All Forum Posts by: Gregory Zanolini

I have been a remodeling contractor for 26 years. $15/hour will not cover your overhead. You cannot own a truck full of tools, keep gas in the tank and cover the various insurance policies needed for that. Not to mention feed and house yourself.

We usually do not work by the hour. All projects are quoted on and agreed to beforehand. In this part of the country we need to use $55./hour as our labor costs for most of our trades. For some trades like general labor or painting it is considerably less.

The $250. for the exterior door installation is a lot less than we quote. I'm not sure how fast your guys are but I kill most of a day installing one. I spend more than an hour prepping the area, setting up tools and clean up.

As for contractors feeling comfortable with you and overcharging. I use some sub-contractors in most of our projects (mostly electricians, plumbers and HVAC)and at times I notice them starting to get a bit out of line with rates. I use more than one sub for each trade therefore they know there is some competition and it keeps both their prices and schedules in check.

As a contractor myself I only work 5 days a week.

Before the project gets underway or even before the contracts are signed I provide an inception date and a completion date (required by PA law). I base these dates on a five day work week. I know of other contractors that work every day. That's not for me or my employees.

I have an active family and other interests myself. I have never missed a little league game and I spend my share of time with my flyrod.

Roofing in my area goes for about $2.90/sqft. That does not include sheathing. That's for a basic gable type roof that is walkable with disposal. There are many variables to roofing such as pitch, size of decks, layers to remove, etc. Our disposal cost here in South east PA are still fairly cheap. About $100/ton. 800 SQFT of shingles is about one ton.

Unless I'm working for someone I know, I don't deliver material to a site until I have a check and a signed contract. It has nothing to do with weather I have the funds or not. I do projects with the customers funds not mine. We usually collect a deposit to cover special order items and permits (usually 10%) before the project starts then 30% upon inception, 30% upon half complete and balance when totally completed.

Hi guys, I've been lurking here for a while. Felt it was time to jump on. All the folks here have been very helpful.

I'm a General Contractor looking to expand my RE inventory. I've got two kids in collage using up endless amounts of cash. Hopefully I can help fund their education better and add to my retirement assets.

I look forward to chatting with you all. I'm sure I will learn a lot. Who knows, maybe I can be of help to some with their contractor related questions.