Employees Or Subs?

wackman

This is directed more towards the builders here.

What would you say are your percentages of in-house work versus sub work. Also what trades do you do and what trades do you sub out?

What do you find to be the advantages and disadvantages of your situation?

Personally I'd say 5% in house, 95% subbed but have been thinking about upping the in-house a bit.

My guys or I do the interior trim, ceramic tile, fences, some exterior trim and occasionaly some paint depending on the situation. That's the most we've been doing. Sometimes it's all subbed.

Up sides of mostly subs: Better cost control. True experts in their field. Less liability for me. More work done in a shorter amount of time.

Down sides: More expensive usually. Scheduling. Less control over small issues.

I'm interested in what you guys think on these subjects.

Wack

joasis

We do it all except: plumbing/hvac/electric and I don't have anyone that can lay brick, so I am at the mercy of masons. Now we will sub out different jobs due to our work load...concrete, tape/bed/texture/paint and cabinet installs.

After loosing my head guy a few weeks back, I am thinking about scaling down a lot, and then I will be part of the crew and we will do less subbing out.

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Double-A

Does remodeling count or are you looking for strickly new home construction input?

We can do everything but HVAC and electric in house, but we sub out most of the work. The main reason is scheduling and costs. There is no way we can do as good a job as quickly as our subcontractors can do for the same costs. Our folks do excellent work, but they will never be as good as a full time dry wall contractor or framing crew. Good being quality and speed.

Our subs keep our job moving along quickly, and when you have someone's home torn apart for a remodel, they get nervous and upset. You want to put it back together as quickly as possible, with as few problems as possible. That is where our subs shine. They have the experience and the speed to do quality work, on schedule. I love our subcontractors.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

maj

Mostly in-house for me, as far as the carpentry & construction part of it.

Sub out concrete work,electrical,plumbing,HVAC,carpet laying,most of the drywall,ALL painting ( )

I will occasionally do some drywall up to paint-ready. I will also do masonry & small concrete flatwork, if time allows. I also do a limited amount of tile work, hardwood, & laminate flooring.

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wackman

Joasis,

Why do you choose to do most of the work yourself? Do you have a really great well rounded crew? Do you take on only one or two new homes at a time?

I'm just curious how it is on the other side of the fence. Around here good subs are hard to find and they're so busy that it can be difficult to schedule. Some are 4 months out. In the long run I know that subs are the way to go with new construction but it sure is appealing to think of having full control of schedule and manpower.

Wack

joasis

Good help is hard to find. And, I just hate to pay someone else to do something we can do. I only have one home going on at a time, the next ones going up are side by side and a flip plan, so we will build them at the same time. I have had permits now for 6 months and since loosing my lead guy, and my work load on steel erection is covered up, I don't know when I will get there. I dozed the lot to make a start so the permit will stay active.

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