We got an estimate

[happyscooter]

For something to be done at our house.  It is 50/50 cosmetic/need.  The estimate is twice what I thought it would be.  I am flabbergasted.  DH said 'well we want it and it will need to be done sooner or later.  We have the money'.  I just can't justify it.  And I think the guy could see that I was speechless when he told me the price.  He gave me the paper and said 'call if you have any questions and I enjoyed meeting you.'

Have any of you gotten an estimate and it turned out to be more than you thought?

[geenamercile]

I would get another estimate or two.  I have gotten estimate that seemed high, tuned out they were once I got some more.  

[resolution]

Make sure you get two other estimates. There was a wide variation in price for our roof.

[Shooby]

Well, i find that most everything i want to do costs way more than i thought it "should".  But, certainly you should get several estimates.

[Deleted]

Windows were shockingly expensive to me.....but they needed to be done, so i paid it.

[garion2003]

it seems worth to get other estimates.  What were you basing your expectation on?

[happyscooter]

Yes, we are still calling people for estimates.  The person that gave us an estimate a few years ago no longer takes on big jobs.  Part of the job is demolition and if DH and I could do that to save money, we would.  Unfortunately, we are unable to tackle it without renting equipment.  And again, I have posted a few days ago that people won't call back and that is happening again with 1 guy.

Listen, if you don't want the job, just say so.  Or call us and say that you rode by and our house it too steep for you to climb on to put on a new roof or the house it too big for you to paint by your self.  Something.  Anything.  Just call us back.  Don't leave us hanging.  I feel like a hostage in my house, not being able to leave.

[happyscooter]

garion2003, an estimate from 3 years ago.  The guy couldn't do it all so he was going to have to hire out part of it.  That is why it was so much.

Fast forward 3 years.  We should have gotten it done then.

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2013 7:54:44 GMT -5 @monkeyunderpants said:

Windows were shockingly expensive to me.....but they needed to be done, so i paid it.

Monkey your comment got me to thinking (understand I'm not all the way awake so my mind is kind of random now). Thinking back I've never opened any of our windows. As far as looking out of them, I've looked out of exactly 7 out of 21 of them. So other than how they look on the outside of the house why do I really have them? I light cone would provide more light & is more energy saving. Plus windows are expensive as hell to replace (ours are all old style). Now I priced a few windows in our old house (the cost shock left me dumbfounded) but not here. If I don't consider the "look" of the house, it would seem to me to be more cost effective to rock most of them up (our house is rock). Kind of interesting when you think about it.

[alabamagal]

Unfortunately, it is hard to get people to give estimates on home repair work.  I've called many people, even given directions to our house and they don't show.  Even at the company I work for, I am surprised at the number of companies that I will contact and basicly say "I want to spend money" and get no response.

We replaced our roof a couple of years ago.  We got 3 or 4 bids.  One was really high.  It was from a local company that advertises a lot.  The others were real close, and there was one we did not feel comfortable with, so we went with one of the low ones, and was pretty happy with the roof (so far).

[milee]

Jul 31, 2013 7:59:22 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Yes, we are still calling people for estimates.  The person that gave us an estimate a few years ago no longer takes on big jobs.  Part of the job is demolition and if DH and I could do that to save money, we would.  Unfortunately, we are unable to tackle it without renting equipment.  And again, I have posted a few days ago that people won't call back and that is happening again with 1 guy.

Listen, if you don't want the job, just say so.  Or call us and say that you rode by and our house it too steep for you to climb on to put on a new roof or the house it too big for you to paint by your self.  Something.  Anything.  Just call us back.  Don't leave us hanging.  I feel like a hostage in my house, not being able to leave.

I know that feeling.  Our house in Phoenix was an old adobe home.  Charming but a big PITA for contractors.  We needed a new roof in the middle of a housing construction boom and couldn't get roofing contractors to return our calls even.  The few that did return the calls would take 3 weeks to tell us what a tough job it would be and how they'd have to charge X. 

We decided to do the roofing ourselves.  Partly because of the money, but even more because we were concerned that even if we paid the money, it was obvious that the contractors didn't want the work and had plenty of other work to do, so whatever got done might not be good quality and might take forever.

Turned out well but I have (as you can easily predict) much more respect for roofers in Phoenix now.  It's not easy to get 75 or 100 pound rolls of roofing underlayment up a ladder and onto the roof to begin with.  And don't ask me how long it took to get the tar out of my hair. 

[Deleted]

Even the professionals get it wrong sometimes. We bid part of a school renovation. The guesstimate for the entire job (not just ours) was $50milion. When all of the bids came in they were about $11million over budget. oops. Back to the drawing board. They did not go ahead with the renovation as planned.

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2013 7:45:41 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

For something to be done at our house.  It is 50/50 cosmetic/need.  The estimate is twice what I thought it would be.  I am flabbergasted.  DH said 'well we want it and it will need to be done sooner or later.  We have the money'.  I just can't justify it.  And I think the guy could see that I was speechless when he told me the price.  He gave me the paper and said 'call if you have any questions and I enjoyed meeting you.'

Have any of you gotten an estimate and it turned out to be more than you thought?

Happyscooter always get a few different quotes. Also discuss what you want done with the people you get quotes from. Depending on what it is there may be a cheaper way to do it (& get the same results) that you wouldn't know about. Sometimes when we are describing what we want we are so specific that the person giving the estimate doesn't suggest those cost cutting things.

When I ask for estimates I tell them in very general terms what I want to end up with. Then I'll tell them that I assume that they know the least expensive way to go about it.

[travelnut11]

Jul 31, 2013 7:59:22 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Yes, we are still calling people for estimates.  The person that gave us an estimate a few years ago no longer takes on big jobs.  Part of the job is demolition and if DH and I could do that to save money, we would.  Unfortunately, we are unable to tackle it without renting equipment.  And again, I have posted a few days ago that people won't call back and that is happening again with 1 guy.

Listen, if you don't want the job, just say so.  Or call us and say that you rode by and our house it too steep for you to climb on to put on a new roof or the house it too big for you to paint by your self.  Something.  Anything.  Just call us back.  Don't leave us hanging.  I feel like a hostage in my house, not being able to leave.

Maddening isn't it?  I have a duplex with a lower level bedroom on each side (both windows completely above grade) but the windows were rotting and not up to current egress code.  I had to get NINE contractors out here before I finally found someone both willing to do it and with a viable plan.  The first quote was $10K to do both...I nearly stroked.  The vast majority of the contractors never got back to me probably because the job was a little more complicated then just replacing the window.  Since the opening needed to be enlarged they had to replace the header that holds up the house with something stronger.  Still, even having to have the header replaced it ended up costing $4800 for both...less than half of the first quote so the moral of my story is keep trying if you really want it done.  I know it's so annoying to have to wait on the contractors and frustrating when they don't get back to you but I'm really happy that it did it because now the bedrooms are completely legal.  Good luck!

[milee]

Jul 31, 2013 8:07:25 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

Jul 31, 2013 7:54:44 GMT -5 @monkeyunderpants said:

Windows were shockingly expensive to me.....but they needed to be done, so i paid it.

Monkey your comment got me to thinking (understand I'm not all the way awake so my mind is kind of random now). Thinking back I've never opened any of our windows. As far as looking out of them, I've looked out of exactly 7 out of 21 of them. So other than how they look on the outside of the house why do I really have them? I light cone would provide more light & is more energy saving. Plus windows are expensive as hell to replace (ours are all old style). Now I priced a few windows in our old house (the cost shock left me dumbfounded) but not here. If I don't consider the "look" of the house, it would seem to me to be more cost effective to rock most of them up (our house is rock). Kind of interesting when you think about it.

If you need to replace those windows in the future and you know you never open them, you can replace them with windows that don't open for a fraction of the cost of any of the ones that do open.  Can't do that everywhere because the building code in most places requires an egress for certain areas.  But the savings could easily be 50% - 75%.  Big, big price difference between solid non-opening glass and opening windows.

[happyscooter]

Milee, yes I have respect for roofers now also after roofing our 1 story garage.

And if we go with a low ball offer, I am sure we will hear 'well you get what you pay for'.

[skubikky]

Jul 31, 2013 7:59:22 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Yes, we are still calling people for estimates.  The person that gave us an estimate a few years ago no longer takes on big jobs.  Part of the job is demolition and if DH and I could do that to save money, we would.  Unfortunately, we are unable to tackle it without renting equipment.  And again, I have posted a few days ago that people won't call back and that is happening again with 1 guy.

Listen, if you don't want the job, just say so.  Or call us and say that you rode by and our house it too steep for you to climb on to put on a new roof or the house it too big for you to paint by your self.  Something.  Anything.  Just call us back.  Don't leave us hanging.  I feel like a hostage in my house, not being able to leave.

 Some contractors are that busy and don't call back, this is not uncommon.    Obviously, that means that they're not interested in the job.   They don't have any obligation to return your call.

Just because you think the estimate is high doesn't mean that it's not comparable.  You'll have to find that out by getting another estimate if you can get someone out there.  Maybe the type of work that it calls for is not profitable for a contractor.  Also, it just might be that the quote is a good one.  How would you know?

Try to estimate what it would cost you to do it yourself.

[The Captain]

Usually I research the hell out of a major project before putting it out to bid.  The only time in my life when I was truly shock was when I went for a quote to get my driveway re-paved in asphalt.  I've done this before and had a real cost per sq ft that I thought I'd adjusted for inflation...

Turns out all the hurricanes etc plus the spike in oil prices (I guess asphalt is part petro chemical product) caused the price of the raw material to more than triple in less than 8 years.  I got quotes from three places and they all were close so I don't think anyone was gouging us...

[thyme4change]

I'm like George Bush when it comes to these things - doesn't milk cost $1.50?  Um no - it costs 4 bucks!  

(Although, I will say that I was always able to find milk for $1.50 in 1992, and bread for $2 - so maybe there are just areas that are cheaper?  I guess it is average vs. best deal?)

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2013 8:13:34 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Milee, yes I have respect for roofers now also after roofing our 1 story garage.

And if we go with a low ball offer, I am sure we will hear 'well you get what you pay for'.

We had a hail storm come through while living in our old house (baseball size hail) & it did a hell of a lot of damage. Needing to replace our roof I got a couple of estimates & was thinking them over (I had time because we don't exactly get a lot of rain or hail here). Well one morning some guys showed up to do the roof next to ours & I was watching them. After a while I got to talking to them & they weren't "normal" roofers. They were artists that did roofing when needed to bring in money so that they could do "art". Basically all but one of them had been putting on roof's for more than 10 years.

Anyway after watching them I asked a few questions & got some really good answers (which went along with what I was seeing). I then got a quote from them that was 2/3rd of any other quote that I had gotten. They started my roof the day they finished the house next to mine. They were really great plus I learned a few things (like certain shingles we better than others, etc). It worked out well for me plus I saved some money.

OH & they also point out that all of the pipe plates (that go around the pipes on the roof) on my house had been installed upside down. He couldn't believe that I had never had a leak over the years.

[Regis]

Jul 31, 2013 8:29:10 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

Jul 31, 2013 8:13:34 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Milee, yes I have respect for roofers now also after roofing our 1 story garage.

And if we go with a low ball offer, I am sure we will hear 'well you get what you pay for'.

We had a hail storm come through while living in our old house (baseball size hail) & it did a hell of a lot of damage. Needing to replace our roof I got a couple of estimates & was thinking them over (I had time because we don't exactly get a lot of rain or hail here). Well one morning some guys showed up to do the roof next to ours & I was watching them. After a while I got to talking to them & they weren't "normal" roofers. They were artists that did roofing when needed to bring in money so that they could do "art". Basically all but one of them had been putting on roof's for more than 10 years.

Anyway after watching them I asked a few questions & got some really good answers (which went along with what I was seeing). I then got a quote from them that was 2/3rd of any other quote that I had gotten. They started my roof the day they finished the house next to mine. They were really great plus I learned a few things (like certain shingles we better than others, etc). It worked out well for me plus I saved some money.

OH & they also point out that all of the pipe plates (that go around the pipes on the roof) on my house had been installed upside down. He couldn't believe that I had never had a leak over the years.

They might be good roofers but they're awful business people with leaving that much money on the table.  Probably why they're starving artists, too.  

[whoisjohngalt]

I always get paranoid if I get estimates that are very different.  If it's too high, I am thinking that I am being scammed and if it's too low, I am thinking that guy doesn't know what he is doing.

How do you decide who to choose?

[lynnerself]

We recently had some painting done.
Because it was such an awkward job (trim, soffets and facia only and almost 3 stories on one side) we could only get one (fairly new) painter to give us an estimate. We have no idea if it was fair or not.
He's almost done and so far it looks OK.

[Formerly SK]

We have to replace our siding and paint the exterior of the house this summer (10-12K).  Honestly, after my experience this spring with several arborists/sprinkler repair guys, I'm ready to pay top dollar as long as the job is done right.  I'm so frinkin' tired of incompetence/laziness. 

But I'll try to be a good YMer and get 3-5 quotes.  I agree though - many guys don't even show up for quotes anymore. 

[kent]

Have any of you gotten an estimate and it turned out to be more than you thought?

My Dad was a general contractor so I have a little insight.  The way the game is often "played" is that when a contractor is up to his ears in jobs and is asked for an estimate, he will submit a high estimate.  If the customer goes for it, he will stall another customer to take advantage of the larger profit job.

On the other hand, some will just rill the dice in hopes of finding a sucker that hasn't performed due diligence.

I had an estimate from a guy I had been using for years for landscape type work and his prices were always (up to this point) fair and reasonable.  His latest estimate was SO out of line I couldn't believe it - needless to say, we will NEVER use him again.  He was apparently counting on our long term relationship to stick it to us - shame on him.

[happyscooter]

Formerly SK, DH and I just re-sided our house and garage.  I can't believe how much the quote (could only get one) was for.

[Formerly SK]

Jul 31, 2013 11:48:23 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Formerly SK, DH and I just re-sided our house and garage.  I can't believe how much the quote (could only get one) was for.

Yeah, siding is INSANE.  We're only doing two walls too (south and west).    It's taken us almost three years to save the cash for it. 

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2013 9:25:25 GMT -5 Regis said:

Jul 31, 2013 8:29:10 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

We had a hail storm come through while living in our old house (baseball size hail) & it did a hell of a lot of damage. Needing to replace our roof I got a couple of estimates & was thinking them over (I had time because we don't exactly get a lot of rain or hail here). Well one morning some guys showed up to do the roof next to ours & I was watching them. After a while I got to talking to them & they weren't "normal" roofers. They were artists that did roofing when needed to bring in money so that they could do "art". Basically all but one of them had been putting on roof's for more than 10 years.

Anyway after watching them I asked a few questions & got some really good answers (which went along with what I was seeing). I then got a quote from them that was 2/3rd of any other quote that I had gotten. They started my roof the day they finished the house next to mine. They were really great plus I learned a few things (like certain shingles we better than others, etc). It worked out well for me plus I saved some money.

OH & they also point out that all of the pipe plates (that go around the pipes on the roof) on my house had been installed upside down. He couldn't believe that I had never had a leak over the years.

They might be good roofers but they're awful business people with leaving that much money on the table.  Probably why they're starving artists, too.  

Regis I have to say that I wondered about that too. The funny part was that "when" they were doing roofs they were in a big demand because people knew about them. Mostly they only did roofs about 2 to 3 months of the year & that gave them enough income to make it through the year (that plus the art they did).

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2013 11:48:23 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Formerly SK, DH and I just re-sided our house and garage.  I can't believe how much the quote (could only get one) was for.

There are some things that I just don't understand why they are as expensive as they are. For instance we live in a LCOL area, yet tile work here is insane. I mean we found out how much it would cost & so we (the wife & I) tiled our bathroom laundry room ourselves & it wasn't hard & it didn't take long. I just don't understand how they could possibly charge that much for that job.

[hoops902]

Jul 31, 2013 11:44:04 GMT -5 kent said:

Have any of you gotten an estimate and it turned out to be more than you thought?

My Dad was a general contractor so I have a little insight.  The way the game is often "played" is that when a contractor is up to his ears in jobs and is asked for an estimate, he will submit a high estimate.  If the customer goes for it, he will stall another customer to take advantage of the larger profit job.

On the other hand, some will just rill the dice in hopes of finding a sucker that hasn't performed due diligence.

I had an estimate from a guy I had been using for years for landscape type work and his prices were always (up to this point) fair and reasonable.  His latest estimate was SO out of line I couldn't believe it - needless to say, we will NEVER use him again.  He was apparently counting on our long term relationship to stick it to us - shame on him.

Very much this!  I also think people tend to think of contractors like a normal store.  It's not like that, these are people.  These people have feelings, preferences, etc.  Particularly if you're going with someone who actually does the work themselves prices can vary by where the guy lives, how busy he currently is, how much of a pain you seem like when he meets you, or just whether he likes doing that specific type of work.  A carpenter who loves doing framing but hates doing stairs is going to quote you stairs at probably a much higher price than someone who genuinely enjoys doing stairs.  And it's for no other reason than personal preference.  It's not about "how much is this job worth", it's about "how much would I need to pay you to do this job".  That's a distinct difference.

Part of your job hiring someone is to figure out WHY you're getting the price quote you're getting.  I got a really good price on a big plumbing job from a local guy.  The reason:  I had about 25 hours of work to be done and I just needed it done sometime within a month.  He didn't have to turn down any other work while he was on my house, he could leave anytime he wanted for another job, and my job was basically just fill-in for him.  I was fine with that.  I got a great price on a roof essentially because my dad buys rental houses and has one guy do the roofs on most of them.  When he was referred to me he clearly wanted to make sure I had a good experience.

I got some absolutely terrible quotes on installing a new furnace/ac/ductwork because I was very specific about where I wanted my new vents, where the ductwork could run, etc.  I'm sure they thought I was going to be a pain to work for.