I wavered. First there seemed too many projects to be my own general, hiring subs for every little thing. I didn't really know how to start. Then I talked with Mike, the general my realtor had found, and our meeting made me start to think I should just do it myself. Two guesses how the meeting went.
There were several problems with Mike. First, while he had done a lot of projects like mine before, they had mostly been for banks as they got their foreclosures ready for quick sale, or to flip them himself. I asked him if he had worked for homeowners and he said yes, but when he listed his resume, he only listed the banks he had worked with. That's great and all, but I'm not a bank or looking for a quick flip. I plan to live here. I don't want some quick, cosmetic fix of a problem that I can pass on to the next buyer. I want to get it done right one time and be done. I'm not sure he understood that.
The second major problem with Mike was that he met my dad. Now, I love my dad, and he does know the industry and how to write a contract, so he will be able to help me out at times. The problem with this meeting of the Mikes is that Mike the contractor met my dad and my realtor long before he met me. It was the three of them that had talked about what needed to be done to my house. Key words, my house. When I had some questions about his estimate, he agreed, somewhat reluctantly I believe, to meet me. A couple times during our meeting he dismissed my question with a "well, I went over that with your dad." I mentioned to him that it was my house, my money, my decision. I would be the one signing the checks. I don't think it got through.
In his proposed work, he was going to re-stucco the whole house for a price I thought was ridiculously low. I walked him around to the back of the house and asked him his plan. When I asked if he was removing all the stucco on the back, he said no and looked at me like I had just asked him the stupidest, most obvious question on earth. He intended just to patch it.
Last straw, that really let me know our time together was done, came when I told him that anything that required a permit would need to have a permit pulled. I am not interested in any non-permitted work in my house. I want the third party check of the work and I want everything safe for now and legal for resale later. Don't even get me started on an industry that is "regulated" with a permit and inspection system, but doesn't require licensed contractors to follow through with the process. Or a real estate industry that allows the sale of homes with non-permitted work and additions and doesn't require the seller do anything to make it right and legal. Anyway, upon my statement, he again looked at me like I was stupid. "Well nothing we're doing here needs a permit."
"Really?" I ask, looking at him sideways with one eyebrow raised in skepticism. "Not even the electrical?" To this he said no, because we weren't changing the box, just the wires. Yeah, all the wires, every last one.
Slam! That was the sound of the door shutting on any future of him working in my house. I may not be incredibly knowledgeable with regards to home renovation or repair, but I am confident that rewiring an entire house, even a small one like mine, with require some sort of permit.
In addition to all of this, when I asked about doing multiple projects at the same time, he again looked at me like I was stupid (ass!, I'm getting annoyed just remembering all those looks as I write). He said no, he would do them one at a time. Well why the hell do I need you then? I could organize these projects one at a time myself. It might take me a little longer, but I wouldn't have to work with you and more importantly I wouldn't have to pay you to come over and think you're better than me. Thanks for playing Mike, but I think I'll pass!
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