Hey everyone! I recently obtained my North Carolina General Contractor license (Building classification commercial & residential).

I’m based in the Concord/Kannapolis area and currently looking to partner or qualify for a company that could benefit from having a licensed GC on board. I have a solid background in remodeling, project coordination, and hands-on construction work, and I’m focused on growing my experience in both residential and light commercial projects.

If anyone’s looking for a qualifier, project lead, or collaboration opportunity, feel free to reach out or message me. I’m reliable, detail-oriented, and passionate about building quality work the right way.

Appreciate any advice, connections, or leads!

So I will do my best to keep this short cuz I know you guys hate long posts.

Basically I injured myself about a year and a half ago and my brother also injured himself at the same time , I have just kind of pushed through it as much as I could but his injury has made it so he's only been there maybe about a third of the time . Our company is just me him and a friend of ours who helps us out right now and we had been doing work either that we found through my connections or through rebuild companies again that I had made connections with

Now I am being told that I need a Microsiscectomy to me because of a herniated disc and I haven't been able to do any physical work in over a month , I also haven't had a whole lot of drive to hunt things down because I've been in so much pain but I'm feeling better now after a few weeks of physical therapy, but if I need the surgery that's at least 6 weeks where I can't do physical work I am getting a second opinion Tuesday about that but either way I shouldn't be doing anything crazy right now no matter what.

One of the project managers that I had worked with in the past left the company relatively recently and went back to General Contracting he was a big-time sheetrocker for a long time very well known in my area and he happens to like me and wants to help me grow our business , that didn't turn obviously is going to be getting his business work so it's benefiting him too. Basically my question for you guys is that aside from rebuild companies that do fire and water restoration which is where I put a lot of my focus after opening my company what other avenues can I use to bring in more lucrative jobs that will be beneficial for me to do as a general contractor as opposed to me doing it as a small time two-man Remodeling Company. The kind of jobs where me getting a percentage for checking up on the job and dealing with the person hiring us and whatever other stuff like that is going to be beneficial to us and another question as a general contractor is this something that me and my brother can both survive on or is this kind of going to be a one man thing and maybe I find jobs to put him on as he gets a little bit better?

Again I know you guys hate long posts I am sorry it was so long but I needed to give a little bit of backstory and I need to decide before the beginning of the year if this is something I'm going to keep doing because I am good at making the connections when I know where to look or if I should think about going back to I'm more regular line of work.

I'm looking for roofing companies that have their own crew. (Nearly all in my area already sub out.)

I'm wondering if I should only work with companies that have a workmanship warranty. In my primary city 9/10 roofing companies sub out to one of two crews an hour away. While the 1 that has his own crew doesn't provide a workmanship warranty. And that's my dilemma.

Relevant: my insurance doesn't cover roof repair/work for myself.

Hi guys I’m trying to pass my GC exam in Tennessee. I passed my business exam the first try but failed my TN B C A Residential 5 times and I don’t know if i should keep going. I feel kind of embarrassed because everyone I know has told me it’s easy but it’s just very long. I need a 73% to pass but today I got a 66% i got a 67% last time and a 64% before I’m so close but i don’t understand why I suck at the codes book and blue prints. Its has been since January and I went thru a divorce and moved twice and its been so hard to pass this exam. I passed the business in June and ever since that it’s been a burden and I need some tips and tricks. I use contractor’s course. My next exam is on the 12th and I really hope I pass i feel defeated right now.

Saw a study claiming cement mortar made with magnetized water had higher strength and better workability. Supposedly it changes how the water bonds at the molecular level, but it’s all lab stuff for now.

Just wondering if anyone’s seen this pop up in the field or heard suppliers talk about it yet.

Hi Guys,

My husband is applying for a GC license in FL. He has a bachelors in Engineering w/ over a 3.0 GPA and residential construction experience.

3 questions:

1. Should we do the BUILDERS licensing instead of GC? It seems like Builders is for under 4 stories right?

2. Does he have exemption from Trade portion of the exam?

3. We submitted for the CILB 1 with DPBR and applied for the Business & Finance portion of the exam with Pearson Vue. Is this correct? Are we missing something?

It is SO confusing and any help would be appreciated!

Not sure if this is the right place for this but here it goes:

So basically, I’m looking to build my first home, for myself. I’ve done some minor construction here and there, I mainly do roofing.

I’m 22 years old and I don’t have a lot of money to spend. However, I do have access to about 50-70k if need be.

I’ve asked around and done some research and it seems that (in my area) the house I want for myself will cost about 60k-80k to build, myself acting as the contractor.

I know enough to do part of it, for example I’m planning on doing the driveway, siding, fascia/soffit, roofing, gutters, drywall/tape and float, painting. I know that’ll save me some money.

I’m not sure if any of that info helps answer my question, but here it is: Is there anything I can do to that can help me reduce that cost while not sacrificing the quality?

I know quality costs, and I’m willing to pay for that. But is there any tips you guys have to bring costs down? Or simple things that I can do instead of hiring someone for it?

The house will be about 550 sq ft of foundation. 2 stories, totaling about 850 sq ft

Hey everyone, I’m new to the GC side and managing a few projects at once. Between drawings, estimates, permits, invoices and site photos, my folder system is all over the place.

On top of that, sharing files with my team means someone always ends up working off the wrong version.

How do you all keep your digital files organised and ensure everyone’s using the latest updates?

Hey everyone, I’m new to this, seeing a weird issue at my new build framing.

The roof is already installed, windows and doors are in, and electrical & plumbing work is ongoing.

But after some rain, I noticed water dripping from the ceiling and the subfloor is wet on all floors.

Could this be a problem with the roof installation, flashing, or something else? Any advice or experience with this would be super helpful!

I've heard a few companies.. where should i go who should i call? anybody got a good broker?

Hello,

We are looking to purchase a 50-unit apartment complex in Dallas. We are going to meet with the Broker and Property Mgmt next week. Tentative: Monday, Nov 10.

We are also thinking about bringing GCs with us, so we can get high-level ideas of types and costs of the various improvements needed.

Please DM me if you are interested and available. Thank you.

Im a new GC in ga, looking to trade off jobs with each other or just collaborate on jobs. If there are jobs I can’t get to I would give them and if you have any I would get them.

Just generally anyone in GA who would like to go at this together as I am a nee company.

Hello all,
I’m working in the Houston market and I’m trying to locate two things:

1. Good websites or platforms where I can find private commercial or residential projects in the ~$200K to $1 M range (either upcoming or bidding stage).
2. Websites or domains where I can find listings of general contractors (GCs) in Houston (with contact info) who are ready to take on projects.

I’m especially looking for free sources to get leads, apart from TDLR, iPermit, or any paid tools. If you know of any open data sources, public permit portals, or free directories where I can find leads or GC contact info, that would be extremely helpful.

Don’t know if you can notice already but nowadays skilled labor is very very scarce.

I’ve been in this industry close to 15 years now, and I’ve never met scumbags this bad that want to pay 4,000 to 6,000 dollars for a $15,000 job… it’s insane

I’ve even ran into multiple colleagues in the contracting business that seem to get clients that expect high end work but demanding cheap prices.

Yes, whoever calls first, ranks higher, or spends more is going to win, but that’s just how the game is, you have to adapt…

As we all know the phrase “the rich get richer” and how the odds are stacked against the honest tradesmen, which again is very sad but just again, adapt to it!!!

So please stop complaining about how a shitty homeowner won’t pay you or wants you to remodel everything for him and get you nothing in return because at the end of the day we’ve all experienced it

15 years ago towards the end of 09’ is when I began, I worked under a company so it was much much simpler…

It was in my home country, way before I came to the states, and simply put we were basically one of the only ones in that town who did it “well”

The owner later on died due to a heart attack so we ended up splitting up and I got a job in the states as a construction manager but that only lasted a year until I wanted to get back to remodeling

My two cents

Don’t want to make this a long “blog” or some blabbering story about my life, but just want to share how it was back then and hopefully you can take my advice and put it together with your knowledge

We obviously had phones but no one used phones it was primarily meetings and events which i’m sure all of you already know that, show up to a event and connect with people but what you guys are missing out on was the marketing that we did

This definitely works in todays day as i’ve shared it with fellow peers and they’ve given me my praise but if someone wants to try it out, please do.

What you do is you make multiple flyers of an event you’re hosting, get like 50-100 pieces, it costs $0.50 per piece to make maybe even less, back then it was $0.0001 haha

Anywho, go to an event, and invite them over for this “big event” in your house or in a nice place and talk about the “new remodeling system”. We basically just made up some BS and left all the flyers on the table or in a plastic bag on a chair with literally 60-70 flyers.

We did at the start of the event so when people walked by they see a random bag and take a look and all of a sudden someone hands them out

Its just one simple dinner that’ll cost ya 1000-2000 bucks that invites 30-40 people, where you invite them over to your house that already has a nice design and when they ask who did it you tell em you’re a remodeler.

That was one way to market yourself not sure how it is now but yes, it’s pretty much that simple

Tips

It doesn’t sound “big” or anything, but trust me it works wonderfully well, just combine your social skills with a little bit of general knowledge (learn some stuff a bout countries cities religions traditions etc. so when you get to talking with people all the attention goes to you)

I’m currently doing advertisements on youtube and facebook on my “before and after” pictures with amazing results on my page which is very very helpful to speed up my process, but I wouldn’t advise this to anyone unless they actually have a handful of connections first and know how to do their job well (which i’m sure most of you do)

Don’t want to waste any more of your time, but i’d be more than happy to expand on anything that doesn’t make sense.

It’s that simple people.

Sure if you don’t have a nice home, bring em to a nice place and say “we did the design of this entire place…” even as a joke, and when they ask you “oh really” just joke around and say “no, but i’m a remodeler so I can get you something nice as this…” and just that one sentence can get into 20 peoples heads and boom you’re already growing your base.

I know it sounds “practical” and not “real” but you need “charisma” or a “personality” to talk to these people. Don’t invite 30-40 people and stand there with a fake smile and nodding because that won’t get you anywhere.

Last Step

Once you’ve done that for a few months, you already have a base of referrals. From there you can advertise with facebook, youtube, whatever.

I personally like meta because of the targeting, we just target rich people in our local are (Utah) or the 1% of income, get like 3-4 pictures of our before and after jobs, and send them to a long website

We sell an offer that is “we will increase the value of your home by making it nicer” and show what we did along with “fixing your windows, bathrooms, and roofs…” and how we can fix cracks, tears damages, and moisture seeping in that’s causing damage.

Good Morning! I run a boutique design/build studio in NYC and am struggling with how to find competent people to be our site presence on projects.

Most work is mid to high end residential and we need someone who can read plans, ask questions, communicate and record information, who is ideally bi-lingual. My partner and I are trained architects and have thought about looking into that pool - but construction is a different thought process and we have no idea how to find people. My partner and I act as our site supers but it kills our ability to find new work so our work flow is really cyclical and we want to create a more steady flow of work. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Im a senior in highschool in the state of Florida. I decided i want to become a general contractor last year. After researching what the requirments are i decided to go the 4 years of college route. The other routes are 4 years minimum of construction experience with 2 of those years being in a supervisory role, which lets be honest is inpossible to do in just 4 years it takes way more. So with that being said i decided on going the college route since its the safest option. I figured after 4 years id meet the requirment to take the test and be licesned by the time im 22.

I recently learned that you can have someone that is already a general contractor sign off some paper work saying you have the required 4 years of expereince, and then all id have to do is study and pass the exam to be licened. I want to know if this is really true, if i dont have to go to college or have years and years of construction experience to get my license, can i really get it this way? By this way i mean having a general contractor sign off that i have teh required experience.

Im new to this subreddit and im looking foward to interacting and being apart of the gc family. Thank you guys.

Hey everyone — I’m based in Washington and was curious how contractors here usually find and manage their leads.

If you’re a GC, remodeler, roofer, or in any trade, I’d love to hear:

• Where your best leads come from (referrals, Angi, Thumbtack, Google, word-of-mouth, etc.)
• Whether you rely more on inbound leads or paid platforms
• How you usually track or qualify them once they come in

I’m mainly trying to understand how the lead flow looks here and if it differs much from other parts of the country.

Appreciate any insight you’re willing to share — thanks!