For commercial I get what I can and it depends on the customer too. Sometimes it's 50% , sometimes I wait for it all until the end but it's all negotiable. For homeowners in California there are rules about how much you can get and when.

So apparently these lifetime warranties are through the shingle/roofing supplies manufacturer and only valid if installed by a roofer licensed by the manufacturer.

However, based on google searches of reviews it's not clear if anybody actually manages to collect on the warranties if things go wrong. Or else maybe a lot of non licensed roofers pretend to be licensed and then their customers end up screwed when things go wrong and they cannot collect.

I did verify my sheathing is actually 3/4" plywood by going up into the attic crawlspace and measuring it at the hole for the furnace exhaust pipe. And I see no evidence of any laminating or other problems. At least from the inside it looks solid and in good shape.

The only roof warranty issues I've become aware of due to manufacturer issues were some kinds of composite light weight roofs and as far as I know there were class-action lawsuits, companies going out of business and no one getting paid.

I recommended the Presidential shingle roof by CertainTeed earlier to someone else. It's like 50 year or lifetime warranty, but it's not just the warranty. It's very tough.

what I'm used to seeing is subs bill the GC for labor and any materials on site over the past 30 days. GC submits the bill to owner/bank for that work. I approve the pay app and the bank/owner pays the GC within 30-60 days. Then the GC pays what's owed to each sub less 5% retainage. rinse repeat each month until the job is complete.

on any project with a bank or investors lending money, this is how I've always seen it. no one is cutting a check on the spot to a subcontractor because he has some tile delivered or because the plumber got the toilets delivered that day. different worlds I guess.

A fair amount of the time on commercial projects I just do what someone tells me to do and quietly hate the bureaucracy.

On a related note, yesterday I got a letter about how one of the bigger residential solar companies is going chapter 11. They owe me $5400.

ugh, that sucks.

That's more or less the procedure and time frame I'm familiar with (quicker turnaround on residential), but draws depend on completed stages per the contract, not the calendar, and large material deliveries have their own line items to be paid on delivery. Obviously I wouldn't expect somebody to cut me a check for a bundle of plywood, but if I get $100k of steel dropped I'm not waiting 90 days for payment. I'm lucky if I get net 30 from my supplier, and I'm probably personal guarantor on the account.

More like fun getivity

Bought a house made in early 1960s, have ****ed it up a bit in the the 6 years I've lived in it. Windows are pretty bad, a few are really bad, basically entire house needs some painting and trim work, new doors, also the kitchen cabinets and such need some work for sure. I think it's overall id decent shape outside of surface stuff, but getting to the point, my question is, taking these things in consideration,

1.) How much money would I lose selling it as is? Or to phrase it better, how bad of an idea is this?
2.) How much if I just did some basic touchups?
3.) How much if I spent months on it and threw a bunch of cash at it?

I understand this is very vague, and I'm not expecting specific answers, more like general advice about this sort of thing. I'm the least handy/ worst homeowner ever, and I really don't feel like paying someone to do every little thing, or devote a ton of time I'd rather spend on something else to fix this ****box up. I'd like to get out of this house and eventually into something a lot newer.

how much did you pay and what market are you in?
how big is the house and is it in a desirable neighborhood?
what are comps selling for in your neighborhood?
what mortgage rate do you have and what is the duration of the loan?

i could think of a dozen or more questions, but to answer your original questions based on the information given:

1) a lot, a little, nothing, make a little, make a lot
2) a lot, a little, nothing, make a little, make a lot
3) a lot, a little, nothing, make a little, make a lot

IM,

If you don't already know the answer to the questions you're asking you're probably not going to profit from doing renovations before you sell.

Your best course of action is just contact 2 or 3 different realtors and tell them you're interested in selling. They'll come out free of charge and look at the place, look up comps, and tell you what they think it's worth. They'll also give you their input as to whether they think it's worth making any improvements (and if so, which ones) before selling. Get multiple opinions.

Generally speaking a fresh coat of paint is pretty much always +ev. Everything else it depends.

Trim and paint make it what it ain't.

But DO NOT do it yourself. An incompetent paint job is a massive negative.

Edit: This advice is for Dabes specifically, not the thread in general.

Thanks, this has been what I've been thinking, but have felt guilty as hell about it, at least knowing it isn't a completely stupid route right now makes me feel a little better.

Without seeing your house, walls, moldings, cabinets etc.

New paint is probably the best route and cheapest.

New Doors, moldings and new paint will really make a big difference. Not sure if you get money back, but your house will sell faster.

As someone who can do most everything, I would rather buy a house as is then paying extra for a homeowners quick remodel and have to rip it all out anyway.

Hard to say what others want, but as others have said, ask some Realtors.

I've narrowed my choices down to 2 contractors and neither one requires any money up front. Two others did but they got weeded out for different reasons.

The guy I was suspicious of is still in the running, in fact his quote is cheaper than the other finalist by about 20% - although it's hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison. (They are as close to same as I could get them at this point with the limited knowledge of roofing that I've learned just from reading up on it recently.)

He's provided proof of liability and workman's comp insurance (and agreed to provide a letter addressed to me from insurance company before I sign contract), proof of certification from the roofing manufacturer, and a signed letter that all his employees work directly for him and are not subs. I don't even really care if he uses subs but he made such a big deal about not using them I asked him to put it in writing.

I'm debating if it's worth $2000 extra to listen to my first gut instinct. I'm sure I'll also be pestered unmercifully until I provide him with a good review online - as that seems to be his SOP.

The other guy in the running has also provided everything I've asked for. Except I have no idea if he uses subs since I didn't ask and he didn't mention it. I would much rather have a beer with this guy, but wouldn't pay $2000 for the privileged. He has one strike for scheduling to meet at my house and "forgetting to write it in has calendar" which caused me to leave work early for nothing that day.

FWIW I put some value on actually talking to the guy who does the work, ie not a salesperson, but if I'm talking to a salesperson anyway I don't care if they hire a sub or use their own employees. In fact, if they hire a sub I think you're more likely to actually have someone with experience (enough to get a license) present on the job.

Other factors are mixed. There's more chance that a sub doesn't get paid and then comes to you for the money than an employee (in CA anyway an employee could come after you). On the other hand there's another company with some responsibility towards you and I can tell you that I've been a sub where I have made good to customers on promises made by sales companies for things I didn't get paid for, but I'm a pretty great guy, a pretty lousy businessman, and you might not be lucky enough to have a sub like me.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I get the house with regard to my view on home ownership.

counter tops!

Good luck!

What is the brand name of those cabinets? They look like the ones I installed last summer.

they are made by a company called miralis

Ok, mine were Forevermark. I've been really happy with them.

Corner sinks seems weird to me.

I put in a corner sink 6 months ago, no complaints.