I moved to St. Louis in April from Evergreen, CO. I was a formsetter there for a year and a half and loved the work. I’ve been working for a remodeling company here since April and would like to get back to doing foundations so I can be outside. I know I’m still young and stupid, but there’s just something exciting about pour day.
I’d like to find a foundation contractor who does more high end work and less of the cookie cutter houses that are everywhere around here. Variations on a rectangle get a little boring when that’s all you’re doing. Most of the foundation companies I’ve talked to are production-oriented, but you can be detail-oriented with a foundation just like anything else. I like building radius and tall walls, elevated slabs. I just think I haven’t gotten in touch with the right people.
If anyone could help out with names or suggestions, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks.
Edited 6/10/2004 11:29 pm ET by bluemoose
Replies
Don't really know any foundation contractors in the area. Just wanted to say welcome to the board.
There are at least 2 people from the St. Louis area who post here. Hopefully one of them will chime in.
I live about an hour north east of the arch in Illinois. The company I work for sells trusses in the St. Louis area, though. Mainly to the cookie-cutter builders. (-:
Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.
Have you given any thought to going into business for yourself? Doesn't take a lot of capitol , hardest thing in my expierience was to find good concrete laborers.In 1964 I did foundations for custom homes. I had a good excavating contractor , three man concrete crew of laborers and one carpenter besides myself.We usually could have a foundation ready to pour in two days, after footings were in.Went out of business a year later, truck, formwork, all tools were stolen from jobsite. Insurance covered about half of what I invested.I could of stayed in business but I lost largest contract because of insurance claim delays. Just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.You would need either a dump truck or stake body, generator, etc. I carried two generators and two vibrators, incase one would malfunction. Never needed two but a good idea none the less.Finding work was the easiest part. Most builders did not want to do foundations themselves, most of my competition was from masonry contractors that specialized in block. Got several jobs from them.
Good luck mike
My cousin use to also do custom home foundations. Now he only does production work, tract homes only, slab foundations. About 250-350 homes every month, depending on how the market is at the time. He has a small army of employees and he has a couple really good top level management guys (he pays them well) who run the day to day operation and he and his partner spend more time fishing down in Baja then at home. He says he makes way more money and the stress level isn't much different then when he was doing custom homes. At least with tract homes you never have to deal with the home owner. His background is in carpentry. He was a union carpenter, spent most of his time nailing up form work for large government/commercial jobs.
Strike out on your own. I live in Evergreen, CO and I can't imagine the foundations to be any more complicated after dealing with the mountain sides and rock around here.
I am beginning to wish I still lived in Evergreen with all the humidity here right now.
ClimbOn, do you ever go to EFTC?
We poured that new office condo complex by the Conoco on Hilltop, across from Albertson's...that was a fun one, almost twenty foot tall walls in the back.
I would really like to strike out on my own. Much of my concern lies in getting liability insurance, which isn't too expensive from what I've heard. It's probably mostly just that I'm afraid to get in over my head.
I haven't gone to the EFTC. I spend most of my free time out rock climbing.
I am renting a house right now in El Pinal so I drive past those office buildings everyday. I just put an offer on a house out at Brook Forest today. Hopefully we get it.
My house was on Elaine Rd, which can be accessed from Columbine off of Brook Forest. It was great living back there, very quiet and my neighbors were great.
Good luck getting the house. Where did you live before?
Well, we are in contract. The house is on south columbine rd, off of columbine rd. It is a brand new house, they just finished building it last month, about 2200 sqft, raised ranch with walkout on 1.6 acres. They are building 3 more larger new homes right next door down the street, 2 log homes and one very large stick built. My house is the less expensive of the four new homes, which is good.
I moved here about 4 months ago from Southern California, Costa Mesa in Orange County and it has been great. It has taken a little getting used to seeing houses cut right into hillsides since everything is on slabs in Southern California.
Any suggestions on subs? excavators, electrical,plumbing, HVAC, carpentry, general contractors etc....
We would have practically been neighbors. My house was the little cabin on Elaine with a green roof and a carport.
If you have any specific sort of work you might like done at some point, let me know, I could point you in the right direction. There are definitely some hacks in Evergreen, and some guys who charge way too much for mediocre work. But then there are guys who charge a fair price for quality work (read: high price, high quality).
If you haven't been to the bar at Soho yet, check it out. It's very mellow, non-smoking, and the bartenders are pleasant.
I don't have any work at the moment, I am just trying to get a database of quality subs so when the time comes I have some good guys to call on. Since I just moved here and have been renting I don't know any good subs and I just want to try and make it easier on myself when the time comes.
If something comes up I will shoot you an email.
did u find ur contractor yet? if not let me know i am about 1 1 /2 hours from st. louis but do know some people I worked there for years and know many quality people around here if u dont mind a commute
An inch to short. That's the story of my life !
bstcrpntr --- I hope to grow into this name.