Need a project manager/general contractor

k

im greenpoint base contractor / woodworker. happy to chat if intreasted
info.mattsch@gmail.com

so sorry about the fire. hoping no one got hurt. was it fire on calyer st?

I’m sorry to hear about the fire, but it sounds like you’re on the right track by looking for a reliable contractor and project manager. Since you’re aiming for a functional, no-frills renovation, it’s important to find someone experienced in handling repairs that aren’t necessarily luxury-level but still done with care and quality.

For contractors, I’d recommend looking into:
1. **C&D Contracting** – They’re well-reviewed in Brooklyn for working on restoration projects, and they handle everything from fire damage repairs to more basic renovations.
2. **M. L. Woodworking** – A local contractor that specializes in remodeling and restoration. They have experience with row houses and older Brooklyn homes, which can be tricky to work with.
3. **Brooklyn-based general contractors** – It’s always helpful to ask for recommendations from neighbors, as they may have experienced similar issues.

As for a project manager, someone with experience in fire restoration will be crucial, especially if you’re handling the project from afar. You can check with local construction management firms, or look for someone with experience specifically in fire damage repair. Here are a couple to consider:
1. **Pro Restore** – Specializes in fire and water damage restoration and project management.
2. **Pinnacle Management Services** – They’ve worked on many residential projects in Brooklyn, including fire restoration.

Make sure to ask for references and view prior work to get a sense of the quality they provide. Best of luck with the restoration!

Also if your looking for transportation to any of the local airport Use EWR-limo.com

here is a GC I can recommend: Pete. Out of Square Design. Outofsquare.com. i do not make recommendations lightly as i see a lot of people doing a lot of things wrong in this city (more on that in a second).

i have worked with or for Pete and his team on several jobs and can vouch for them. His lead site man is highly qualified and easy to communicate with as is Pete. Pete researched product alongside me for a small job i pm’d; we need contractors who are not afraid to talk to vendors or manufacturers and research product and make qualified recommendations as needed.

Please allow me to comment to something you said: “we don’t want a high end renovation”: the basics of this work; the electric, the plumbing, the framing, the walls, the floors; installation of doors and cabinets; all of these have to be done correctly to the same level of quality by skilled people and there is no getting around the cost of the skilled labor for these items. If you try to find a cheaper contractor for these, you will encounter untold problems during the job (the contractors who come in cheap do not have experience and do shoddy work, they rush things to make money they do not use compatible products because they do not take the time to read technical data with adhesives or paints, etc, etc). the only way to do this right and not have a “high end renovation” is to plan on hiring a professional contractor but but specify lower grade products (but not garbage; the cheap cabinets and doors have problems for the contractor installing them and for the user later; they fail) and smaller moldings & lower end appliances. so instead of saying you do not want to do a “high end renovation” say you wish to do a “mid range renovation”. know that you do not want contractors to think you are trying to do a “low end renovation” (you will scare the good ones away; you need a good contractor to get through this with as few hiccups as possible).

this is want can happen if you select the lowest quotes: they can come back to you for more money a month into the job saying this “I made a mistake and left something out” (so you end up paying more anyway) or they quality suffers (a lot; they will make the money up by focusing on another job to get through yours and either will be absent from the job or will leave unsupervised, unskilled help on it who don’t care about quality) and sometimes they cannot get through the job and abandon it.

when you get quotes, do not go with the lowest one. EVER. the quotes should be in a field within less than 3-5% of each other and you select the middle quote or better. if you have 3 quotes and they are say 150k, 145k and 135k you must be aware that for a small contractor trying to run a business, the difference between the last two numbers (145 and 135) is massive and can put a contractor out of business (they can miss an insurance payment). it has to be assumed that the lower bid is “faulty”; the contractor did not anticipate something or overlooked something. People come on this board all the time in this situation where they chose the lower bid and the contractor has to ask for more money or the job goes south. it is very serious and about two years ago a homeowner took a bid that was 10% lower than the next bid (on a full gut) and admitted they did not have the money to make up the difference and finish and might lose the house. In commercial situations, we were not allowed to select the lower bid (ever).

depending on the age of the structure and when the last reno was done, you might wish to upgrade other systems in the house when you do this. in some instances, and architect or contractor will tell you you must. i do inspections where i find a new tile floor lain of very old termite damaged joists (and the new floor sags and cracks the tile; the contractor might have known about the joist but did not want to say anything or change it because he had already gone back an asked for money on several ocassions, so he left it) or they put new electric in and leave old dangerous wire elsewhere when it would have been easier to address it at that time with the walls open (we pulled new wire for our bathroom when we did it but i did not stop there, i pulled enough new cable for the entire upstairs of this house and left it coiled in the bathroom ceiling for later use).

Maybe you wish to consider bringing someone like me in to spend an afternoon there with you and your husband and not only look at the entire house but also look at the things in and around where this fire happened and also conditions around and near where this damage occurred. when I do this for people, i advocate for them, not some contractor and i can anticipate some things contractors will say and can tell people what to ask them. i do not purport to know everything and when i do not know I look my client right in the eye and tell them “i do not know” (and then i get the answer). i do know the questions to ask though. i can certainly review quotes and help with contractor selection.

Steve
brownstonehomeinspection.com

i am a former building manager turned restoration contractor turned consultant/home inspector. i have managed all sorts of projects. i am not sure i wish to take on responsibility for an entire project (but who knows, i went to work a year ago to consult on specific issues for the owner of a couple of commercial buildings and those projects are done and they have kept me on throwing things my way all the time). I have been involved in Fire Recovery and had to manage such on my first job in NYC in 1995. Insurance right through the work. Been there with floods as well. If you wish to talk to see if we can work together, feel free to reach out. also, i can put you in touch with a GC i work with and can vouch for him and his team (I will get permission from him to post his company name here). if you had a GC like this guy, you might not need a PM. or maybe you need a PM to check things behind the GC just to make sure something is not being missed.

you can check reviews of me on here or look at my website and the testimonials. those are real people.

steve
brownstonehomeinspection.com