I had my worst experience with a 'general contractor' we will call him "America's Worst". AW worked ok at first but at Christmas time they took like a four week break - im sorry i work for a living too - i don't get no four week break - They jacked me around for every little thing - in the end i got a decent deal on the rough carpentry - but they sucked hard on all the detail work - i ended up having all their work torn out years later and now its cool.
2nd experience was with me as GC and I did ok - you have to hire people and yer suppose to call three refs but dang i think most these losers get their family to do the recs for them. I did my kitchen remodel for about a third the price but even now I have to look at little defects cause the dude I hired was way too young and inexperienced.
Third I hired a guy who was just starting out but had experience working for other GCs. He was good - he made some mistakes - but one thing i learned is never, never, never pay before the work is done - ;buy the materials yourself and pay them for labor after the job passes your inspection -
Bad contractors are all the kids who beat you up in high school and dropped out - now they are contractors.
more