# How much money do you make off other contractor screwups?



## duckdown (Dec 16, 2008)

If you make good money off other contractors screwing up then does this beg the question of why are there so many bad ones? What is our duty to resolve those who are giving us a bad name? Of course, one should also ask how much are others making off of work you did poorly?


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## ClemS (May 4, 2009)

duckdown said:


> If you make good money off other contractors screwing up then does this beg the question of why are there so many bad ones? What is our duty to resolve those who are giving us a bad name? Of course, one should also ask how much are others making off of work you did poorly?


we need bad contractors to make good contractors look good.


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## kevjob (Aug 14, 2006)

Alot of times contruction is a last resort all else failed, no schooling, no drug tests, no reading and writing comprehension so it is easy for everyone to believe they can do what we are doing it's easy I hear and also " you guys just drive around and pick up checks, or All you do is supervise and line up subs I could do that". :blink:


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

I don't know how often it is a contractor screw up as opposed to a HO or "handyman" that we sometimes fix.
I like to give the benefit of the doubt to a actual licensed contractor and assume that most do fine work.
Maybe I 'm a bit naive.I dunno'....


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## ClemS (May 4, 2009)

JumboJack said:


> I don't know how often it is a contractor screw up as opposed to a HO or "handyman" that we sometimes fix.
> I like to give the benefit of the doubt to a actual licensed contractor and assume that most do fine work.
> Maybe I 'm a bit naive.I dunno'....


i am not a licensed contractor. 
in the city of new york you don't need to know anything about construction to be a licensed contractor. same goes for nassau & suffolk counties where i do most of my work. a license is basically your serial number, not unlike your driver's license, by which you can be identified and punished if need be :thumbup:

i am a sub-contractor so i am spared the paper-shuffle.:thumbsup:


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

*Twice*

Once about 12 years ago. Newbie contractor called me. He was building an addition for a lawyer and in BIG trouble. 

His only skill was selling,first contract he landed. His concrete guy miss read the blue prints and cast the foundation wrong. Also took aver a month to pour. Son of cement guy electrocuted because the didn't call JULIE before digging.(He survived ) Lost the weather due to delays. 

I took over job .Customer turned out to be great! I finished the project,Then remodeled the whole first floor. Landed a fair bit of work from friends also.

I also did three second floor additions for the "contractor " .




The last one was out of state,just last month,. Remodeling "contractor" had little if any skill. My local customer owned an investment house.
She bounced the guy and called me. NICE


MIKE


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

On the occasions where something goes wrong on one of my jobs and I get a call alerting me to some kind of trouble, I turn it into an opportunity on the spot.
I drop what ever it is I'm doing and drive to the job and make what ever is wrong, right. Often within the hour that I got the call. 
Usually it's a contractor that called me and they can't even believe that I'm there so fast. I tell them that there is no way I'm going to let this hiccup fester into a sore. I want you to know how much I want you to be happy.
That turns it into an opportunity rather than a liability.
I have a great relationship with the GC's I work with and it takes effort to keep it that way. I try to never feel complacent, I'm only as good as my last job. I need there to be a next .

That doesn't address the OP's question directly but this is how I avoid another shop capitalizing on my mishap.


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## Trim40 (Jan 27, 2009)

I used to get a lot of work repairing one "contractors" work. After about 10 repairs, he figured out it was more cost effective to sub me the trim work instead of paying me to fix his work.


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## ClemS (May 4, 2009)

Trim40 said:


> I used to get a lot of work repairing one "contractors" work. After about 10 repairs, he figured out it was more cost effective to sub me the trim work instead of paying me to fix his work.


how can you muck up trim work? besides just doing a lousy job?


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## Trim40 (Jan 27, 2009)

ClemS said:


> how can you muck up trim work? besides just doing a lousy job?


 That's what he did.


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## D.Foster (Sep 13, 2008)

Not Enough:no:


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## AmeliaP (Apr 22, 2007)

We've been called to fix work done by one guy 3-4 times. All block work I think. I don't think he owns a level....or maybe he can't see the little bubble in it or something.


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## Kuba (May 3, 2009)

PA nails all fly-byes to the wall now...

Contracts are the law now in PA. You cannot do any residential work in PA without a contracts, period

If you flop a job your done.

If you get caught running a job without registration or a contract, its now a Felony in PA.

_[Edited]_


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## ClemS (May 4, 2009)

Kuba said:


> PA nails all fly-byes to the wall now...
> 
> Contracts are the law now in PA. You cannot do any residential work in PA without a contracts, period
> 
> ...


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## bert0168 (Jan 28, 2008)

Kuba said:


> PA nails all fly-byes to the wall now...
> 
> Contracts are the law now in PA. You cannot do any residential work in PA without a contracts, period
> 
> ...


I got my number but I want to know who is going to do the 'catching'.

Most of these fly-byes aren't going to stop their business as usual. I bet most homeowners don't know about this new law anyway.

I know on the most recent contract I put together, the homeowners were unaware until I went over the wording, specifically the right to recission and contact # to check out I was legit.

The permit office was on the ball though. Asked for my reg before I had a chance to tell them they couldn't collect their registration fee :laughing:

But who is gonna catch these a$$h0les if they aren't pulling permits anyway?



Sorry, didn't mean to hijack. Rant off.


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## cbfx3 (Aug 25, 2009)

duckdown said:


> If you make good money off other contractors screwing up then does this beg the question of why are there so many bad ones? What is our duty to resolve those who are giving us a bad name? Of course, one should also ask how much are others making off of work you did poorly?



I lost a framing job down at wrightsville beach (nc) by about 35k.. (my price included lodging but I was still a bit scared of it) I came in by the hour to fix it and it probably overall costed the builder 25k or so more than if he would have just gave the house to me to start with. :clap: Cool thing is all of my stuff was by the hour so no worries on my end and the builder payed for lodging as well! Worked out good for me in the long run but honestly there were some thing we just couldnt fix without tearing the whole house down. The lesson would be dont worry about 35k on a 6million dollar home if you want it done right. Sadly that is a hard lesson to learn for a lot of these guys around here.


Truthfully I wish it were much harder to do business in NC. I hate to say that because it goes against my beliefs but if it would cut out some of the cats (or el gato's would be a better description) that I have to bid against that dont play by the rules it would make my life easier.. I have had my price cut by 100k before on a frame job! No way they payed taxes or carried proper insurance


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## Cdat (Apr 18, 2007)

I get a couple jobs a year to fix someone else's screw-up. The one I enjoy the most is when the HO'er don't want to pay my install price so installs it himself and screws it up and then has to pay me more to un-fruck his mistake.:clap:That is karma.


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## DavidC (Feb 16, 2008)

Seems like at least once or twice each year we get called to finish a job where the first contractor either disappeared or got fired. One guy in particular is a prolific producer for us and others in the area. Small city in a rural setting, makes me wonder how he keeps finding new victims.

Good Luck
Dave


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## Scribbles (Mar 10, 2009)

a lot.


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## slowforthecones (Aug 24, 2008)

My recent fire restoration/rebuild job... original price 250k......insurance company had a questionable mexican on their list of vendors...they botched the job, insurance paid again and I was retained... 400k. Travelers Insurance bunch of losers.

I work only with owners, not in bed with insurance companies. I pride myself on quality, when the insurance preferred and guarenteed contractor phucks up...owners often call me thru word of mouth referrals.


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