# A Clients House - Opening a wall up completely.



## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

Celtic said:


> I thought the kid's were called tools:laughing:


not all, just the "beat this quote" girls


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## holdench (Jan 28, 2009)

Toronto is right. The house is in Hamilton (Ontario) though.

We do have contacts but they have been less than reliable. From some of the responses to this, I see that some of you would be less than reliable as well.

I dont care if you guys like Mike Holmes or not. After I wrote that, I figured that I would be getting some less than appropriate responses about him. The client is not in a hurry by any means. They have a family and we're trying to work around their schedule.

To answer Brock : What I meant by "Holmes" standards are basically that someone could go through with a fine tooth comb and see that the work has been done to above safety standards. The family actually asked me if I could get Mike Holmes' team to do the job.


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## Dan_Watson (Mar 1, 2008)

I an imagine it now...You are putting the header in for the new opening, fire your nail gun and the H/O comes running over "Thats not how Mikes Holmes does it!" The customer is going to be a complete wack and needs alot of education with all the DIY shows they watch.


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## SLSTech (Sep 13, 2008)

holdench said:


> Toronto is right. The house is in Hamilton (Ontario) though.
> 
> We do have contacts but they have been less than reliable. From some of the responses to this, I see that some of you would be less than reliable as well.
> 
> ...


You are actually looking in the wrong place - first you need to find a good engineer - he would then be able to recommend a good contractor based off of past work. The engineer is the one that actually does the complete design to meet minimum specs or more & he can tell you if your design wishes can come true or not

Lets put it this way - if you belong to an ID forum, what would you tell a person who was looking for a flooring installer to install whatever to whomevers standards. I can hear it now, wait a minute - how about...


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## Bodger (Oct 23, 2008)

I've made a buck here and there when the HO has watched too many DIY shows, tries to go it alone, and ends up in desperate need of a contractor to finish the project.
The desperation usually is the result of the berating he's getting from wifey.

One particular deck project comes to mind. The poor fellow had a spot of bother getting it square. :laughing:


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## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

Alwaysconfusd11 said:


> I an imagine it now...You are putting the header in for the new opening, fire your nail gun and the H/O comes running over "Thats not how Mikes Holmes does it!" The customer is going to be a complete wack and needs alot of education with all the DIY shows they watch.


:thumbsup:

I used to do work in an apartment complex many years ago, one of my guys was friends with a tenant and the tenant was a major PITA, he wanted GFCI's in the bathroom and kitchen, at the time the property was built, they weren't required, he kept complaining about it saying it wasn't up to code and Bob Vila said they were required by code.

I told Dennis (one of my employee's) who was friends with the tenant that the tenant could suck Bob Vila's **** because I was not going to install them because then we would have to do it in all of the units, not just the 472 in our complex, but all of the units we owned, because due to Fair Housing Standards, what you do for 1 tenant, you must do for all, this tennant was so cheap he would want us to replace the burnt out light bulbs in his unit.

The worst shows are the home make over shows where they get it done in a quick period of time, you can not rush a job and expect it to be done right.

I think Dan and Miriam Johnson are good and the people on This old house like Norm, Tom Silva and the other real contractors are good, but a lot of other hacks have jumped on the bandwagon.

I have never heard of the "Holmes" standard, maybe he is good, but the guys on TV are not going to be out bidding jobs.


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## neolitic (Apr 20, 2006)

holdench said:


> Toronto is right. The house is in Hamilton (Ontario) though.
> 
> We do have contacts but they have been less than reliable. From some of the responses to this, I see that some of you would be less than reliable as well.
> 
> ...


Why don't you hire this Holmes guy
if you think he's so great?
It seems that the HO has hired
a designer who is "less than reliable,"
since her "research" consists of asking
total strangers on the internet for
help on a project with moronically 
vague specifications in an unknown
location.
What would you have possibly done
with any pricing obtained in this manner?

BTW, dangling the "promise" of supposed
future work?
That is one of the scariest things you
might do to an experienced contractor.
That and inability to provide *any*
pertinent information, would be giant 
red flags indicating a client I wouldn't
want to hire.
Ever consider that your problems with
contractors may lie in your court?


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## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

holdench said:


> Toronto is right. The house is in Hamilton (Ontario) though.
> 
> We do have contacts but they have been less than reliable. From some of the responses to this, I see that some of you would be less than reliable as well.
> 
> ...


Your 1st post you ask for information and pricing without sufficient detail.

You already have guys that can't handle the job so you come on the internet asking advice and now you say we would be unreliable?

If this Holmes guy is so great hire him, but since you already asked how much, obviously you can't afford it.

BTW just because a job is done to safety standards does not mean it is done properly, a hack can do a job safely, but it is still a hack job, I think you need to learn what Quality Craftsmanship is, as you want the job done to Code, including OSHA safety standards and have qualified craftsmen doing the job, with high quality materials.

There is a difference between contractors and designers, no one can get hurt if you pick the wrong drapes or put the wrong throw pillows on the bed, maybe you should stick to your area of expertise.


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## Celtic (May 23, 2007)

Land it in the Hudson


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## reveivl (May 29, 2005)

I think we need a clean up crew in here, there is a LARGE mess on the floor. If you look closely... yes, I think so...it's the OP!!


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## john5mt (Jan 21, 2007)

> Why don't you hire this Holmes guy
> if you think he's so great?
> It seems that the HO has hired
> a designer who is "less than reliable,"
> ...


:thumbsup:
Good job

Holmes is based out of toronto 
you should have no trouble calling an expert like him or one of his recommended contractors.
The standards being what they are i doubt anyone on here could do the work for you because 99.5% of us aren't licensed in Ontario as contractors.:w00t:


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## BHR (Jan 7, 2009)

guess I'm one of the .5% :laughing:

Ok op, one thing you should reliaze. Mike works for Home Depot :whistling

Me, I work for myself. What you are asking for is straight forward but you should ask in a different fashion. Folks here are very professional at what they do for a living, but, they do have reasons for the way they react here when approached the way you had done.

No person likes to be compared to another in the same profession. At least not like tv celebs. It's lame. And to convey that there may perhaps be other future work is lame to. We hear that all the time - and shun it.

I am in Brantford - I also have two other brothers who are GC's in Burlington. One is also a certified home inspector. So yeah Hamilton is just down the road.

But to go the Holmes quality - I dunno, that's just odd.

I wonder how he keeps himself so clean when on camera :thumbsup:


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## trptman (Mar 26, 2007)

holdench said:


> A client of ours is looking to open up a wall between their dining room and living room. That said, it's a 15 foot span.
> 
> What I am looking for is a good reputable contractor who would do this work to the "Holmes Standards" and what the approximate cost would be for this sort of work. There would be much more work for this contractor, including installing french doors re-framing and re-building a deck and installing crown molding.


15 foot span...hmmmm is there electrical that needs relocated? any plumbing in that wall? any hvac ducts etc.? load bearing wall? all those things impact "the approximate cost".
that said, I'd do it for $18,639.00
that should about cover it I would think. Might be some travel expenses in there depending on where you are related to me.
So maybe I better make it an even $20,000.00


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## PA woodbutcher (Mar 29, 2007)

bwalley said:


> :thumbsup:
> The worst shows are the home make over shows where they get it done in a quick period of time, you can not rush a job and expect it to be done right.
> 
> I think Dan and Miriam Johnson are good and the people on This old house like Norm, Tom Silva and the other real contractors are good, but a lot of other hacks have jumped on the bandwagon.
> ...


I used to watch TOH on occasion, but got tired of lstening to their "limited" budget talk. Wish half my customers had the "limited" budgets they were talking.:laughing:

I do like the New Yankee Workshop though.


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## Fence & Deck (Jan 23, 2006)

As mentioned earlier, Mike Holmes is more of a TV phenom than a real contractor. I've watched many of his shows, and as a contractor, it's easy for me to pick apart almost everything he does. It's all hype. He's not dishonest as such, but his work isn't always completely up to snuff.
One deck he did on a rooftop was blatently in violation of code. Another was done without proper footings for no reason that I could see, and a stone wall he did was 2ft outside of the property line.
Regarding asking for a price, just search the forums, and you'll see how these questions are normally answered.. Unless you are well known and respected here, and are able to give accurate information, don't EVER ask, "how much". 
Conditions, codes, and labour rates are so different in every city and town, and there are so many variables in your project that you haven't explained, that it's impossible to give an accurate price.

Having said that, I did much the same thing a few years ago. We took out the wall between my den and kitchen. We built 2 false walls to hold up the ceiling joists, set a quadruple 2x10 beam recessed into the ceiling, took away the false walls, and then drywalled it. Cost me around $1200, but that was 9 years ago. there's never even been a crack in the drywall!


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## john5mt (Jan 21, 2007)

> Wish half my customers had the "limited" budgets they were talking.:laughing:


That is the exact thing i am always thinking when i watched that show. 

Most customers wont let you touch the drywall except to patch it and he goes through and rips and tears and then "tells" the customer what its going to cost and they are thanking him for being willing to show up and take their money.


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## sparehair (Nov 21, 2008)

Yankee Workshop!


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