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Most estimators assume that eight hours on the jobsite are eight productive hours. With no job costing, you'll never discover how misguided that assumption is.
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We consulted several top-end remodelers for tips on keeping subs on schedule.
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On most projects, we collect a down payment of roughly 5% to 10% of the total contract. That could mean we send invoices as close as a week apart, depending on when invoices come in to us.
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Anna Mavrakis of TNL Design/Build remembers the frantic call: The homeowner could hear her cat meowing but couldn't find the feline anywhere.Bill Mavrakis, Anna's husband and partner in the Canton, Ohio, firm, pulled up a plywood floor installed that day in a bathroom under renovation, reuniting...
Most of Jeff Metke's work is on houses in and around a beautiful lake, many of them vacation homes. The customer signs a design contract and a contract with Metke that covers estimating and construction.
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We collect change order payments at the end of the job. For a $10,000 job, we usually have an average change order cost of $750.
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One of the responsibilities of our lead carpenters is to prepare a realistic schedule that we share with our customers. We add extra days to our production schedule, and we color code those days in red on the schedule.
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Our goal, from the start of the job, is to not have any punch items by the time we reach the final walkthrough. We've even had owners try to convince us to call it a Zero Punch, even when there were some punch items left!
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Few remodelers take the trouble to align client payments with their own need to pay suppliers and subs within a week to 10 days. Payments are updated on a schedule of values that includes an early-pay line item for general conditions.
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Professionals pay professionals and know they must. I charge for estimates and keep the money because I believe that a contractor's time is extremely valuable. The homeowners receive 45 minutes to an hour of free consultation during the first meeting. After that, they pay for our time.