Homeowners, It's Time to Think Like a General Contractor

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Overview

Today, more than ever, your money needs to go as far as it can. If your home improvement goals exceed your budget, you can save tens of thousands of dollars by simply assuming the General Contractor role yourself. This might be a daunting concept, if you're not a veteran construction "insider." We'll explore the "insider's" perspective of ...
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Homeowners, It's time to think like a General Contractor

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More About This Book

Overview

Today, more than ever, your money needs to go as far as it can. If your home improvement goals exceed your budget, you can save tens of thousands of dollars by simply assuming the General Contractor role yourself. This might be a daunting concept, if you're not a veteran construction "insider." We'll explore the "insider's" perspective of successful General Contracting and dispel any mysteries about it in a hurry. This is in a practical language that any homeowner can easily understand.

We'll cover exactly how to:

* Size up a project
* Estimate a realistic budget
* Understand exactly how to hire only the best subcontractors
* How to negotiate the best price with those subcontractors
* How to manage them
* How to pay them
* How to keep everything effectively on track

We'll also discuss how to protect your project from going over budget and the critical decisions that need to be made prior to even starting which so many people overlook, to their peril. In the end, you'll be ready to manage your own project, or if you choose, hire the very best General Contractor. You'll have a much more informed perspective of what a good General Contractor does in any successful renovation or new construction project and be able to easily distinguish the competent ones from the rest.

Here is a breakdown of the chapters inside:


Preface
A note from the author
1 Should you trust a General Contractor?
2 What does a competent GC do and why should I think like one?
3 How much do things really cost?
4 I have a project in mind. Where do I start?
5 How do I find the right subcontractors in terms of competence and price?
6 How should I pay the subcontractors?
7 What is the typical chronology of the construction process?
8 How do I estimate the time to do the whole job?
9 How do I check the quality of the work?
10 What are some issues to be aware of when making finish selections?
11 What about appliances?
12 What if I just want to hire a General Contractor? How do I pick the right one and not get taken for a ride?
13 What are some common mistakes to avoid on the road to achieving excellence?
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781456533861
  • Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Publication date: 1/9/2011
  • Pages: 132
  • Sales rank: 818,669
  • Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 0.28 (d)

Meet the Author

David M. Dillon is a residential General Contractor and Construction Consultant in the Chicago metropolitan area. His personal expertise spans everything from a simple bathroom makeover to a complete tear down for a multi-million dollar new construction. He offers practical, no nonsense advice to homeowners everywhere who want to manage their own projects of any size.
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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Posted January 5, 2011

    VERY USEFUL!!!!

    I wish I read this before we did the basement... The ways to find the right contractors for the right price were extremely useful and easy to follow. I can't believe I have paid the money I have to get even simple jobs done and now I know exactly why. I trusted too many of the wrong people and accepted the way they did business. No more of that, it's FULL disclosure time from here on! Thanks David!

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  • Posted January 5, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    I HAD NO IDEA what went on behind the scenes and how to protect myself!

    This book really opened my eyes to how things are done if you are not in the construction business. David really explained things in very simple terms which I could easily track along with and I appreciated that. I can hardly wait to tackle my first project: The master bathroom, who knows, maybe the kitchen will be next!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 22, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

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