Santa Ana, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 19 votes
Good morning BiggerPocketers,
I have a degree in construction management and currently a construction Project Manager for a drywall company. I have done projects anywhere from a 42 stories luxury high rise, luxury retails, hospitals, school, and to smaller tenant improvements.
Please feel free to ask away any questions you guys have regarding to construction such as rehabilitation, scheduling, framing, drywall, taping, ceilings, soffits, material prices, budgeting, and/or anything. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and if I do not know the answer, I will find out.
This is my attempt in giving back to the BiggerPockets community since I have learned so much from here. Hopefully I be able to help this community out in answering questions.
Feel free to connect with me and ask private questions if you don't like to post your questions here.
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2014 · 239 posts · 177 votes
9y
Julie Marquez sorry to poke my nose into your question, but as for drywall, honestly you might run into a bit of trouble with a dry waller not wanting to mud the walls/ceiling for as cheap as you'd like purely based off the reason that they didn't install it, but there definitely is the exception. One reason I say that is, if you install it with many dips, bumps, holes etc, they will have to come back and do multiple coats of mud, thus taking away from their profit. Once again though, there's definitelyyyy the exception. As for "green board", you always hang a sheet behind kitchen/bath vanities, and in showers, the preferred method is to use Hardi backer or mud float, not drywall. But that's just my opinion. All of our showers are with Hardi backer which is readily available at Lowes, Home Depot etc. Back to drywall though, I never deter anatomy from attempting drywall themselves at some point, because it's SUCH a good lesson and trade to know. But if it's on a large scale, sub it out. Hope that helps
Since I am in the construction industries and personally know a lot of foremen from different trades or very versatile foreman, that is where I go first since I know that they do quality work for the company I am working for.
I see that you are from Illinois, I can't really help you out there and they best bet is from local investors word of mouth or craigslist.
Hope that helps! anymore questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Real Estate Agent · West Dundee, IL · Member since 2014 · 13 posts · 4 votes
9y
Let's say I come across a house with mold issues, but won't know the extent of the problem unless I buy the place and open up the walls. What would the worst case scenario cost to fix on a 2000 sq. ft. house, for instance? Same question for foundations if there are cracks on multiple walls- possible tear down? Just trying to get a handle on how much to allow for in future rehab budgets without worrying if the issue could be worse than I thought.
Thanks!
Ryan Arnstein
Santa Ana, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 19 votes
9y
Hi Ryan,
For Mold Remediation, it is hard to scale unless you open up the walls like you said. But to put price into the problem to rebuild a wall, it cost roughly around $5.14 to $6.00 per SF of wall.
Regarding to questions about cracks on walls. Are these wall just demising walls? or are these walls are structural walls? By the sound of it, lets hope that only the drywall and texture is cracking. If that is the case, a simple drywall and taping patch back would do.
Santa Ana, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 19 votes
9y
Marko Cvetkovic tile up the the cabinets.
1. You can't see behind the cabinets anyway
2. You are saving a bit of cost on tiles.
3. Drilling and mounting will be easier. Hope that helps.
Santa Ana, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 19 votes
9y
Ryan Arnstein demising walls are interior walls that has no load bearing at all. Those walls sole purpose is to dividing the rooms. Structural walls are perimeter walls that are supporting the house.
If there are something that your contractor is doing that you are not familiar, feel free to ask me questions!
Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
Contracts: I've heard some well respected investors say that they and their lawyer write up the contract with all the clauses and exacting specifications, modify it as needed for different properties/jobs, and have all the contractors bid on the same exact contract and ultimately have the winner sign the contract they write. I've also heard some contractors say that they would never sign somebody else's contract, and if the investor insists on it they won't even bid on the job. What say you? What's the best way to come up with a solid contract that a good contractor would actually bid on and sign.
Also, fast, cheap, quality ... choose 2. True or False, and if true which 2 do you choose and why?
Thank you for such a generous offer. I do have a question about roof replacement. I currently live in Sydney, Australia (I am an architect) and I am surprised to hear all the time from US property investors that they need to replace a roof. Here in Sydney it's not such a necessity as roofs are either terracotta tiles or metal and they get replaced maybe once in a lifetime (local metal roof manufacturer gives 30 years warranty). Why do you have to replace roofs so often in the US?
From what I have seen, people do invest in old construction properties. I am not sure how often do they replace their roofs but there are many reason why they would replace them.
1. Asphalt Shingle lifespan is around 10-15 years (we prefer to use lighter roofing materials and lighter materials in California for Seismic reasons) comparing to metal which is 30-45 years, much heavier product.
2. Replacing the roof will make they property more attractive to buyers increase the property values.
3. The roof is no longer useful. No longer serve its purpose to waterproofing, weatherproofing, and insulating from heat/snow.
My uncles has owned his house for 30 years now and he never replaced his roof and it still looks brand new. My guess is the high quality material that has been put into the house. I am no roof expert in anyway, but I have touched on it a bit during my college career.
I hope that was helpful to you.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate.
Contract is a gray area. I have done so many contracts and they all different. This is speaking from a commercial building stand point, for residential it might be a different ball game that I am not familiar with. The contract with exact specifications is much needed because it prevents the contractor to cheap out on you. I have a lot of examples but some of them are things such as; the contractor using cheaper materials, do not follow building code, and/or producing a lower quality product. Why do they do that? Well, to save cost and increase their profit margin. With a certain specification in the contract, now they have to follow that standard and that protects the owner from getting a lower quality product and also protect the contractor. Protecting the contractor in a way that, if they follow their contract and specifications and do what they are contracted to do, they are not not responsible for design/engineering failure. Instead of not having the contract or specification in place, they are most likely 100% at fault.
Now when you said that some contractors refuse to sign a contract. To me those contractors are not well educated and their business is not in place. You should stay away from those contractors. There is not reason why that a contractor can't sign the contract. They have to right to modify the contract to where it is fair to all parties. And to come up with a solid contract, make sure that the wording are not broad, not a "boiler plate" language where it could be interpreted a million different ways.
Cheap, Fast, Quality. I would choose Quality and Fast. Quality so there are no problems that come back and haunt you. Fast because you need to deliver the project on time (in my perspective of a project manager) because if you don't, the owner will start losing their cash flow and they will hunt you down. For me, Cheap is negotiable. Just based on how good you are at negotiating.
Hope that helps. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have other questions!
Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 149 posts · 75 votes
9y
@Darren D. Ngo I'm young and getting started. I have a finance background and that where my career is. But I have no experience or knowledge of construction or the rehab process. Do you have resources/websites/etc you'd suggest someone like me to read or watch to get more familiar?
Those books were required books at Cal Poly Pomona. It basically telling when building this wall, what is the crew size, amount of time, what is the production rate, and cost. It gets updated yearly since union carpenter get a yearly raise. Well at least in California.
I'm not sure if that what you are looking for, but feel free to ask me any questions on this post.
Good Morning Darren! Thank you for taking the time to answer questions!
I am looking to purchase a four-plex, of which two of the units are running on the same power box, so the current landlord is paying their utilities. This equates to around $229 per month or $2,748 per year.
How much would it cost to change over to two electrical boxes instead of one? Property is located in central Illinois.
I have a background in electrical street lighting but never residential electrical works. After doing research, I see that it would potentially cost you around 10k to 15K. It is all depend how labor intensive it is, how hard it is for the electrician to get it there to do the work. Mostly labor cost in my opinion.
The best bet is to call up several contractors, and have them bid against each other. That is the best way to find out the right cost and not get screw over.
Hayward, CA · Member since 2009 · 258 posts · 62 votes
9y
Katrina Malyn The most common type of roof or shingles which have pitch 4/12 or greater. Most homes built in with light frame construction build in the 70 80 90's use 20 year shingles. Most flippers buy older homes. It is about time for these roofs to be replaced.
Hayward, CA · Member since 2009 · 258 posts · 62 votes
9y
Austin Mudd i recommend looking up the Icc international code council.
Look up icc residential building code.
Learn the book. Pick out the codes you need.
Hayward, CA · Member since 2009 · 258 posts · 62 votes
9y
Matt McConkey Matt average cost for residential power service upgrade with most conduit accessible and mo special requirement from power company.
Same spot same place is about 5 to 8k
Two meter same spot same place should be about the same.
This is for california and for 240v service.
Hayward, CA · Member since 2009 · 258 posts · 62 votes
9y
Darren D. Ngo The cost i am using are base off of permit valuations. Most contractors understate valuation for the permits . So i tend to add on about 10 to 20 to the.Valuation of a construction job.
question to you. What it be possible for you to make up a list of the cost to build something.
Sample how much would it cost to pour concrete and rebar for a foundation residential.
100 per linear feet? Etc
How much does it cost to frame a house per square footage or four linear feet?
How much does it cost to put in drywall do you count by sheet or by feet?
Santa Ana, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 19 votes
9y
Taye Nguyen it is possible for me but it would take me hundreds of hours to cover all aspects of construction.
As for building a wall, metal stud frame, drywall both side, tape to level 4 at 10' height would be $5.14 per sf. Not including painting.
Drywall cost around $0.15 per sf for my company since we get deals but at home depot and such it would be around $0.27-$0.33 per sf. Taping material is very cheap but labor is very intensive.
Hope that helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you have any.