Update on fixing up my guesthouse:
The original contractor, while giving us an incredible deal, bailed out so it was back to the drawing board. Still having GCs and handymen come by then submitting their bids. Typically, about 50% never even end up submitting me a bid, odd because why would you come by spend about an hour, measure, write everything down, etc then NEVER even shoot me a bid?
Anyways, so far I like one more than the others but his offer is ~19k. What is the best way to determine if I am getting a good deal or not? We hope to rent the place out for $650 - $750 a month.
Thoughts.
Maybe I need to go to Texas,
I could use some of that action. I know the frustration. Over the years, I have gotten countless contractors out on countless bids, and never heard from them again. I couldn't begin to tell you why they aren't interested? Wish I knew. If I came out, looked at the job, and knew I didn't want it, I would just say so, and walk away right there. I have always figured they got drunk (Contractors) and forgot about it.
Now you are looking at 2-2.5 years to pay off. Can you afford to do this out of pocket, or are you taking a loan?
Sadly, this seems to be pretty universal. It boggles the mind to think someone would come out and spend about an hour, measuring, scanning over all the stuff, taking pictures, etc then *poof* NEVER hear from them again. Why not at least send me a bid for 100k? Better than wasting your time and doing nothing or simply get back to me and say "Sorry, can't do anything".I think I am going to skip the GC way. One was all set to go (11k - perfect price) then he vanished. I now get estimates between 19k and 35k, it's all insane.
Good friend knew of an illegal but he was in Mexico and just got back. My wife is latin and called and finally got in touch. They really do demo work, hang sheet rock, float/tape, etc but at $10 an hour and my friend saying they don't **** around, that sounds good to me. I am just going to have to do more work than I wanted. If I can save 5k or maybe almost 10k then it's worth not getting it down and renting it out.
I have the money (HELOC) so that isn't an issue, just don't want to get ripped off. I'll find an electrician and plumber and then go down the line.
I don't think the whole place is worth paying out of my pocket more than 15k but even some people in the biz tell me that I could make a profit (hope to get 650 max a month) will outweigh the loan amount (~200 a month) but still. Screw GC for now, will just do it step by step. I need to get the following resolved in order:
1. Get the water away from the guest house - North side will either need to put new sealant or have a drain installed running East then South behind structure. Install gutters and flashing issues with porch cover attached to detached guesthouse.
2. Sand concrete floor. Heard that sanding it down alone creates a big time mess (pulverise concrete reminds me of 911 when I was in NYC next to the towers, not a good site I want to see again) so will need to get that down. Will keep the cracks in concrete foundation and then stain it.
2:30 am for me, but HUH???? What are you trying to do here? Remember, the more details, the better.
First two on my list. I am going to buy a saw since I will need to replace some of the 2x4, this is in another link (asking advice on what saw I should purchase, would like your opinion).
Edit: Scheduled to speak with this GC who gave me the 19k bid and will flat out tell him no can do with that price. If he can go down a nice chuck though it can work but I am not counting on it.
Well, now that you are going at it.....I am not a contractor, nor am I licensed in your area, but really, I could do a 600 ft area with my own hands and my own people in less than a heartbeat. Not an issue.
I invite you (like I invited Random, but he has decided not to) to use this thread as a personal blog/diary of what you are doing.
If you just explain VERY WELL what you are doing, I would be happy to help you in every way.
I can't do the loan stuff, I am terrible at the finance part if you follow ANY Investor advice (I don't do what I should when it comes to the mantra at all), but if you want to tear something up with your own hands (or mind if you hire it out), I am your man.
I could easily walk you through a 600 sqft rehab with my eyes closed. There was nothing on your list I couldn't do.
If you want the help, I would be happy to post what I can, only you have to be very detailed so I can "see" your rehab.
Random wasn't interested, but I would be happy to help you be the "GC" from thousands of miles away.
The actual nuts and bolts I can do, with the Finance/buy/sell stuff I am somewhat out of my element. I can repair just about anything.
Thanks MA. RE:#2. The floor is concrete and instead of laying down tile or carpet or wood, I simply want to have it sanded to smooth out the rough spots then stained. I think stained concrete is the future (if you bypass hardwood floors), the thing is I don't know how to do it so I may hire someone.If you walk East into the side of my backyard you will see the guesthouse to the North the brick wall sits against another property that slops down so water collects and rests against my wall which then water can seep into my place. I may just reapply sealant instead of installing a drain that whisks water away from the North part of my guest house and running it East then South of my place to disperse the water. We shall see, just a ton of foudation and concrete to work with.
Stained Concrete could very well be the wave of the future. I am seeing more and more of it in my backwater area. Ultimately, it's most likely a fad like the DARK wood cabinets and Orange and goldenrod counter tops of the 70's.I looked at it at one point, and to get any kind of pattern that doesn't show just the flaws takes work. Have you thought about just painting them with a Grey (or whatever) floor paint?
About the water collecting by the house. Your EASY fix would be to just bring in fill dirt, pile it up, and COMPACT it, so the water stays a couple or more feet away from your building. That might seriously be enough.
If you want to do it right, this is EASY. You will need 6 inch drain tubing (it's black, ribbed, and has "slits" all along it. it joins together with connectors, so figure out how far you have to go), Gravel (You should be able to get even 23 tons of
"73" stone delivered in a dump truck for under $200.00, I have no clue how much you will need, but that will be more than enough, tell the Gravel place what you are doing, they will know how much you need, just get a little extra), some landscaping fabric, a strong young man or two for cheap (say $50.00 each), some shovels, and plenty of liquid for those guys. You can do this WHOLE project right for say $450.00 which includes materials and labor. You will need to supervise them, so plan on doing it on a weekend, it can be done in two days easy. And this is if you have to do two sides, say a 20' and a 30' side, and drain it away. It will be cheaper to just do one side.
NOW, if you don't want the guys to help you, you can dig it yourself (This would suck), or you can rent a trencher, and pound it out in a day by yourself. The rental will be over $100.00 and you will have to figure out how to transport it if the rental doesn't come on a trailer. Even if it does, you will need to haul it around. It's better to hire a couple of guys. One guy will never get it done, and give up. You could be the second guy, but really you should be the 3rd guy that does very little work, but grabs bottles of water, or drags out the hose when needed. Drink lots of water.
I've done both, I's be hiring the young guys to do say 3-5 hours together for 6-10 man hours at say $100.00 Just get good ones, and not cracked up street urchins. I post at the local college when my normal labor force isn't enough. I have also gone to a Temp agency, paid say $10.00 an hour for guys, where the agency pays them and provides insurance should they get hurt. They will not get hurt on this project just digging.
CALL THE UTILITY companies, and have them mark the service lines on your property. You will be paying if you slice through a line, and they have to mark them for free. It takes 2-3 days but they are happy to do it.
Assuming you have no Utilities to worry about, get the guys digging (Or do it yourself, which sucks). In a perfect world, you want to dig down 24 inches, but really 18 inches is fine. Dig about 4 inches off the building on the close side of the trench, about 8 inches wide. The outside of the trench should sit about a foot off the building. This will be some digging. A 30 foot run will take a couple of hours with decent diggers. Keep them moving, Digging this out is a half day job for a few people.
Now, dig that same trench out to where ever you want the water to dump. Hopefully you can get it to an alley, or safe spot. If you have no where, post back, and we can set you up with a yard well.
Once the trench is set, put the landscape fabric down first, you want to line the trench and leave extra above the ground. Now fill in with just enough gravel to cover the bottom. Lay in the Drain tubing, all connected together, cover the tubing with Gravel so you can't see it. Then fold the Landscape fabric over the gravel so it over laps. Back fill with the dirt, using all the extra dirt in that first 4 inches against the building to "Slope" the ground away from the building, and towards the drain.
The reason you use the landscape fabric is to keep the dirt out of the gravel. The gravel is a Racetrack for the water to get into the drain FAST. If it clogs up with dirt, you are wasting your time, money, and effort here.
Outside of the digging, this is a very easy job for the do it yourselfer.
I just went back and looked, and saw that you are talking about 330 total sqft. So figure it's 20x16???? You can take care of a 20 foot run with a runoff.
and 
here.
We are Commercial GC's and whenever you put an estimate together with a long list of jobs, obviously there's more money in some areas than others.
