General Contract in Raleigh or list of good subs

[shawn]

And any decent GC should be able to agree to $/SF allowances for finishes just to get you pricing.

You're most likely to get screwed on stuff like cabinets. Even at the high end, there are so many little variables that a supplier can use to tweak their price, and you won't know the difference until a year or three down the road.

 

[broncosbybart]

There's your problem. If you go drawing up that fancy stuff, they know you are going to be very particular and have high expectations of everything, so they charge accordingly or avoid the job. Contractors work on napkin drawings over bojangles biscuits on the back of a white Ford truck.

As an estimator, I will go ahead and disagree with this. Detailed drawings are exactly what you want to do for the best price possible from a materials standpoint. A set of CAD drawings can be as bad as a napkin sketch, depending on how they're done. The majority of the homeowner generated drawings I've seen are pretty poor. I've worked for companies that would throw high numbers on stuff like this to make it go away.

For finding a good contractor, I'd ask your local lumber yard for some references on guys who do remodels and additions. I'd avoid stock and pro build unless you can find someone knowledgeable there. The majority of those around here weren't very good

 

[BRUISER]

ya since I worked in Architect firm at last job I saw how detailed the plans had to be just to get a permit.. but what I have found with residential is the onsite inspector is the one that will call you out and make you fix things before you can move on..the city of raleigh is more strict with commercial before you start work but not with residential

 

[trailhugger]

Exactly. You don't need a lot of info. to get a residential permit, but the inspectors know their stuff. You can tell, with other municipalities, how good the inspectors are... Apex planning (for example) is crazy detailed to make up for slack inspectors.

 

[shawn]

ya since I worked in Architect firm at last job I saw how detailed the plans had to be just to get a permit.. but what I have found with residential is the onsite inspector is the one that will call you out and make you fix things before you can move on..the city of raleigh is more strict with commercial before you start work but not with residential

I think you're missing the point - the drawings aren't for permit. They're the basis of your contract with the GC.

 

[broncosbybart]

What Shawn said. Your plans are the basis for getting prices as well as construction. You can do a prelim set of plans for pricing. I see these a lot and always estimate them high to cover anything that we might encounter later on. Here in Meck county almost all plans have to be sealed by an engineer before permits are issued. Usually the engineers over design stuff, so we take that into account when quoting framing material on a pricing set of plans.

All this doesn't help you find a contractor but having a good set of plans will help in getting some more accurate quotes. Can't give any help up in your area. If you can't get any good contacts from a lumber yard, maybe check with some neighbors that are having work done or check permits being issued as well as contractor names associated with those jobs.

 

[jeepinmatt]

As an estimator, I will go ahead and disagree with this. Detailed drawings are exactly what you want to do for the best price possible from a materials standpoint. A set of CAD drawings can be as bad as a napkin sketch, depending on how they're done. The majority of the homeowner generated drawings I've seen are pretty poor. I've worked for companies that would throw high numbers on stuff like this to make it go away.

Hey as an engineer I disagree too, but as someone who self contracted their own house and got multiple quotes on everything, I know it's (at least partially) true.