Why don't contractors give estimates faster?! I was remodeling my bathroom in my basement and I didn't get a call back sooner than a week and half. I ended up having to block it off for my Thanksgiving party. Has this happened to anyone else?!
------------------------------------- Chelsea
Because they are FREE and they are working to make Money, and people usualy are just getting Bids. Im sure you didnt have a check ready for him.
It's usually caused by not planning ahead far enough. Fast estimates are not likely, you should have called earlier.
Problem is that people call for estimates, then ever do the right thing which is to hire the person giving the estimate! Instead they try to use the estimate as a negoiating tool against a different contractor ("Hey Bob said he'd do it for $xxx, can you underbid him?") and so many contractors do estimates when they have the time.
Estimating is a very interestring process...... It takes on many aspects...... Many estimates are to "compare" other estimates already given. Some estimates are wanted only as a whim......The client usually has no clue or even finances to support any such building. Insurance estimates are even better..... Many take the insurance estimate along with the others to present it to the insurance company only to take the monies and never call the contractor.
One such job a fence was hit on a major roadway. I explained to the client I would give them an estimate (for 100.00) since they were planning to do the work themselves......I did a detailed estimate.....never heard back from the client and the fence was repaired..........never recieved any monies....
About 6 months later a call came....."We have a fence to repair and is an insurance bid" Oh, that address sounds familiar......I went there and it was the husband this time with a knocked down fence....wanting a bid.
I explained to him that I did give a bid for the last accident and never got paid! Showed him the "old estimate" Well, I made another estimate, and he paid me for the latter.....
Some folks are just fishing....... I do T and M jobs with a rough estimate......I feel best that way, and so does the owner most of the times.... Plans change, ideas change, color, tile, bath fixtures......
Bathrooms in particular can be a long process with plumbing, drywall, paint drying, tile........wiring......with not much money...for a contractor for the time involved.
I guess in the long run it really depends on how hungry the contractor is, and how honest the client is with the job description and accessibility.
jloomis
Your mistake, "Where's the check, I've got your estimate ready..." would have been my approach! (but you knew that...)
And not the former? He got a good deal!
I got paid for the former also......
I like to trust people. You know you can catch more flys with honey than with vinegar.......
Good to hear you got both... I wasn't clear on that part. I've found that honesty works in about 99% of the cases, especially if the other guy is basically honest, but I rarely bill/give credit for small jobs. (Unless it's my grandkids, then it is sometimes a writeoff!)
They take a long time to do and require meeting subs at the job and having to accomodate their schedules. Plus in most times we are all working and have to do them at nite or on weekends. Some of us have families and obligations. Some of us can't use our minds well after a long day at work. Some of us just don't want to do it as it is often a waste of time. I often don't do them if I think I am bidding against someone else in my small town. On the other hand if some told me that they were not going to use me or wanted it for a comparison or bargaining tool and gave me a fist full of dollars I would do the work for them in appreciation of rare honesty and good faith.
The reality is that people take our detailed scopes of work to the Home Depot and shop it around to all the yard rats. That's why I give one flat figure for all the work. They tell me what they want and then I generate one number. I always walk away on the bids where the homeowner wants a highly detailed scope of work and why I am going to do it a certain way. That's when I know the homeowner is either shopping or is wanting me to give him a detailed "how-to" so he can do it himself.
True story: I got a call from some old guy's daughter who had been given my name in a referral. She wanted me / no, she NEEDED me to give an estimate on a job in her father's house. Oh, he needs this, we're acting immediately, the whole story. I got the telephone number for the old man and called him to setup an appointment. But rather than just set up the appointment and go, I felt him out. Different answers. If I wanted to come out and give him a free estimate, that'd be great. He was gathering estimates now. Oh, how many? Well, he had 25 or so and his daughter had at least that many on her own. Well, at least he was honest.
For me, if they aren't willing to pay $50-$100 for an estimate, they aren't serious. Among my friends, the days of free estimates are gone. If you don't prequalify and explain there will be a charge, but that it will be refunded if you choose us to the do the work, you will take up your entire
40 hour week giving estimates for jobs you will never do. Screw that...Tim
Has anyone had to block off your bathroom...? Probably not. :)
It sounds like you started the project before you had your ducks in a row. That's always a risk in anything you do.
RThat is the danger with "I was remodeling..."
I hate getting a call when someone else started the work or jumped ship in mid-stream or whatever it was and I get the call to come and bail it out. Usually that happens when someone sees my bid and thinks "$13 grand for a bathroom? Heck, I can do it for three grand." They usually have a neighbor or a relative who watched Bob Vila a few times and in their mind, became an expert.
So they begin and start running into dry rot behind a shower, or mold, and they blindly replace visible things and forget the hidden ones because they are hard to get to, and before you know it, they are ready to tile the shower. So they attach backer board and mastic the tile to the shower, grout it and they are done. That wax ring on the toilet flange still looks pretty good, so we can reuse that, and the blacksplash on the sink still looks pretty good. The caulk has hardened up but that's OK, we'll just reuse that, too. In a couple of weeks, when the toilet is leaking on the floor and the tiles are falling off, I get a call to come fix a couple of things.
Everybody thinks construction is easy. I carry a one million dollar liability insurance policy because it isn't.
Tim
Has anyone had to block off your bathroom...? Probably not. :)
It sounds like you started the project before you had your ducks in a row. That's always a risk in anything you do.
R
Yeah, I love the weekend warriors........ After having a nailbag on my back for 30 years and dealing with everything from way down under to up on top.....I figure.....let them have it..... They'll come back with the tail between their legs if not to me, someone else.
jloomis
Soooo true....Especially for me being a drywall contractor....They see a couple of DIY shows and think , "hey I can do that. "...After a few days on a ladder making a MESS of it they call....PITA....Then there's the "what if calls" and calls for detailed bids with the how are you gonna do that questions that are just fishing expeditions for how to info cuz they want to DIY...I do estimates when I have the time and are already near the job to be bid unless it is one of my usual contractors I do work for...They ALWAYS come first BEFORE any homeowner calls....Homeowners TRYING to run their own job and schedule subs tend to be a royal PITA.......I also carry 1 million liability....
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.