The hands down best crew for the entire build process of my addition was the original framing crew. I liked them a lot because they did great work and were terrific guys. The contractor wanted to reduce how much he was paying them, despite the amount (and any extras) were agreed upon by a bid process before they started.
It turned out that the subcontractor pays full workman's comp and unemployment insurance for every single person who works for him. As a result, he gets little turnover and his men are more skilled and reliable than the average framing crew. Most construction crews have a huge turnover as the men can almost always get a little more with another company, or move elsewhere to get paid better - plus they are seldom valued for their skills and experience.
I insisted on them for the siding and the trim but the contractor did not want to pay for the quality of work. I stood by the subcontractor on his increases - and in fact paid some directly to him for stuff the contractor did not want to pay.
After they finished their work on my addition, they started a project down on the coast - a three story house on stilts with a second story deck. One of the workers fell off the second story deck, essentially a three story fall. He messed up his back, broke some ribs and, has some other damage. If his boss had not had workman's comp, he could not have gotten the level of care he did. The unemployment insurance meant he could take the time off to heal enough to do light work. Even so, his boss has now moved him to a supervisory position so he can still work but does not have to move lumber, climb ladders, or chance doing additional damage as he works.
THIS is the kind on company I want to support! The contractor for the addition brags about building top level houses but he doesn't want to pay for top level workers or to be responsible for making sure the workers are covered for accident or business interruptions. I will not be using that contractor again or recommending him.
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