As a subcontractor, you have to bid to get work. You are not the only subcontractor to hear a general contractor say, “Your bids are too high. We will go ahead and do it ourselves.” In the world of contracting, we have general contractors and subcontractors. General contractors that opt to do the subcontract work themselves (or in-house) is what is known as self-performing. Being a subcontractor seems simple enough. You calculate the cost of materials and labor, and a nice profit for a project to submit a bid. Once you get the job, you hire a supervisor, get some workers and watch the money roll in. While it seems to some people that this is what happens, nothing could be further from the truth.

What Actually Happens

For a while, I was a scaffold contractor and would set scaffold for plastering subcontractors. One time, a general contractor called me for a scaffold bid on a fairly large plastering project. It was odd, as most of my work was for the plastering subcontractor and not the general contractor. I was informed by the general contractor that he had had it with high prices and was going to do the plastering himself. After more discussion, he said he had found someone with a crew that would do the work for a square-foot price. 

The general contractor had calculated the materials cost and saw an opportunity to make a lot of money. I thought and responded to him, “Good luck with that.” My crew set the scaffold and—after some time passed—the GC called me upset and desperate. He found out that being a specialty subcontractor was not as easy as it appeared. 

The first issue was that the “guy” failed to live up to the promise of the schedule and then the cost. The job was behind schedule and now significantly over budget. He asked if I could come out and review the work. His problems were only just beginning. There were significant amounts of errors in the work that needed attention. I wish I could say I felt sorry for him, but I felt that he asked for this. Those that I did feel sorry for were the future homeowners of the buildings. While the work could be made aesthetically pleasing, many errors were with flashings and lath attachments, which would affect the performance of the stucco.

Drywall is not immune. I was once called out to a custom home with interior cracking on radius-coved corners. The cove was made with an aluminum shape and drywall taped to the edge. All the joints and transitions were cracked. Upon examination, the aluminum coving had no recessed edges or holes for the joint compound. In short, this was not a manufactured product but something they made themselves. They confirmed this observation and commented that the product specified was just too expensive. 

The general contractor was proud of the money he saved by having a friend make the shapes. I informed him that this is bad news because he is the product manufacturer and inherits the problem. The drywall contractor started to laugh but stopped when I informed him that he went over a product that he, as a professional, should have known was a gamble. The only saving would be if he had warned the general contractor that this could happen. 

He assured me he did and, in the same breath, the general contractor denied it. I asked if he had it in writing or any third-party witnesses to the warning of potential problems. He did not. I informed both of them that I was done there and they had to iron this out between themselves. I felt that trying to pin the blame on the other one was a waste of time and likely to cost each more money.

The Lesson

All of this goes back to a saying I find appropriate: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” I have been with some large company CEOs that tell me, “I do not to have to be an expert. I simply can hire one.” While that is true, how do you know they are an expert? Because they told you that? The local pub is full of self-proclaimed experts in a wide variety of issues and crafts.

A person I knew decided to get into the plastering business because he liked the cash turnover and found plasterers were notorious for being bad at customer service. He recounted his journey of hiring and firing supervisor after supervisor until he almost went broke. He finally stumbled upon a supervisor that turned the business around for him. He noted that being a specialty contractor was much tougher than he had ever imagined. This is why I think to myself, “Good luck with that,” when people tell me how they have it figured out or that they can just hire an expert.