Say No to Work? No Contractor's License

[Cypress]

My shed needs some upgrades. It's okay but could be a lot better. My carpentry skills are terrible. A local guy can do the work and created a cost estimate for replacement of the roof. He does not have a Contractor's License. It's all under the table work.

I think I may be should say no. What if he falls off the roof? Or, if the repair is crappy? I should say no, tell me no. The cost is about $1500 including disposal of materials.

Here is the quote, the shed is 10' x 15'

The project list and approximate cost are as follows;



1 roll of 30 weight tarpaper at $20 a roll.
8 bundles of Architectural shingles in earthtone cedar color at $35 a roll for a total of $280.
4 -10 foot pieces of brown drip edge at $6 a piece for a total of $24.
2 bundles of 3 tab roof shingles at $30 a roll for a total of $60.
2 boxes of roofing nails at $ 10 dollars a box for a total of $20.
These prices to not include taxes which will be added at time of purchase and all receipts will be provided to you on your request.
There will be approximately 720 pounds of waste shingles to dispose of at 10 cents a pound for a total of $72.


The total cost of the supplies and disposal are $476.Not including taxes.


The total cost for labor to complete this project is $1000

I have no idea if this is a high or low labor cost.

[iris lilies]

I dont know about the cost of this project (but it sounds ballpark.) DH did this kind of work for more than a decade. He didnt have a "contractor's license." He did have liability insurance for his business, however. It didnt allow him to do roof or electrical work.

I dont know what "under the table" means. You pay with cash? If he is charging tax he is an officially recognized business entity with some governmental agency, be it local or state, because he is reporting sales tax.

We and our friends dealt with many one man operations over the years and I dont know any of them to have a license, or we didnt ask anyways. The bigger cntractors who do structural and large projects and with work crews do have licenses.

More important than a license for this kind of small project is referrals from people who have used his service recently. Then, you work with him to dole out money at intervals. With only $500 in materials it is probably reasonable to pay for all materials up front because he can probably do the work in one or two days. Divide up labor payments in two payments, and dont make the last payment until the work is finished. He may have a somewhat different payment schedule and thats probably fine, just withhold some f the money until completion.

How old is the shed? Do you really need a 10 x 15 size shed? I ask because old sheds just get older. Sometimes it is best to tear them down and put up a small Rubbermaid type of unit.

But if you are confdent that the shed will last your lifetime in the house and will still look
decent when you put this house up,for sale, it may be worth the price of fixing.

[freshstart]

I'd be worried about him having insurance for if he gets hurt on your property

[ToomuchStuff]

To know if it is high, low, or on the money in your area, get at least two more bids.
Under the table, typically means, not insured, no business licenses, won't report it on taxes. I have a retired contractor friend, who was helping his neighbor and friend, and he was injured (removing old deck, it gave way and he ended up on his head). A claim was made on his neighbors insurance and of course they no longer speak. Someone may be small enough to not have a contractor license, but I would want him to have liability insurance.

[mschrisgo2]

Sounds like a fair price, but/and that's by California measures. How high is the roof? (my shed is only 7 ft tall, not a huge hazard in terms of falling off of it.)

Couple of questions- you said "shed needs some upgrades" but this looks likes roof only. Is there more work that needs to be done? If so, I also, question it at all, since you are investing in an old shed. What is the status of the rest of it?

After reading this, I had to go out and measure my shed, because 10 x 15 seemed really big.
Mine is 8X10, so just about half the size of yours. It is metal, pre-fab, came with the house so I'm not sure how old, roof was rusty on one side, so I coated it this past summer with the same stuff they use on motorhome and trailer roofs, just because a friend had some left over and offered it to me for free- apparently it doesn't keep well once opened. It's totally water-tight now, and looks great. (If I had bought the roof-coat, it's $140. for 5 gal.)

There's a work bench with 2 large dog crates under it, 2 sets of shelves, and a cabinet with doors. The string trimmer, lawn mower, leaf blower, and all the hand garden tools live in there. And because the rainy season has started, I have my grooming table and all the patio/lawn furniture, oh, and all of the fans we use in the summer, in there and I can still walk in easily.

So, what do you keep in yours? Is this a garden shed, or is it used for something else?

[razz]

I will second/third the question of really examining why you are investing in the shed and is there a more suitable alternative that would give you what you want plus peace of mind for the same or possibly less $$$. Often, the bones of a building or its underlying structure are breaking down before the roof so the roof needing repair is a warning to examine the whole structure. DD2 pulled their larger shed down and were horrified to find how broken down and rotten the foundational wood really was.

As far as the contractor, I would ask to see, for your protection, that he has insurance so that he is not a liability on yours. One can have insurance but not a contractor's licence, I believe.

[iris lilies]

I should be more specific and say that when DH was working in his handyman/light construction business, his insurance was liability insurance. As I nderstand it, It covered his own liability, not the custmer's liability.

[Cypress]

I asked about needing a permit from Town to take on this job along with liability, here is the reply. "I could not pull a permit because I do not have a contractors license nor am I insured for any liability."

I have to stop there. One slip off a ladder step, one nail through the finger and I am up the creek.

I could post a picture of the shed but don't see a photo add button.

At one time, the shed was a little shop of some kind. It had a hole in the roof for a pot belly stove pipe and a different entrance. You can see on the inside the changes to structure. It's up on concrete blocks but has some soil around it. It holds the lawnmower and garden tools. It is much larger than I need. I few years ago I had a tear down and replace bid that was way to high. Something near $8K if I recall.

I could do this in stages starting next spring. Tear it down. Level the space. Install a pad and get a shed from a local dealer to install. Neat, new and professional. That's probably the path to take

I think there is some floor deterioration as it feels soft underfoot. The walls of the shed are made from old barn boards. Each one is a different size so this wood has been recycled a few times. I believe the shed was built in 1930.

[Tammy]

(I too have been unable to find a way to add photos to this discussion board. And I'm good with that sort of thing. ???)

[Alan]

(I too have been unable to find a way to add photos to this discussion board. And I'm good with that sort of thing. ???)

If you're interacting with the site from a PC and are using the default skin style (FI Main), the 'Insert Image' icon looks like a projector screen in the Quick Reply box header.
If you're interacting from a tablet or phone and using the mobile style skin, there are no icons in that minimalist style set, although you can always post an image from the web by using the [img] [/img] tags. (I'll explain that further if anyone is interested)

You can also switch from the mobile style to the default (FI Main) style by clicking the 'Full Site' link in the footer of each page.