Need advice regarding a roofing quote

[blisstwins]

I recently inherited an old home (historic) that is in a terrible state of repair. I have been working with a prominent architect (who I also inherited!) on taking care of a serious roof issue for over a year. He is terrible at getting back to me. Anyway, we finally got bids and one of them is dramatically lower than the others. Three bids are from guys the architect has worked with and they are all close to each other. The other bid is 1/3 less than the others. The architect has never worked with this guy, but he was asked to bid because he has worked on a few buildings for the town and they gave us his name.

Our architect, who works only with high end clients and doesn't seem to understand we have a budget, said he throws out the lowest bid if it is more than 20% less than the others. I don't even think he seriously read it. He said that those guys usually find ways to jack up the price.

Then he said he would set up an interview with the inexpensive bidder, but I am already being soaked with fees from the architect and I feel like this should have been part of the process I have already been charged for.

I am really sick of this and don't know what to do. Is my architect right to throw out the lowest bidder?

Thanks so much for any advice.

[bubbaray]

I just ran this by my DH (not an architect or builder, but he is a civil/structural engineer and gets bids for large commercial projects all the time, often involving architects, so this is what he does for work...).

He said that it is probably one of two things, either the low bid is that much lower b/c he missed something (and you only find that out by actually reviewing his bid, which your architect is refusing to do) OR the 3 "known" bids are that close together b/c they are a little too close to the architect (either just know what he'll accept or worse).

He said that you can ask the architect to review the bid (for which he might charge a fee, not sure what your contract/retainer is). Or, you could ask for the bid and review it yourself. That might be hard if you're not in the "biz".

Is the building a designated historic building? Are there special building code/historical code provisions to be met? Is there anything particularly difficult about this roofing project that the cheap guy missed? Have you gotten his references personally??

[Wife_and_mommy]

I'd get a few more estimates and also check some references on all of them.

We had several estimates done to paint our house years ago. One of the painters low-balled us an offer after asking what my DH did and generally being sleazy. When I looked at a couple of the houses he'd painted, they were horrible jobs. We chose to use the original painter we'd chosen. Even though he charged more he was honest and did a quality job.

Your architect sounds arrogant about his place in your house repairs. I'd educate myself more and get away from him if at all possible.

Hth. It's so hard to navigate large expense improvements confidently.

[Wife_and_mommy]

He said that it is probably one of two things, either the low bid is that much lower b/c he missed something (and you only find that out by actually reviewing his bid, which your architect is refusing to do) OR the 3 "known" bids are that close together b/c they are a little too close to the architect (either just know what he'll accept or worse).

My cynical self would assume the latter...

If you're going to pay someone to review it, I wouldn't choose the current architect.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Do you have access to Angie's List in your area? We have had much major work done in our home by people found and honestly reviewed on the list and have found a wonderful roofer, painter, etc. etc. It is a painless way to learn from the experience others have had with a company.

[blisstwins]

The house is not landmarked, but the community itself is. It is a copper roof we are replacing with cedar. There are complicated scaffolding issues and whatnot. My husband spoke to the inexpensive roofer and he cited the work he had done for the town itself (also important buildings).

I do have the bids and DH asked an architect friend to look at them. Our architect offered to call and interview the less expensive guy, but I am so tired of all this and I am tired of our architect.

Our architect is one of the smoothest people I have ever encountered. He is nationally famous in preservation circles and people dance around him. He lets all our stuff go until disaster strikes and then BAM he calls people and things happen in 1/2 day, yet it can take weeks of e-mails and calls before he gets back tome about anything and then he always tells me we have time. But I know nothing about historic homes and every decision feels so overwhelming without expert advice.


Thanks for all your input. I really do appreciate hearing other people's takes on all this.