Ask a General Contractor (me) anything!

Contractor · Henderson, TX · Member since 2017 · 34 posts · 37 votes

I am here to network and learn. I want to help however I can. I am a General contractor. Please feel free to ask anything about a project you have or are considering.

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Ruel Baliong

Fair Lawn, NJ · Member since 2017 · 38 posts · 16 votes

Dude. You’re going to be the most popular guy here if you are willing to help anybody with a question. Although I’m currently in NJ, who knows, maybe if an opportunity ever arises in TX, at least I know somebody there. I too am just starting out in investing. I hope I can pick your brain sometimes if there’s ever a question that I can’t find an answer to.

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Odie Ayaga
Specialist · Delran, NJ · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 951 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Steve Babiak:

Originally posted by @Dalton Smith:

Can someone tell me how to tag people so that they will know when a answer their question.
A few different ways.
You can do what I just did here, which is to "quote" the post; the three dots alongside a post are a menu, and one of the menu choices will be to quote.
Next way is to use an "at" symbol @ followed immediately by a question mark ? - that brings up a list of all people who posted in the thread, and you scroll along and pick the person you want.
Another way is to again use the "at" symbol @ followed by the first few (I think at least three) characters of the user's name; this can also allow you to tag colleagues to participate in a topic. One challenge with this is that some people only have a first initial given as their name, so the punctuation that appears next must be typed followed by any other numbers or letters. And then you have to pick the right person from the list of choices that appears.
Steve I have been on this site for over a year and I either forgot about the quote method and completely had no idea about the "?" method. Wow you learn something new every day.
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Lukeryan H.
Norfolk, VA · Member since 2018 · 3 posts · 0 votes
8y
Just bought my first home, remodeling the kitchen and was wondering what would be the best way to remove a load bearing wall? Could this be a DIY kind of thing, If so is there any permits or code violations i should be aware of? If I hire someone, what would it cost? It’s in the center of the house going from the front toward the back about 1/3 length of the house and is about 15 feet long.
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Fisayo Ijamakinwa
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 49 posts · 6 votes
8y
I am in the process of closing on a triplex that will rent anywhere between $465-$525. One of the bathrooms needs to be totally gutted- for that price range, what type of materials would you recommend?
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Rashad Mammadov
Developer · San Mateo, CA · Member since 2016 · 12 posts · 2 votes
8y
Hello Smith, Would you say as a consultant on a project under developments? Rashad
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Jeff C Chalfant
Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
5y
Not sure you are still active on this forum. I am trying to remove an existing window from a 2nd story. It is a large plate glass window with a 1/2 round above. I am replacing it with a new construction window because of some potential wood rot that needs to be addressed, so the entire frame/fins, etc. needs to come out. I am working mostly on my own to remove the window. Can I cut the glass, etc. in place to remove the majority of the weight, and then I'll just have the frame to remove? I hope that question makes sense.
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Mike ReynoldsPro Member
construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
Originally posted by @Jeff C Chalfant:
Not sure you are still active on this forum. I am trying to remove an existing window from a 2nd story. It is a large plate glass window with a 1/2 round above. I am replacing it with a new construction window because of some potential wood rot that needs to be addressed, so the entire frame/fins, etc. needs to come out. I am working mostly on my own to remove the window. Can I cut the glass, etc. in place to remove the majority of the weight, and then I'll just have the frame to remove? I hope that question makes sense.

Not sure if @Dalton Smith is still active but maybe he will chime in soon.
By plate glass, I assume you are meaning a piece of solid glass inset into a wood frame. But then you mention fins so that suggests a regular window. Either way there is an easy(ish) way to remove it. The problem as I see it is the rot. That window may not have been installed properly. Most windows werent since the science has changed over the years. You have a water problem. Can you post some pics of that as well as the siding? Maybe us remodelers can help out better.
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Peter Morgan
Rental Property Investor · West Des Moines, IA · Member since 2018 · 447 posts · 64 votes
5y
@Dalton Smith
Hello Dalton,
My 15 year old HVAC went down today, the motor needs to be replaced it will cost me over $400 and the refrigerant needs to be added that costs another $300 , just the diagnosis costed me over $250. How much does it cost to replace an hvac? I am confused whether to repair it or replace it, appreciate your inputs.
Thanks
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Jaz Saavedra
Member since 2023 · 1 post · 0 votes
3y
I live in anaheim California, when it's hot out, my upstairs apartment seems to trap all the heat inside since the ceiling is wood beams, it gets so bad that even if I open up all the windows and doors, no air flows through here. I have a 3 bedroom apartment with a total of 7 windows that all look identical to the one in the photo above. The one in the photo faces a back alley and the back of another apartment building, this one has another window beside it, maybe 2 1/2 ft space between them. Then there is one on the wall to the left of it, which I hate opening since it opens to the patio of my neighbors apartment where she keeps 5 little dogs, so opening it only fills the hot living room with the smell of dog urine. So there's a total of 3 windows this size to cover my living room and kitchen. My bedroom has 1 window, same size, facing alley as well, that's it. It shares a wall with the restroom, and my sons bedroom shares the opposite wall with the same restroom. His room has 1 window that shares a wall with the front patio of my neighbors and the front door to another unit across the way. Next to his room is the office which has 2 windows this size but gets the hottest out of any other room, it gets so bad that I have to leave that room shut, so the heat doesn't come out and make it even hotter. I look at my neighbors windows and notice my apartment is the only one that has nothing but these size windows. Other units have regular sized large windows. Does this seem right to you that all my windows would be this size?
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John Seitz
Investor · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2019 · 59 posts · 30 votes
2y
Are still active?
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Jeffrey Snow
Member since 2024 · 1 post · 0 votes
2y
Hey Dalton
Jeff here from just down the road in Tyler,TX. What caught my eye in reading your post was your statement about the customer causing problems for the contractor. I'm having an issue with a customer adding work within a bid but making no effort to mention the added cost. At the time I didn't bring it up either. At first it wasn't enough to mess with amending the bid. You know. Little things but little things can add up quickly on top of the customer adding larger projects as well. I'll try to quickly explain and would appreciate your opinion. I submitted a bid to paint the customers home.$10,000.00 labor. Customer purchases all paint, tools ( brushes,rollers etc...whatever). I got into the painting and of course some wood was found to be needing repair. I knew this would be the case and the customer knew as well. I did not bid the wood repair because you never know what you might find. If found the terms would be the same. Labor but not on bid. Case by case and customer purchases material. Also some gutter work was found to be needed and that was case by case as well. No sweeping bid covering everything. Wood work and gutter work separate from the paint bid. I painted along and repaired wood and gutters as I went. Customer was paying me $500.00 a week on the paint job alone on bid until the $10,000.00 was reached. Remember that all the while I am repairing wood and gutters but still getting payed $500.00 a week only with paint job money. Well we reached the $10,000.00 mark but I had not completed the paint job because of the wood and gutter work slowing me down. The customer quickly stated that since the paint job bid money was exhausted, he now would be paying $100.00 a day. There wasn't anything else going on so I kept working for the $100.00 a day. Better than nothing. Since the $100.00 a day began I have repaired more wood,sprinkler system, built a 3'x120' block retaining wall,replaced wood on a deck, plumbing.Just all kinds of tasks. I still have a little painting to complete. Yes I do realize that I have been lured into a less than ideal situation. Here's my question. Whatever work that I performed on wood and gutters, that money should revert back to paint bid. Look at the paint bid as an actual money account. I should be payed for the wood and gutter work separate from the painting.It was not included in the paint bid. Then the time/ money that was returned to the paint bid, when I complete the paint job, receive what's left of the $10,000.00 bid. The $10,000.00 for the painting was technically mine from the day the bid was accepted. Paying me for wood and gutter work out of that money is actually paying me with my own money that I already had. Does this sound right to you. A little complicated but I'm seeing it as true. Any work done after the $100.00 a day kicked in is ok. I'll have to eat that plate of crap. Any work done before the $100.00 a day kicked in was funded by the paint bid which did not include any wood or gutter work. Therefore the wood and gutter work has not been payed for. I believe this to be true but before I submit my findings, I would like a second opinion from someone who knows this area and has maybe even been in this predicament.
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