Here's A Good Client.

Chris G

I stumbled across his blog. You may not agree with everything, (too many quotes maybe), but I like his points.

http://www.myfindependenceday.com/11...enovation-tips

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"Neek...Neek...yoo-a-moronna Neek. Getta-da-fookin-a-jacka-ham!"

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Heritage

This is a joke right?

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Toronto General Contractor-Renovation Blog-Contractor on Facebook-Renovation on twitter-Contractor Youtube

Chris G

No. He encourages people to pay for quality. I don't see anything wrong with that. I attribute any negative comments he has to being saddled with drunken sub-contractors. Toronto isn't blessed with a lot of high quality reputable tradespeople, (remember Austin Ave?), so for this guy to have relatively positive things to say is remarkable.

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Deck Fence Porch Builder Toronto

Heritage

Ummm....ahem.....This is a joke right?

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Heritage

Here are some memorable quotes:

11 Money Saving Renovation Tips



1: Research everything - I think this is the most import part that will allow you to save money. I did this for every aspect of my renovation. I knew the complete process for each of the individual jobs. This allowed me to both properly assess the quotes and whether the contractors were doing the job correctly.

2: Do some of the work yourself We were looking for someone to put in our click system floating floor. The quotes we were getting were astronomical. One guy even quoted us $4.50 a square foot when I was looking at $1.50 with $2.50 being the high end that we were trying to avoid.
3: Don’t try and do it all at once - Some people are tempted to renovate everything at once, don’t. Either you’ll have to go into debit to do it or you’ll end up with poor craftsmanship that you’ll have to redo down the road. Either way it will cost you more money than it should.

4: Prioritize the work - Make a list of all of your renovations and determine how they will impact one another. This will help you figure out where you can try and save money. If a particular contractor botches a job then it won’t impact the other work, which will save you in the end.

5: Get multiple quotes - Get as many quotes as you can. The obvious reason being price comparison but the second is for idea mining. Not all trades have the same experience so different trades will point out difference caveats with a particular job. The more information you have the better you can anticipate issues, which always saves you money in the end

6: Keep it professional - You are the employer and the trades are your employees.

7: Be wary of price changes - I’m a big believer in the negotiated price is the final price.

9: Buy materials in advance - Keep an eye out for sales well before you start your renovations. We bought all of our baseboards 6 months before we ready to do work because they were on sale at Home Depot.

10: Look for materials in unexpected places - Home Depot, Rona’s, and Lowe’s are not the only places that sell renovation materials. We bought our bathroom vanities on sale at Canadian Tire and Zellers. They look nice and cost a fraction of the price.

11: Book a good painter We had a terrible experience with our painter with lots of arguing. The money we saved was not worth the trouble of having to deal with this person.

So where exactly did I miss your point?

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precisionbuild

Quit being so hard on the Beaver Ward...

Chris G

Your just a grumpy old fart. All I see, (and in number 7 he does explain himself) is someone who understands that it costs more in the long run to hire cheap hacks. That's what I see. That's what I wold sell to.

I don't blame him for trying to be well-informed. Again, you live in Toronto, and can you tell me that even 50% of tradespeople meet your standards. How about 10%. And who wouldn't install click flooring themselves. Really. It's CLICK flooring.

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"Neek...Neek...yoo-a-moronna Neek. Getta-da-fookin-a-jacka-ham!"

http://www.vicporch.ca
Deck Fence Porch Builder Toronto

precisionbuild

There's nothing wrong with being a grumpy old fart...

I am not even going to make my comments on this. I'll end up being Mad old Moses.

Heritage

I don't know...if he qualifies as a good prospect in your books then all the more power to ya! Sorry if I offended you, I honestly thought it was a joke

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Chris G

No offense taken. But we have to deal with the reality of peoples perceptions.

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"Neek...Neek...yoo-a-moronna Neek. Getta-da-fookin-a-jacka-ham!"

http://www.vicporch.ca
Deck Fence Porch Builder Toronto

DavidC

Sounds to me like a HO being his own GC. From that angle he's got a good approach. He's wrong on #6 unless he's covering his own payroll costs. #7 would be negated by a well written proposal. #9 is ok if you've got storage space. #10 is open to vigourous debate. #11 explains why painters are so rich, they get in at his most vulnurable point.

I like educated customers personally. You don't have to spend so much time diffussing the low ball effect. Don't care for customer as GC much but have worked well with them. Again, a well written proposal to set the boundaries.

Good Luck
Dave

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Chris G

Yes I took it as he acting as GC too. #5 and #10 I disagree with. It's nice to get lots of quotes but it's abusive, and you won't get honest proposals if everyone knows they are bidding against 10 other guys.

Remember, I said good client, not amazing client.

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"Neek...Neek...yoo-a-moronna Neek. Getta-da-fookin-a-jacka-ham!"

http://www.vicporch.ca
Deck Fence Porch Builder Toronto

kycontractor

#6 you mean I'm still someones employee dang I would have kept framin houses for $10/hr if I knew that. That does it Falconite Construction is closed

VBuilt

Reminds me of a job I bid on a few years back.
Set an appointment and sat down with the client and was informed that he was on his second round of bidding and planed to get 10 quotes this time, narrow it down to the best four and then try to "fine tune" things- as in let us bid against each other!
Well, I was there so I told him that I would be happy to give him a bid on the contemplated project but would not be interested in further negotiations unless of course the scope of work changed.
The upshot is that I got the job, not only did he turn out to be a decent and fair guy- (hidden conditions arose and we worked things out friendly and fairly), but he in fact provided me a glowing reference/testimonial that is almost embarrassing- I'd post it but he makes me sound like the best thing since sliced bread.

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Roy Vinton
VBuilt Custom Homes
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Mike Finley

I didn't read his blog, but based on what was quoted here I would have to agree wth Heritage on this one, in the pool of great customers, I wouldn't call him that. Might not be the worst.

He forgot Grand PooBah Point #1 - how to save money in renovation projects -

Nothing will save you more money then paying enough to have it done right the first time.

BHR

OMG that's nasty! I bet this guy buys Job Mate or Workforce tools cause they are always on sale!