Job Without End Quality subs can be found, but they’re in demand, so once found, they’re not easy to keep. That’s why the sub hunt is a job that has no end. “A remodeling contractor’s job is to always be looking, to capitalize on the strengths of those he works with, and to compensate for the weaknesses of those he works with,” Feinmann says. “It’s a job that’s never done and has new challenges every day.”
As always, quality costs. Trying to find quality subs at cut-rate prices is doomed to failure. Alex Dean, president of The Alexander Group in Kensington, Md., cautions that price-cutting measures don’t work. “Quality, service, price — you can have two out of those three,” he says. “You pick which two you want.”
The experienced remodeler knows he’ll end up paying in the end, since redoing shoddy work is not only annoying but expensive. Dean’s firm accepts no sub doing less than what one would typically think of as B+ work — and if their work performance falls to a C, they’re gone until they get their “grades” up.
Critical Trades Every remodeler has challenges with a specific trade. For Winans, it’s finding trade contractors “who can do decorative plaster or rusticated stucco.” Grode, on the other hand, has been lucky in concrete but has trouble finding good drywall subs. “Sometimes complex angles are involved. Drywall work … really shows up. We’ve got to baby-sit sometimes, keep an eye on the subs and the quality.”
Winans stresses the importance of quality finishes. “Practically speaking, the finishes the client experiences as the completed job are often the most critical. Painting can make an inferior job excellent, or a very good job incredibly bad.”
Finders, Keepers Since your reputation is only as good as the caliber of your team, those in pursuit of the upscale market would be wise to heed Dahlgren’s words. “Subs can make your life miserable or terrific. When you find a good sub, hang on to them.”
Easy to say, but how to do it? “Pay ’em like a slot machine; that’s how we keep them happy,” Steindl advises. “Bills are paid sometimes on a one-day turnaround, and it’s rare we keep a bill here for more than three days.”
Sometimes the perfect sub can turn out to be a failed general contractor. That’s what Dahlgren has found. “They know from experience how difficult and challenging my job is,” he says. “They’ve got a pro-active mind-set when it comes to solving and preventing problems.”
Is the high end for everyone? More money, sure, but the stakes are higher too. “If your forte is low-end tract housing,” says Paul Sullivan, owner of The Sullivan Co. in Newton Highlands, Mass., “then you should think twice about stepping into the high-end market. It’s like taking a go-kart to an Indy race.” Depending on the support and professionalism of your subs, you’ll end up in either the winner’s circle or the wall.
Patricia Frank writes business articles from the North Carolina coast.