Why is it so hard to find a decent contractor or contractors to show up at all? I understand they are probably in high demand right now and don't want to deal with "smaller" projects but damn.

I'v talked with 8 contractors, all 8 have promised to show up and only 2 have. 1 came out, we went over everything, it took some time but he got drawings to me and told me he would have an estimate within a week. That was the 1st week of June. I stopped trying to give them my money after they dropped off the face of the earth.

The second company came out, I assume they didn't want the job because he quoted what I thought was high. Also basically did a quick look around, we talked for 5 mins he left and sent me an estimate 2 hours later. I want a my 5x9 front porch covered and my 15x19 deck covered and his quote was over 22k. Maybe that price is inline with the actual job, but without other quotes I can't be sure.

I'v got a 9th guy who was supposed to come last week but called and said it would be this week, haven't heard back yet

It's a bit tough right now across the board. If you have a small job that really needs someone with the knowledge and skill set that could be building houses or renovating kitchens, that's what they are doing.

They would much rather do 6 big jobs a year than 20 or 30 small ones.

Unfortunately there is not a group of nearly qualified people behind them. The aversion to the trades and the economy has created a gap in competent GC's

It'll be the Wild West for the next 4-5 years while the next generation is figure out how to go from a handyman to a legit contractor.

Because everybody wants a quote and nobody wants to pay. You can only spend so much of your day quoting stuff that might never come your way. Probably 80% of quotes are gotten simply to talk down an existing contractor. It's not worth the trouble usually.

The pool of folks skilled at various trades has been shrinking over the years for any one of many reasons. All my kids was brought up in my shop learning to design, fabricate, paint, machine, basic work with their hands, etc., and it appears that these are among the skills that are not being passed along these days as their friends, bosses and coworkers think they can do anything. Anyway getting back to the subject, in the last 20 years I haven't found a single contractor that wasn't having to cope with substance abuse on some level and I imagine the really good ones are simply too busy to take on more work. Good luck as I see this trend only getting worse.

Everybody is just too busy.
I'm a Basic Residential Contractor (basically a licensed non commercial general contractor) and CANNOT get my subs to come and do work.
I'm a one man operation so I do 1-5 projects at a time.
I'm not anybodies "bread and butter" just "gravy".
My subs are too busy with the big home builders and can't get to me.
Any new subs I have come out (if they come) quote me 2-3 times the normal rate just because they can.
I have over $250k of projects I can't start because of this problem.
I have immediate needs for tile setters, trim carpenters, painters, landscapers, and framers.
If I don't start getting decent help soon I'll be forced to shut down and become a greeter at Walmart.

Have you considered doing the work yourself?

I can somewhat understand that, but at the same time if you tell me you're going to show up, fucking show up. I'm willing to pay for an estimate, I'm perfectly fine with it. However I can't even get these mouth breathers to stick to their word. Its still strange to me that one company went through the trouble of providing drawings then dropping of the face of the earth BEFORE they ever gave me an estimate. I guess thats how the industry is now days.


I have and I'm sure I'm capable, but I know next to nothing about framing, building code ect. I also don't have tons of free time to devote to doing the job even if I had the ability. I'm also sure my HOA would love to see a half built project as I hit a snag and have to research it

Contact HandyDave here on the forum.  He's a top tier GC.  

Thank you for the referral, but we went all commercial almost 4 years ago.

Rob pretty much summed up the situation.

When I started residential 25 years ago, my average job was $500 and in the end before I switched it was $150K with my minimum job $50k and the biggest $600k.

I never built and only did remodeling.

When the economy went to shit a lot of people got out of the trades and all the builders became remodelers.

Now that things are full swing most are back to building and don't want to tackle small jobs.

I understand your frustration about no-shows and anyone that works for me will tell you communication is probably my biggest pet-peeve.

Some contractors are guys that once worked for someone else that decided they could make more on their own and have no idea what it truly run a business, nor the balls to be honest.

Also, I ask just as many questions as the potential client in the initial phone conversation with my first question being what are you looking for in a Contractor.

1/3 of the people that call me don't make it past the first 2-3 minutes.

Just as they are qualifying me, I am qualifying them.

OP, I'm not saying you fit into this category, but you could be giving off certain vibes that the contractor is picking up on.

I'm happy to IM you my info just to use as as sounding board if you want.

The problem in my area regarding getting contractors( or their crews ) to show up is  that a good many of them are drunks .   Or on drugs .


One contractor I hired was selling drugs in my driveway .   Another contractor and his hands left maybe 50 mini bottles tossed in the shrubs .  Not counting the hollowed out cigars .


At another time I had to call the contractor and have him remove one of his people because he was so wasted .   Showed up drunk as a skunk.

Another time a worker swiped a set of keys off the dining room table .

Another time a crew that was to start at 8am didn't show until the next day .  And still expected to have the job .

Had a contractor tell me the his biggest hiring problem was that most of his applicants are ex-cons .

This was on my personal properties .   The commercial building side of repairs was even worse .

Just some of my experiences .



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I had a house painter that was highly recommended show up to give me an estimate. He shows up wearing flip flops, a dirty t-shirt, and ripped shorts with his assistant. They're both pouring sweat in the AC and the guy says "Sorry, we're both reallly hungover".
Yeah, we're done here.

If you paint you either drink or do drugs.. it's the only way to kill the pain and boredom of the damn job.

As someone who owns their own CNC machine shop, that's part of the job.

I've never not quoted someone, even if I threw out a figure that was higher than I would have otherwise done it for because I was extremely busy.

what about the guys who come out, take their time talking to you and sizing up the job, but need you to call them over and over to get the estimate and then, when you do get it and approve it, you never hear from them again!

I had two guys give me quotes on refinishing my deck and three (3) give me quotes on grading and sod and none has responded after I approved their quote and said "let's get started"...

Yeah, but being that you own a brick and mortar business you don't have to go out to give quotes though. It's a different story when you have 20 guys wanting quotes all 20+ miles away and you're having to foot the bill for gas and wear and tear on your vehicle. I just tell people off the bat if you want cheap work I'm not your guy, go call Jose or Juan if you want $2000 worth of drywall work for $500. I may be expensive but I do show up on time, everytime, and get done quickly. I also don't work in undesirables or non US citizens as a rule. The latter has destroyed the construction trade with shitty work and cut throat quotes that have homeowners thinking our work should be just as cheap.