This was a fun project to be involved in. I am so lucky. When I was asked by Tony Torres of Tony Torres Interiors, to volunteer for the 2011 Denver Designer Show House and Boutique, benefiting The Children’s Hospital, I said yes without hesitation. The Children’s Hospital has done so much for the Denver area including my Son. When my son Connor was born we found out he had congenital cataracts and glaucoma. And through the help of the wonderful team of Doctors at the hospital he is a very healthy young man who just graduated from college, has a job and a girlfriend. Yes I am Proud of Connor!……Enough about my awesome son.
So 25 of Denver’s most talented Designers had the opportunity to show there stuff in the historic Cowperthwaite Home at 1625 E 3rd Ave in the Denver Country Club neighborhood. Each of the designers got a room to design and what a job they did!
My team was the first to start and the first to finish our part. Yes we completed a head of schedule and under budget. So we started out working with Tony Torres and just couldn’t say “no” to five other designers that we met when they saw our work and wanted to use our skilled craftsmen.
For a small donation you could tour the estate. The Designers had paintings for sale throughout the beautifully decorated home. There was a play house custom built and auctioned off. A boutique set up in the garage with neat things for all.
I look forward to the 2012 Denver Designer Show House. I hope to see you there.
Owners as General Contractors and Other Ethics ProblemsEveryone wants a good deal and everyone is aware of the devastation the recession inflicted on the residential construction industry. Armed with “facts” from the Internet, some Owners believe that any contractor still standing is weakened and can be easily taken advantage of. Or because the Owner watches “Do it Yourself” TV shows that makes them able to manage their own projects and become General Contractors.
So if you can produce and read construction drawings from a licensed Engineer and Architect, get those plans approved by the City so you can get a permit, buy and store all your construction materials on the jobsite in a manner so nobody gets hurt (it is your liability insurance now and your homeowners insurance will not cover you), know all applicable building codes for all the trades and know how and when to prove that to the City inspectors, then by all means, be your own General Contractor.
Most Owners don’t even try to be their own General Contractor, but they may not be aware of the “rules of engagement” when they are talking to General Contractors that are bidding their job. Most General Contractors will provide the Owner with a limited estimate (rough order of magnitude) for free. Owners must understand that these estimates are confidential and should never be shared in whole or in part to competing bidders. Home Improvement shows say “go get at least three estimates”, but they don’t tell you what to do with them when you get them. Most of the time you will get three different prices from three different scopes and the prices are all over the map, so the Owner’s eyes cross when they are trying to compare the bids apples to apples so they just give up and award the bid to the low guy who will now increase the price of the job considerably so your job starts out cheap and ends expensive.
General Contractors are professionals and they don’t want to play these stupid games, but the Owners need to take responsibility for their role in this. Good Contractors stake their reputations on doing quality work for a fair price. Their business depends on referrals, so quality work really does matter. Building quality projects is not cheap, but good General Contractors will build your dream that will last a lifetime.
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