How Does a Union City, TN Flooring Contractor Carry a Job Until the General Contractor's Draw Pays?

Contractor financing options in Union City, TN line up with the gap a crew is covering: a working capital loan or a credit line for payroll and materials before a draw pays, and equipment financing for a trailer or machine. This article follows an invented flooring installer working for a general contractor.

Contractor Financing Options for Payroll and Tile Before the First Draw Arrives

In this invented example, the installer runs a weekly payroll of $4,600, pays $18,300 for tile on delivery, and is paid by the general contractor 45 days after each pay application. A 45-day wait holds six or seven weekly paydays, depending on where payday falls.

At seven paydays the invented gap is $32,200 in wages plus the tile, $50,500 in all. At six it is $27,600 in wages and $45,900 in all, so planning for seven keeps the larger figure in view. A pay application paid a week late adds one more payday, another $4,600, before the money arrives.

A working capital loan can cover one job like this with fixed payments. A crew that has the same gap on every job may prefer a credit line that is drawn per pay application and paid down when each draw arrives.

Construction Equipment Financing for a Cargo Trailer and a Ride-On Floor Scraper

In this invented example, the installer adds an enclosed cargo trailer at $8,900 and a ride-on floor scraper at $24,600, $33,500 together. Placed on equipment financing for 48 months at 9.9%, the pair costs $848.04 monthly; after the last of 48 payments the crew has paid $40,705.92, including $7,205.92 of interest.

Both items are collateral for the note. A crew that rents the scraper to other installers between its own jobs can show that income in its bank statements.

The two items wear differently. A cargo trailer can stay in service for many years with tires, brakes and lights replaced along the way; a scraper's blades and drive parts wear with every floor it strips. One 48-month note keeps a single payment date, but a crew could also finance them apart, each on a term that suits the item. A dealer quote that lists the trailer's VIN and the scraper's serial number gives the note a clear description of what secures it.

A Contractor Line of Credit Sized to the Days Between Invoice and Payment

A line sized too small runs out in the middle of a job; one sized far beyond the gap may draw a partner's questions at review. The gap from the first section gives a starting figure.

In this invented example, a $55,000 line at 12.95% covers the $50,500 peak. If the full $50,500 stayed drawn for all 45 days, interest would be $806.27; draws taken week by week cost less, because each payday's draw is out for fewer days.

Overlapping jobs test the limit. If a second general contractor's job starts before the first one pays, the draws stack, and the invented $55,000 line leaves only $4,500 of room beyond one job's peak. A second job of the same size would not fit, which is a question to raise while the line is being set up rather than in the middle of both jobs.

Draw periods are on the line of credit page, and the sign shop article covers the annual review.

Subcontracts, Pay Applications and Receivables a Funding Partner May Review

A partner may look at the papers that show the job is real and that the general contractor pays:

• The subcontract with its scope, price and payment terms
• Recent pay applications and the dates each one was paid
• An aging list of what general contractors owe the crew
• Bank statements covering the same months

Lien waivers belong in the same folder. Each time the installer is paid, it may sign a waiver for that amount, and a set of waivers matched to the payment dates tells the same payment history a second way. Change orders, signed and dated, explain any pay application larger than the original contract line.

Construction figures for Obion County, TN are on the construction page; the other articles cover other trades.

By Larkwood Lenders · Updated November 8, 2026