going well, and its not big problem at all.
You are my kind of people. Cheers!
Yes! DIY is the way to go for so much. As a HIC myself who knows others in the trade, I tell people all the time that many of these guys presenting themselves as professionals are far from it, and they do not care about your home like you do. That extra care will take you farther than 90% of these guys out here will
Absolutely!!
My wife and I just went through the contractor conundrum this past year. We bought a lake house in the north east US and it turned out to be a gut renovation. Was hard finding a contractor and the company we hired was a just a headache of sloppy work and slow progress. Overall they did a good job but we had to DIY some things over. Even had to hire another plumber/HVAC to fix mistakes our contractor did. Your channel is a big help, thanks for helping me become a better painter.
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I live in the Balkans, but damn man, this is 100% true and real. It seems like all the people that knows what they are doing are just gone. (with exceptions ofc.
sad but true. Cheers to the Balkans!
this guy is a treasure! my god shady contractors must hate him. He is giving away kniwledge thats worth 1000ss/
The good guys are too busy and/or won’t take small jobs. My wife and I went to a well known Reno company endorsed by a very well known and respected contractor celebrity (sorry Jeff, not you) and they flat out told us it was a year wait and they didn’t take jobs under $60k.
So I hired myself, binge watched Home Renovision, and bought new tools at HomeDepot. Win win.
Funny how the big company needs a t.v. actor to be their best representative. that should be your first clue there are not enough positive reviews. I think you dodged a bullet! Cheers!
I am pretty sure I know what company you are talking about in Ottawa / Orleans and I had a buddy quit working for them. I too think you dodged a bullet like Jeff suggested
We will leave it at that. Cheers!
I literally just went through this. Hired a guy to do what I thought was a small project. He said it would take a day and a half. It took him 4 days to do whatever he did. I had to keep checking on him. He did not do the best job. I decided I am just going to finish the work myself.
Great decision. no need to leave them working away and making it worse.
I hired a crew to install a pergola. Two girls showed up, sat on my lawn for 4 hours talking, then they wanted to lag bolt the 6x6 beams to the composite deck on a prefab build... without doing anything else. I put a stop to it before they destroyed my new composite deck. In 4 hours they accomplished installing 4 screws on the metal feet. paid them off and did it myself in a few days. Took them a week to come pick up their tools.
Between 15 to 18, while in high school I worked part time for a residential electrical company, doing new home installs. Between 18 and 20 while in community college, I worked full time for a small commercial electrical company, doing strip mall units and renos. Between 20 and 24, while finishing up my college degree, I worked fulltime for a residential/commercial electrical service company. After finished up a college degree in graphic design at 24, I decided to take the electrical master's exam, having met the in trade hours requirement for my state. At 25, I started my own electrical service company. After a few years of home owners asking "if I knew a guy" for this or that, I started leaning different trade crafts. At 32, I started a new company for home repairs and basic renos. I wanted both companies to remain small, so only had a crew for each and I would bounce between the two when needed. In my mind I am successful, both companies make enough money to pay crews a full 40hr week when weeks are short, here and there. I advertise by "word of mouth", which even in this modern day keeps us busy. At the end of the day, your definition of success will determine your work ethic.
When we bought our house, we had 2 HVAC flex ducts which needed to be replaced.
Of the 3 companies I asked quotes from, one refused the job, another quoted over $3000 and another said they could replaced all 10 of our aging ducts for $3000. I ended up replacing the 2 ducts myself for $200, but needless to say the third company had the best quote.
When our HVAC system shut down they were the ones we called and they did a great job diagnosing and fixing it. We always use and recommend them when we need that type of work
Contractors are faster than DIY? Maybe they usually are but my next door neighbour had their 2 little sundecks replaced and the little company they hired took no less than 10 months to complete the job! No doubt the contractor was doing the merri-go-round with 5 contracts at once. Then they had a mini split heat pump put in and it cost them 8 grand. I fixed my similar deck structure myself for around 2,000 and put in a 2 ton mini split for 2500. Also 8 weeks ago had Anderson quote me $22,000 to replace 6 windows. I just completed 4 of them cost me about $3k all in, custom size and high quality locally made windows (only 3 weeks from order to delivery too). I just completed our lower suite kitchen remodel and moving on to a bathroom remodel and 4 car garage build this winter. I'm at an age and finances I could hire it all done but can't find anyone to do it in a timely manner. But also .. I find the DIY a lot of fun after taking 10 years away from it.
I’m young but my father/family has always worked trades.
So I would borrow any tools I need. Get the job done faster and I save money.
Now I’m acquiring tools so I don’t have to borrow.
Seeing how much GC’s charge vs how much a project actually costs in material is crazy to me.
I have to say tho. That I will gladly pay when I know something is out of my league.
Well done!
Thank you for helping us DIY people in these times. I’ve learned so much from you. Thank you
Glad to help, Cheers Dustin!
and congrats at being the highest subscribed Contracting UA-camr Jeff...Reppin Canada Baby!!
I don't really expect to get too far at 45 years old, with only a couple years of framing. But, you gotta try. Hope that construction management associates can give me a lift up. I've been doing labor jobs all my life. Something must give
I would suggest you start doing side gigs to develop your skills. gain confidence and fix up your cv to get a better job. Cheers! 45 is only half way through the race. finish strong.
I totally agree. If the young people today are not willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears of doing the trade, you're better off doing it yourself. I have little to no free time to do my own projects and am always looking for people to do work for me. It's a shame that the younger generations today do not have a clue how well they can do IF they pick up a trade. Honestly, I enjoyed learning about electricity. I SHOULD HAVE become an electrician! I totally enjoy doing the work. I've had professionals and inspectors check my work and receieved high praise for what I had done. It was some of the most rewarding work I could have ever done. And now, there is a huge shortage of electricians. My goal is to future proof my home as much as possible over the next 10 years. That way when I retire, I don't have to worry about the onslaught of expensive repairs when I'm not capable of fixing in my 70's and 80's.
Buy a house to find that all prior work was done subpar. Find drywall behind reno bathroom installed with 6 roofing nails. Redon kitchen has hot outlets pushed into wall instead of removing and running 6' of new wire. Addition floor joists not tied into ordinal home structure. Everything touched on the home done improperly. Old owner didnt know any better on who he hired.
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Thank you ever so much Jeff! Such a relevant topic...and yes, it has been 4 yrs struggling with the logistics to get a big extension started.
A month ago I was ready to give up! Once local retired contractor reached out to help me, a sort of contractor advisor, wanting nothing but agreed to something$. Your erase board was effective! Thank you.....and yes, advice was to first get the draftsperson to get the plans, a few months for that task, then go get the permit, on Prince Edward Island that will take many months as there are so few and they quit. Once these two are done, WAIT for the contractor....just like you said....Wait for the next year if you have to for the better contractor who is booked years in advance...of course I am talking about an extension, ICF foundation with 3 storey high, to match the height of the original home. 🙏🙏🙏 Jeff.From East Canada.🇨🇦🍁
Hey Jeff, all kidding aside - I want to address one key point you made. It's not that the younger generation don't want to do labour...it's that the education system in North America (or at least Ontario) has had a GIANT push towards getting students into University. Regardless of whether or not it's beneficial for them financially in the long run. There's a reason why these pointless majors such as Gender Studies are growing in enrollment in acamedia. Universities don't care because it allows them to pay for the bloated administration wages. We have also defunded technical teaching heavily so many people get zero exposure to any technical trades in high school. The younger generation simply don't know any better. I'm speaking from my own experience as a high school science teacher in Ontario.
It's mainly about a big demographic shift towards aging population and excessive stimulus creating a global worker shortage in every industry, not any worse in construction than it is in health care that is for sure! The schools were pushing kids away from the trades in the 80s and 90s too when I was young. Have to admit I regret not entering the trades as a youngster even though I make more than them now working in health care. But I much prefer doing DIY renovations, so should have stuck with it. I have some very wealthy neighbours: electrician, framer, plumber have the 3 nicest houses on my street which is all wealthy professionals. The framer built himself a stunning modern 6,000sf house for himself 9 years ago, right across from me. The electrician has 6 car garage and lift for his Porsches. Both those guys' homes worth well over 2 million now. Vancouver Island is the most lucrative market of all for skilled trades imho.
As a young guy another reason is contractors never wanted to take on apprentices. What the hell was I supposed to do when no one wanted to give me a change and if they did it paid minimum wage.
WTF was I supposed to do. Jeff is just another whiny boomer, god forbid people today want to get paid enough to survive.
Sorry not a boomer. and not whinny. I spent years working for 11 bucks an hour to learn the skills I have. now I am a millionaire trying to hep others. The attitude you just displayed ism why nobody brought you on. We can smell a sense of entitlement a mile away. start with humility and it will take you far.
The reality is every last guy I work with who is over 45 looks absolutely beat to hell... My cousin's who worked government for 20 years who now are around 90-127k per year are literally bored at their jobs enjoying long walks on their lunch breaks.. frequent vacations and work from home 2-3 days a week or off every other Friday. They buy new cars every few years... And will be retired and healthy around age 55. The guys I know who run construction are in their 60s and don't plan on stopping. They spend so much money on overhead, tools, gas ect.. plus I've seen so many injuries. Any man who has installed flooring for weeks or done framing in the middle of the summer knows what it feels like to be exhausted. I'm not even 35 and have been building for 18 years. though I make great money as a owner I watch endless young guys making $18-25. I always tell them to leave their relationships behind and get into union and commercial. These guys are making double or triple . This kills the home market but it's just hard for the contractors to share the wealth because new tools and toys always take priority.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY okay boomer. I was just fired and stiffed by one of your kind. The guy I was working for was convinced I had never worked a day of painting in my life. Fired me for being cocky and arrogant because he didn't like the look on my face or something.
Funny thing about that is that it was the same guy I worked for on my very first construction job ever 10 years ago.
Sometimes you're just being a boomer. We don't all want to work at a crackheads pace.
Yes that happened to me and they did a terrible job. The floor is leaking, tub pan shifting and grout failure. Upstairs master bathroom. 😢
Someone ruined my bathroom also. It took me three years to dig out of it by redoing it myself. I'm slow and the situation really depressed me so I would so some work and then take a long break. It was awful. I do most things myself now. Except electric. Watch enough youtube videos until you feel confident to fix your bathroom. You can demo the tile and get a nice surround - Maax Utile surrounds are actually pretty nice - looks way better then a bad tile job.
unless the contractor is trained by the company that supplies the materials you should just do it yourself.
That is the reason we never tiled our showers on 2nd floor. In this area…I trust no one with waterproofing.
My dishwasher caused major water damage in my kitchen due to a busted supply line A YEAR AGO! I had a remediation company come out and basically destroy part of the kitchen. I get that it was necessary, but after insurance paid part of the claim I have been struggling to get anyone out to repair my kitchen including base cabinet repair, sheetrock repair, and new flooring. I have started repairing the cabinetry myself, not knowing what I'm doing, and only having a drill and a jigsaw and a Home Depot 3 miles away. I got lucky and found a great drywall guy who fixed all the holes in the wall. And I'm in the process of hiring a flooring company. It's incredibly difficult to find a contractor to do all of that these days. This nearly 59-year-old widowed lady is learning some things. 😉
In today's market I would suggest not taking the cash value of ma claim unless you can do the work yourself. Cheers! Happy to hear you are learning and hope you get this figured out. Cheers!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY - thanks, but what is "ma claim"?
@@awifeinterrupted a claim
I have changed my name to "DIY" because i have started doing everything myself (within reason). I have learned alot, broken alot, and repaired alot of things within the past 3 years. I fixed a bathroom leak recently and had no idea what to do... I called a plumber friend of mine and he walked me through all of the parts to get, tools that i needed (we had a 30 minute talk of crimp vs clamp for pex) via facetime. Then he guided me through assembling and testing the install once complete. I think there may be some kind of market for a service like that, where an "older" installer or a "tradesman" with injuries can still make money by walking a "DIYer" through their project and giving them the support and knowledge so they can be confident making their upgrades. This could be offered as a remote service or onsite.
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Also need a video about being careful who you do work for.....Always make sure to have a signed contract on EXACTLY what you are going to do....
working on that one. plus a few more really awesome things for contractors to help protect them from the crazy out there!
I hired 2 contractors. One to install floor and the other for the floor. The guy for the floor wanted us to do all the labor amd all he does is install the vinyl planks. Told him to F off and found some else. The guy for the drywall we are his side job. He is honest and does good work. Just a pain in the ass as he wants to do what he wants to do and not listen to what we want. Im to the point where I would rather learn and DYI.
I think most homeowners are getting there. Cheers!
Another fantastic video!! 👏 you truly are amazing and I genuinely mean that Jeff. You have no idea how much youve helped me with a variety of projects. I had grown up doing this stuff with my father, and as I got older and a little wiser, some of his lessons didnt seem to make sense to me, my intuition lead me to try and learn more and more which eventually led me to your channel.... long story short, ive ditched most of my fathers teachings when it came to constuction because of you and honestly im glad I did. Youve simplified the process and have even EXPLAINED WHY!!! Which was HUGE for me. Im by nature a visual learner. So again Jeff, truly thank you for All that you do. Love your family team. I would love for my family to get into this as well. Right now, its just me, making small renovations to our first house and your videos are truly GOLD!! Thank you again, God Bless and safety for you and your family
I feel this deeply. My house was built in the 80s and I have a switch plug that runs off of a 3 way switch. I am looking for someone to come and pull a switch leg to my ceiling and make that plug always hot. I have some electrical experience as I worked as a helper for years but this is above my comfort level. I have almost all of the parts, and the lowest I've been quoted was $500 to do this job.
that sounds like a reasonable offer. consider truck travel and business costs and profit sounds like they are going to make $300. then pay income tax. there are millions of people willing to pay so you decide. The electrician is not sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. Cheers!
Angie’s list is the worst here in the US for finding contractors. Nobody but the worst sign up with them. I was told early on in my business to stay away from them, but they still call me every week trying to get me to join. Every customer I’ve talked to who says they looked on Angie’s list first never has anything nice to say. Find a good contractor either by word of mouth, then Home Depot or Lowes, and then the thumbtack app.
I get it. there are other ways but I agree free lists to join is a weak business model.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY exactly. A flooring guy told me he kept getting sent leads and when he’d contact them, they actually wanted something totally different, like painting for example. So I’m getting the idea that all the good contractors left them. By the way, thanks for an amazing channel. Your info on here helped me build the confidence to quit my corporate desk job and start my handyman business. 1 year in business next week! Thank you for your hard work in building an amazing channel!
Spot on sir...I'm here on the Maryland Peninsula US and this has been noticeable for years...many are aging out and unfortunately the younger folks are not as trained and that leaves a gap also...
...some retirees are taking GC jobs...
I’ve been watching you,listening, I’m doing my own bathroom saving a lot and learning a lot ,thank you
Great to hear. Cheers Eric!
In my small town area, we do our own work. But we had a bunch of Work from Home people from the big cities buy up all the houses and push the costs high. Now those same work from homers are whining because they can't get any contractors to do anything. Hey you wanted the small town life, you got it. As a trades guy, its been fun watching our salaries increase while theirs decrease, supply and demand. Dont like it? Do the work yourself, or move back to the city where you have more conveniences. Also, the reason you don't have more trades, is because the old timers don't want to train any apprentices, because it cuts into their money and creates competition for them. They didn't plan their finances.
It is much harder to get a contractor in the city than any small town. This is happening everywhere not just in Canada, and no doubt those WFH people moving to the country get a lot more house to live in than they had stayed in the city. They still get to earn big city wages which are invariably higher than the usual small town wages.
Yeah, the problem with not having enough new people joining the trades is squarely the convoluted and broken apprenticeship system in Canada. Because trust me -- I tried becoming a year 0 electrical apprentice, and goooooood luck getting ANYONE to accept you. They all want year 4 apprentices. It's not a people problem. It never is. There will always be people willing to work for good money. This isn't the 1960s and 1970s anymore Jeff, when you were young and everyone was looking to train people, and you could just walk in on a site and get an apprenticeship. Today, unless you get in by nepotism, you aren't getting in.
I have been renovating a house in the midwest of the U.S and finding a good contractor has been a job in itself. Needed a whole house drywall work, I called about 6 contractors, but only 3 answered, one had to wait for about 3 months, and the second one came out and quoted for a reasonable sum with a wait of 4 weeks. The third one was two highschool age boys showing up with blaring music in their car, without me showing them the entire house they quoted me a ridiculous sum. I asked if they do the work, and they told me they would sub out. That night one of the boys accidentally sent me a text intended for the other with a youtube video showing how to do drywall. Needless to say, I went for the second contractor and they did well on the drywall job. The moral of the story for me is that we are willing to wait and pay more for good contractors nowadays.
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Lol I got super lucky signing $150k remodel in Jan 2020. Priced doubled before we were done. I inspected their work EVERY DAY, and pointed out deficiencies. Found electrical wiring (2) swear labor just pushed hot wire to look like it was in a box. Passed actual building inspection because no inspector pulls on every wire. I pulled and traced every wire. I actually drew every wiring path and circuit for my reference. Same with every utility. I pointed out this quickly do they could be resolved. I also had a copy of citied current version of Residential building code
The high dollar contractors filed bankruptcy 7 times around here. They all suck. They just charge more. Paying same subs!
So true on DIY, I saved 40k doing large portions myself, but I knew my time limits. All Demo, flooring and painting. Things that didn’t or wouldn’t hold up contractor.
Great video and so true. I paid a fortune for my renovated kitchen like the price of a car but the contractor I chose had such great reviews I didn’t bat an eye about his 30 day warranty and all but 3% to be paid before he completed the job. I feel that this contractor’s intentions was to make as much as possible off me even doing work that he generally hires subcontractors to do. My porcelain floor has been a constant issue and cracks under the even lightest impact. Everything except for the plumbing was ripped out and replaced and reinstalled due to poor workmanship. The entire renovation took over a year to complete. Next time I’ll be sure to request contact info for testimonials or reviews.
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I’m a homeowner with decent DIY skills that learned from you and applied in my own house. Now I’m considering offering myself to do those projects for other people. Small drywall repair, painting, trim carpentry, installing shelving and TVs, etc. When I’m quoting jobs I figure I’ll estimate the hours required and multiply it by $150CAD, add the material cost x1.3 and then give them the quote as a lump amount. Does this sound reasonable-ish?
I'm a Professional Engineer and don't even get close to $150/hour for pricing small projects; let alone adding 30% overhead on materials. I think we need to be a bit more reasonable.
on average handymen make 85$ an hour in north america. However in certain markets you can definitely get $150 which really upsets a lot of educated folks but supply and demand dictate the market. if you can close 30% of your quotes then there is nothing wrong with your pricing. Cheers!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Thank you Jeff
I think you had a lot of really good points Jeff! I myself have been an installer for quite a while and have been steadily picking up different skills over the years and spending time improving them but been modest and know I’m not gonna take on big renovations...especially if i didnt have some wizards of the trades that i could sub things out too. Even some whole room renovations I don’t feel comfortable taking on even if I have the skills. Its like you said, I pick a handful of what I like and leave the rest. An absurd amount of work out there. And as you know, it goes both ways. Sometimes its better knowing which jobs arent worth the headache that comes with them (*coughs* homeowners)
I cant agree more about checking out the job sites or previous projects done by the contractor. I did that while looking for a drywall mudder and this one guy who was recommended by 2 neighbors wasnt even a drywall guy. He was just an after regular job guy that did mudding on the side. His work quality on my neighbor's house was terrible and yet they still recommended him. I also did the same for my landscaper by visiting a previous job and talked to the home owners. My visual of a great work product on their house translated to my house as well. The homeowners also warned me of an extended timeline from this contractor which i was williing to wait due to the contractor having a huge backlog. This way, i wasnt caught off guard. Waited a year for them but got an amazing finished product.
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I am in the gas trades with a decade and a half experience with my Gas Contractors License and am swamped with repeat customers I have had for 5-10 years and with new offers all of the time. I tell them how far out I am and they ask for referrals. I don't have much to refer them to, a lot of the people have retired and a lot of the younger inexperienced ones I won't put my name and rep to. I turn away work and I charge $125/hr min plus parts. This time of year is primarily service work for me [mostly fireplaces/firepits and such], and I am booked until February already. I don't want to start a big business with a lot of employees, lol. I am happy doing it part time [20-30 hrs a week]. But right now am doing 40-50 hours a week. It was supposed to be part time so I can slow down and look forward to retiring, lmao. Don't get me wrong, money coming in is always great, but, having a good reputation can also be a pain. I have regulars that constantly refer friends and family. I regularly turn down work, either because I don't have the time to get to them or quite frankly, I don't want the work and want to slow down. Helluva a problem, I tell you. LOL.
Lordy, just had my bathrooms renovated, and your discussion hits a nerve. My father was a cabinet maker and finishing carpenter to boot, so I expected a lot. Cheers.
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This is the kind of video that makes someone just want to sell the old house and look for a new one just to avoid dealing with contractors of any kind.
LOL, assuming the new house does not have its own problems. Cheers!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Oh the contractors would just love that wouldn't they? 😄
Here's the thing. I've designed a flawless home which will last ten lifetimes, immune to the elements, which will never need a lick of maintenance. Oh you want the blueprint do you? It's a secret 😁
You are not wrong! I hired somebody I knew trying to help out his business. He cost almost as much as a professionals who were going to fix my piping issues. Now I have a new bath tub very poorly installed. And I still have my plumbing issues. This is what I call poor man's tax. He was a bit cheaper but now I have to pay double like you said.
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I think this video just came at the right time. Called 3 companies. One replied and pretty much said no thanks. 2 didn't reply. I have 20k I am willing to spend and I think I'm going to try to do a lot more/ the 50% remaining on my own also.
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Jeff. I’m one of these “installers” that you describe in the video. I’m self employed. I only paint and do drywall patches (sometimes repair doors etc). Owners ask me to renovation projects and I decline all that work since it’s illegal. (I’m not a licensed contractor). I’ve worked on many renovation projects as a laborer/installer though in the past.
I really want to be a renovation contractor or GC someday, but in Florida you have to have 4 years of school/experience under a GC including foreman experience. I don’t even know a single licensed GC and if I found one to hire me it would be at $15.00/hr which wouldn’t be enough for my bills. I wish there was like a 1-2 year in person course I could take to become a basic level renovator and learn everything I need.
I really enjoy renovating and do it on my own house just for a hobby, but can’t see a reasonable way to do it for customers without going to college for 4 years.
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I’ve been waiting since at least November of last year when I started my siding request from a buddy of mine and his family business. I finally got them to come out in June to take a look at what I needed and the next week I picked out a sample and as of right now I’m “Still on the list…….”
I totally feel your pain. Cheers!
I had a contractor buddy tell me two things many years ago that always stuck with me 1) A contractor who doesn't want to take a job will never turn down a job however they will over price it hoping you will go with someone else. And if you still go with them, then bonus for them 2) If they are available to start tomorrow don't go with them. Times have changed.
minor quibble - we were TAUGHT blood sweat and tears is not a good way to make a living. College college college college was drummed in since middle school if not younger.
Great video 👍👍.
U hit the nail right on the head 🤪😃.
I'm 64, been in the business over 40 years.
I'm a Liscensed GC in the State of New Mexico, it take 5 years of experience, plus a Contractor to sign u off to get you GC Licence.
I'm now living in Fl over 20 years and I Was a Renovator and I'd hire Licensed Subs when necessary.
To find ANY help is impossible and the DAMN thing out here, the home owners don't want to pay for the cost of most jobs.
I've just got into a Big Remodel job, an addition and I called an acquaintance that I've worked with that is a Liscensed GC, he does excellent work and he said quote " Na, I don't do this any more, (he's my age) I'm just taking care if my rentals".
I asked him if he new of anyone he could reccomend that could or would get involved and he said not really, everyone he dealt with is also retiring.
What I'm getting at is, this new generation DOES NOT want to work this hard to even get into the trade and if u find someone they are GREEN, trying to be the big contractor!
Yeah, you're right! They suck! Do it your damn self! Excellent advice!
Should really know more about the contractors to hire. If they have some portfolio they could present, the better. These people's job is not just a "physical job", it's Skills. Great video as always!
you have to be a tradesman a manager of people and materials an administrator an accountant and a salesman and a marketing genius. just to tape drywall. Cheers!
So we're trying to do more jobs ourselves, that means we need more time away from work. 4 Day work weeks would be so great for my work from home self.
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Hired a contractor to work on a gut job vacant home. He worked there for months and would leave the one functional powder room smelling like urine. Terrible aim I guess. One day I catch him pissing in the driveway when the powder room was very near. I found this to be very offensive especially since my neighbor has two young teenage girls. He saw that I pissed off. :). But weeks later I smell the faint smell of urine in my hallway... and I lost it! Instead of confronting him I got pay back. He had been working on my house for months and he had several tools in the garage and tool bags etc. So one evening I decided to not piss in the powder room but rather went to town in all of his tool bags. Felt great.
Did he keep working your house with those tools, lol.
@@Wazupiseeyou Noo I had a hunch he was going to quit and leave me hanging. That happened and he spent hours packing his tools. The feeling was glorious.
12:28 THATS AN AWESOME point, as my sister paid a GC to do a remodel and it was a nightmare, and the work was horrid.
Very good points👍🏻
changing times!
Agreed 100%. Just had dome work done. They were booked for 6 months and I was willing to wait. They had an opening do do part of the job as someone cancelled - I thought great no problem- - they left a 21 year old inexperienced person to do the job. It's a mess. I have to now try to fix it. They are supposed to come back for more work - now I'm not so sure I want them. If you are willing to leave a learner bee alone and they do a terrible job - do I want you back? I have to question the contractors judgement now. While he didn't do the work, he left them alone, inspected it and should have seen the fact that it was bad. Finding people to do the work is hard sadly but I may just put it all off until I find someone as some of this other work is pulling up cement to put in a shower / bath. Not work I want just any one doing. It's rough.
Thank you for posting this. I feel less like all this was my imagination. In terms of the people around and the wait times. It makes more sense now.
So long story short good help is hard to find and you get what you pay for. Yeah I learned that one he hard way a few years back which brings me to my question for you:
Is there a minimum level of quality or standard practice that can be expected if not otherwise written in the contract? For example I had a retaining wall built with limestone cap and the contract only said x feet of limestone cap and at the time I didn’t think about needing to be more detailed than that and he didn’t go into further detail. There were of corners and not only did he not miter them (I understand that’s very hard to do with stone even though I’d seen it done) but he also put the seams in the most visible spot possible.
There are even more examples in that one project but you get the idea. In this situation did I have any recourse at all or is it just pay him and lesson learned?
FYI The adhesive was already set by the time I saw it or I would have gladly paid for extra material to have it redone. Moving forward of having to hire a contractor I try to be as detailed as possible but sometimes things arise as the project progresses or are things I didn’t know at the start. Is it bad practice to try to micromanage and helicopter over the contractors as their working so I can stay ahead of things and make sure the final product turns out as I had pictured it? This is why I can’t agree more when you say “you are your own best contractor” and I try to do as much as I can myself.
I appreciate the long read. Can you maybe do a video on these types of situations? Cheers!
every industry has standards. the sad truth is that most new housing projects build below that standard. combine that with poor minimum code and you get a lazy shortcut filled learning curve for most laborers out there. they spend 5 years working and think they know all they need to be a contractor. kind of like a 10 year old who doesn't need anyone's advice anymore. they think they got this. Cheers!
I almost always start with $1000 worth of work with my clients, I find it difficult to get big jobs with people I don’t know. Then they give me $10-20k worth of work because they know what they are buying.
My advice to clients who can’t find a contractor: start with a small job easy to quote. You’ll have a better chance to attract contractors. Don’t try to find a contractor for $50k worth of work. Some will add a ton of padding so they don’t get burnt. Others won’t even bother quoting because they don’t want to spend 5-8 hours quoting a complicated job for nothing.
Start with the powder room, then move on to the bathroom if the guy is good. Don’t give a $25k bathroom to a contractor just because your gut says you can trust him. You’re not a blue collar, your gut doesn’t work. Be rational.
THAT ANALOGY AT THE END WAS BOSS!!!💪🏾💪🏾
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Thank YOU...for keeping it real!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Cheers ....Always!
I think a lot of the new generation of workers are in computer science who can develop apps, work for silicon valley corps and still make 6 figs and work from home. Its still a really new labour market and new workers these days are in the first generation to grow up with internet access their entire lives. A lot easier on the body than working trades, and doesn't necessarily require schooling either.
I was a coder for 4 years before moving to contracting. I had a bad back and was weak from sitting all day. Now in trades, im strong and feel good. Working from home is over rated lonely and pointless. Regards.
@@BenVanCamp Exactly, can't imagine ever working in an office for a day, let alone a career. Maybe it's for lazy people that wouldn't survive an hour in the trades but not good to sit in a chair all day breathing in recycled air. Must take decades off your life.
Maybe Rob, but anyone in computers knows they don't have a job in 5 years with the development of A I all those skilled techies will be better off joining the labor market now and develop their business before the wave develops too great!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Sorry Jeff, but as someone in IT there are a lot or ridiculous claims about AI. It is very good at well defined narrow tasks. The kind of artificial _general_ intelligence (AGI) you are talking about is absolutely not going to be available in five years. A decade ago experts guessed with a mean of 2081. Also, let me put it this way... anything intelligent enough to do my job will be intelligent enough to do anyones job, including all skilled labour/trades/contracting.
@@stephen-boddy That's hilarious, thanks for the laugh.
We love watching you. You have taught me allot while being layed up with a chainsaw accident. Also love the acca dacca record in the background 🤘🏻
I am just Thunderstruck that you had a chainsaw accident. Good to hear you didn't take the highway to hell with that one. Cheers!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY haha that made my day! cheers
The thing that frustrates me the most as a retired (disabled) tradesman is how the general homeowner wants everything for nothing. When I was working, everyone wanted me to do "side work" at a discount. In local social media, I constantly see people looking for a "handyman" to do cheap work because they don't want to to pay for the knowledge and experience of professional tradesman. It has driven all the "good" labor into a commercial/industrial work which exacerbates the problem leaving the turds to cover the residential market.
people were taught by the schools that physical labor was for the dropouts. No wonder there ios a stigma to hiring a contractor.
I've learned I can probably learn it and do it myself better in most cases. Drywall and plumbing not withstanding. Can't lift the sheets, and I hate leaks :)
Gypski contractor from next door framed two walls in my shop. I looked at what they did, and framed the rest myself. Drywall guy came in and asked me if the gypski's walls were the ones I put up because the others (The walls I framed and secured) were professionally done and so they couldn't be "mine"... (yea, right)
Oh, yes, I watched your entire series on drywall, but found out I was too old to hoist 5/8" myself and I had no helpers that "wanted to work", so I had to find a 'guy'. He did a 'mediocre' job, left a shyteton of cleanup to do, as well as the walls unsealed, but that, I can handle.
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Renovator here. It’s awesome.
Great video Jeff. Have you considered a podcast? I would be interested in listening to you while Im driving.
Good video. Looks like I can consider my self at the self employed installer stage of this path.
Nothing wrong with that. keep learning and maybe do side gigs to develop your skills. just be honest with folks about your experience and you will be surprised how many will hire you anyway.
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY yessir that's a good plan. I'm in my early 30s so I'm happy with it. And that's why I don't take on remodels yet. Like Benjamin Franklin says, honesty is the best policy.
nothing wrong with honesty unless your being interrogated without a lawyer present. Cheers!
I know the feeling, I've been a insulator/ Heating and cooling ,HVAC rap installer. I've been offered the business and it's a profitable one. I've been doing it for 25 plus years, For the last 2 years we haven't kept any young guys on from the age of 20 something. Like 10 guys we have gone through that time. They just DONT want to WORK!!!
I need to watch this video again. It is good info, but, I was spending most of the time trying to figure out what was on the shelves behind you. :)
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Have been following you for sometime and absolutely enjoy the information and education I have received. Only one complaint....on this side of the 49th we pronounce the last letter of the alphabet "Zed"....not "Zee" . Thanks and let's ensure our Canadian identity remains strong
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Oh yay it's the Grunts and Chuckles Show with Jeff!
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My area doesn't allow homeowners to do plumbing, so the plumber I hired to put a bath drain and shower lines for a new tub/shower had to do the install twice and now there's a leak. And it cost $1k for maybe $100 in materials.
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I'm going to do my own remodel, even if it turns out crappy. I just want to do it. But I can't start for months. My house is wiggling around all over the place because of a leaky drain pipe under the slab. I'm not doing that myself. My question is, what is the etiquette when people are working on your house? Like do you hang around them and watch? Does that piss them off? Just leave them alone? I work from home, but I can't really do much of that when there's all kinds of stuff going on around here, so I think I'll be hanging around watching them. I know better than to get in the way and all that, but I'm just a curious guy. On the other hand, though, I wouldn't want people hanging around watching me work.
I just did exactly what you talked about. Couldn't find anyone worth their salt and not able to find anyone anyhow. So I DIYed it all and saved myself huge bucks. UA-cam is a powerful advisor as long as you take time to look at many videos of particular types of work. I installed a combi boiler, installed electrics and plumbing, installed the gas lines, hung doors, installed flooring, installed stairs, installed a water softening whole house system and much more. All of that I have never done before and thsnks to UA-cam and guys like you I did it all without any errors or problems.
Most of that I would never be allowed to do it myself because of town/city building codes. However the town I'm in has no codes to prevent it and in fact they don't even have occupancy permits. And you are absolutely on the mark about quality of work. I am fully invested in a good job being done. But in so many instances I've had contractors who "do just enough" to get by and collect a check. In over 20 years and owning 3 different houses I have only had 3 fully competent, honest contractors. The rest fell into a range between dishonest to absolutely horrible...one I had to ban from ever coming on my property.
The independence to work on your own house is life changing. not to mention profitable. Cheers!
I'm having a shop built in the South. The exterior will be painted T1-11 until I install vinyl siding after a full season or so. If I was vinyl siding now I'd put the "vapor barrier" over unpainted T1-11.
So in this case Do I put vapor barrier behind T1-11 against the wall studs ??
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Tremendous video! Forwarding to my son. Supports what I have been telling him for a career. I have been always DIY.
Off topic. What is your laptop and specs? Mine crashed. Probably like usage.
Thanks for your efforts!!
Cheers Henry. Not sure just a good gaming computer so I have the right ports for live streaming.
My wife and I learned pretty fast that being desperate to get someone to do a job, because of the shortage of the market and availability, has cost us more in the long run. We hired a landscaper that supposedly came highly recommended, but for what we needed him and his crew to do, ultimately felt like it was done by amateurs. We are now fixing his mistakes ourselves though, instead of hiring someone else, but now we're gun shy about finding any other contractors to take care of other issues. I'd love to be able to take care of them myself, but I'm far from qualified so we either wait a year, or try to tackle it ourselves. We had a plumbing problem about 6 months ago, hired a big name plumber, charged us a considerable amount of money and did a crappy job. We wound up calling in another plumber who charged us a reasonable amount of cash to fix some mistakes, but did a far better job, so maybe we got lucky, or we did find genuinely qualified guys that we'd happily call in again, if needed.
home ownership can be a crap shoot if you don't have referrals. BTW did you say the plumber did a CRAPPY job. Loving it!
@@HomeRenoVisionDIY Part of the peoblem was moving to a remote location, where contractors were already sparse. I really hate to talk ill of anyone who tries to help another but you know, if a contractor can't do something, they need to own up to it rather than make like they do know what they're doing and ultimately screw up the job. We've learned some hard lessons of late, hence why we're making every effort to do a lot on our own. In hindsight, what was done, was a far sight better than what we had, but as you say, why pay for it twice? Once will do thank you, as long as you truly know what you're doing.
I believe Jeff is understating the severity of the issue. AND, the big thing here which Jeff alludes to is that the effective rate that DIYers are paying themselves right now is about 3x what it was 3 years ago I'm my area. For most projects I calculate that I'm making somewhere around $150 per hour doing my own work. For example sprinkler blow out guy told me last week he wants $200 for a blowout that takes me 1 hour and he charged $75 for 3 years ago. I am not overlooking the fact that $200 paid to the "irrigation expert" is after tax and my savings is pretax since I can put that money in a pretax or tax deferred investment account so it actually costs me 25% more than the $200 or $250 for mr. irrigation expert to blow out my sprinklers. In addition DIYers are easing the pressure on the market by freeing up some of Mr. irrigation experts time.
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My experience with hiring people no mater what level they are or how big/small there company is, is they are all idiots. Hired one of the best a/c companies in Vegas to install a new unit and it took them 3 tries to get it right. Unlike there motto “we do it right the first time.”
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Jeff, the biggest problem homeowners fave hear is that contractors/ Handymen won't show up when they say they will and then most will tell customers that their project is too small and won't touch it. I'm usually booked out a minimum of 3 months and up to 8 months right now. I agree with you that the young and up coming generation is not willing or just has no interest in this type of work. Great video man! Thanks
David
All the more work for you David. Cheers!
For sure.. it's so difficult for a young guy to really want to work for $20-30 in the heat
That’s some busy schedule 👍🏼
Where do you advertise and what city you in?
@@pavlokraievskyi2391 I have 3 magnetic signs on my truck and business cards. I'm in South Carolina and we have a app called Nextdoor Neighbor which is a site that neighborhoods use to get recommendations for services needed. Mostly it's word of mouth and repeat customers that saw me recommended on the site.
Schools in USA also have gotten rid of shop classes etc…. Something that would peak interest for young ppl to go to school for building sciences and trades; and can go to vo-Ed school/university or be an apprentice. Now, it’s completely different, sad
Just finished writing the formal notice for the licensed contractor that did my shower following a hidden flaw that I went in court for. Now the new shower is leaking and tiles are dislodging after two years… no wonder now I do everything myself and working on getting my license here in Quebec…
I totally get it. In the old days you could ask the contractor to show you proof of the training course for products but they threw that away since it decreased sales.
So very true. Been trying to get a fry wall person to correct the mistake made by the last guy.