PDA

View Full Version : questions about working with a contractor



lmh2402
05-05-2010, 07:15 PM
1. i know the classic experience is that the final budget is almost always higher than the original quote, yes? would love feedback from btdt...how much over did your jobs go? percentage or dollar amount is fine

2. is it appropriate to negotiate pricing? we've never done any major work in our home before, so i'm totally clueless about whether it is common to try and negotiate cost.

thanks

Nu_mama
05-05-2010, 07:35 PM
Perhaps when you get bids and then narrow it to a couple contractors you could ask how often/much they exceed the bid amount on similar jobs.

Also, depending on your area's economy you might very well be able to negotiate. I know of some areas that contractors will take almost any job for lack of work and others where contractors are busier than ever b/c people are electing to remodel rather than try to sell and buy a different home. Like I said, this will depend on your area.

HTH :)

Indianamom2
05-05-2010, 08:50 PM
I don't know how much help I will be, but we just had our swimming pool removed/deck torn down and rebuilt and the process went pretty smoothly.

We had several (5?) estimates from large and small companies and chose the one that was willing to do what we wanted within our budget. Some contractors seemed interested in the work (it was sort of an odd job), others seemed totally disinterested and weren't all the timely in getting back to us. A couple were very responsive with information and estimates, and among those, we chose one.

In our case, we had received the initial quote in the fall, were planning on using this particular contractor, then ended up waiting due to hard freezes and poor health. When we decided to go with the project again this spring, I called up the original contractor (along with others) and asked if he'd be willing to come out and talk again....he honored (without us asking) the original contract price from the fall and then we asked him to do a bit more than we originally planned in the fall, so he added a bit on to that estimate.

He would have completed the project within the original estimate, but we asked for a slight upgrade in the deck railing and he estimated the cost of that within about $75 of the final price, so he really didn't go over budget at all, in my mind.

I don't know how common my experience was, however.

wellyes
05-05-2010, 08:58 PM
When you get your quote, ask them to separate out the cost of materials vs the cost of labor.

If the cost of materials goes up - you'll be able to see why based on receipts. Plus, they will check in with you before going over the budget (unless the difference is very minor).

If the cost of labor goes up - you'll know why too. For example, if they needed to bring in extra guys or take much longer than anticipated due to house conditions they were unaware of when the quote was made. Again, they'll clear it with you first. IME labor cost are by the job, not by the hour for obvious reasons. Something to remember when looking at quotes.

We've always paid pretty much what the quote was with two exceptions.
- One the siding contractor MAJORLY screwed up: gave us a slightly different size siding than we asked. His error. He offered to have his crew tear it down and do it over at their own expense. We honestly didn't care that much, it was a very minor difference, and just asked them to lower the bill by 10%. He gratefully accepted.
- Once we hired a contractor to do some structural work and he found significant termite damage that we had no idea about. He gave us a whole new quote based on the new amount of labor required. Totally fair.

In terms of negotiating price, I've done two things - asked if they'd give a discount for cash payment (meaning actual bills, not a check or financing). Usually get a 'yes' for that. We also once had a contractor give us a discount for allowing him to complete a one week job over the course of six weeks..... basically, letting him squeeze in our job when he had time between his other customers. It was an outdoor job so did not affect our life, aside from the minor hassle of it. It worked out well for us and him at the time but ---- not something I'd be as interested in now that I have a child.

MSWR0319
05-05-2010, 09:14 PM
We just built a house, so we've dealt with many contractors/subs in the last year. Our actual contractor was fairly close to the parts of the budget he could control. The subs, not so much. Our brick sub was $5000 over a budget of $5000, so 200%. Not happy at all. I think that's a pretty high number though. The rest were maybe 10-20%. We did negotiate hourly labor rate with our general contractor and have also negotiated with some contractors when we finished the bonus room on our own. Cash and carry works well. We've done that twice. Their eyes light up when they get cash!!