Had a long time friend (who I have done three major renos including a complete gut and levelling of an old house) offer me a job to build them a cottage on an island about an hours drive away for me. It is on Indian land, they have there own rules about permits, etc and they also will do the foundation, which will be piers. They dfon’t have drawings yet, but think it will be around 750 sq ft. Access is by boat to the island and ATV to the property. The husband will be there all day to help me. They offered me $8000 to do the job and $2000 if I complete it in a month. They buy all materials and get them there. This works out to about 200 hours for me. I think it will be hard to finish in that time. They really need to give me plans first.
Just wonder what your reactions to this proposal might be.
stemreno
Replies
stemreno
worth looking further into.
Depends on what he means by finished.. Most cabins have bare walls and the beauty of the cabin is refelected in the care used to build it..
Thus you standard of work needs to be high enough to reflect well or you'll be ashamed of that place as long as it remains..
How rough will this be? Air comprssors and generators for electricity or all hand tool work? Is it a slap dash plywood shanty or a crafted wood siding little cabin..
Windows and doors premade or site built?
Winter is coming.
Joe H
They want to do it in May, and unfortunatly, I don't know what the finish level will be, and I don't think they know yet. He asked me where he could look to find plans.....
oh yeah, the locals will be putting the septic system, and I'm told there will be a hydro drop. I will be responsible for the plumbing, electrical,hvac, etc. So I guess that means there will be power for my tools. Just got to get them across the water. He has a 16 foot boat. There are about 200 cottages on this island, so its not totally the boonies.
stemreno
Edited 10/3/2008 2:08 pm ET by stemreno
There's one prominent, respected member of this forum who lives and works on an island. He should be along soon to help you decide how to proceed.
Maybe frame to dry in for that money, but no interior finish - and all tyhe electrical and plumbing too? That would be insane, island or not.
I have ferry access to my island so we still drive right up to the job, but I have done boat access and ATV to the nearby off-islands in similar conditions. Figure another 15% than what you would normally for labour cost. and tell them that they get the lumber to the site - or figure extra to haul it up from the beach
Plus an upcharge for whatever PITA you might run into for local regs and permits - or vandalism charges. I have known places where any off-island labour or contractor finds their tools disappearing, etc due to locals who imagine they were screwed out of work by somebody from away.
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"They buy all the materials and get them there"
Just be sure this is addressed in the "bonus" section of the contract. Hate to see you loose out on $2000 after busting your butt because some materials weren't ordered or showed up late.
Runnerguy
Good way to ruin a friendship. Non-construction types have a different outlook on timing. What do you do when you make the trip and there's not enough material? What about the next time? I'd build it but I'd be the one getting the material there and I'd be getting paid for it. I've done it and it was a nightmare.
stemreno
Doesn't it depend to a degree on your own situation? If you have plenty of oppertunity at the time and theuy would be more profitable than this well your answer should be obvious.
If however you get to that point the hopper is bare or nearly so that might look pretty good.
I'm not a contractor but I've been involved with building things and a few recreational cabins. With what you know at this stage, I don't see how you can possibly accept their $8K offer without considerable risk. You might want to offer to work for a fixed hourly rate plus direct expenses instead. His "help" may actually slow you down.
Unless you are really hard up for work I would not let the customer dictate what the price would be. Where are they getting this number from if they dont even now what they want build. How did you come up with the 200 hrs if you dont even have plans?
Figure out what you would build it for and go from there. As Piffin said, you need to ad in the huge PITA factor. Also have to figure in the extra drive time, the hour each way adds up ( both time wise and gas wise).
How are we supposed to give you any feedback. We dont have enough info, you dont have enough info, the clients dont have enough info.
Have them figure out what they want first and then go from there. It could be worth your while or you could be digging yourself into a big hole.
Yes I know there is not enough info yet. I won't be making any decisions until I know a lot more. The 200 hours was just a quick calculation on my hourly rate versus the amont of money.
The post from I (believe Piffin) about the locals being annoyed and causing problems gave me something to think about. Did think about storage, but not about security.
stemreno.
Do you have an idea of how long it will take you to get from land to the island site ( water commute and such). Was thininking this might add a good bit to your daily commute, adding into the PITA factor.
Hope everything goes your way on this, I'd just be very careful.
Good luck.
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