Home Depot Wants $100 to Measure Kitchen

That is the figure here - HD contracts out for a measuring service. As it turned out, we decided not to go with HD - we thought the $100 was forfeitied, so didn't even bother to ask. The kitchen planner flagged us down when we were in the store for something else so's she could give us our money back!

Reply to
Norminn
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Damn, I'm in th wrong business. A $5 tape measure and a couple gallons of gas and an hour of my time for $100. Heck I could make up to $1000 a day.....

I'd tell HD that you have your own ruler and they can shove it !!!

Reply to
businessman

On Jun 23, 12:58 am, "Scott" wrote:

Sounds as though friend hasn't decided whether they want to buy some cabinet boxes to mount in their kitchen or a well designed thought-out new kichen? So; to do it 'on the cheap': Have your friend take measurements; get hold of all the brochures and go out and buy the cabinets etc. Have units delivered (or bring them home in the back of your pickup truck), check for damage, unpack and dispose of packing materials; promptly return/replace anything not up to par with an identical item. Install them him/her self. Check the actual units against measurements/ specification. Adapt. Having or acquiring the right tools for the work; proper screws wall fasteners, back splash etc. etc. etc. . Design, draw up and have made any 'special' items, such as end or corner cabinets. (Or make or modify themselves from a 'standard' unit. Don't dispose of anything, yet; they may need that piece of leftover matching panelling!. Decide whether to reuse existing appliances and whether any wiring/ plumbing alterations will be needed. Do those alterations or contract them out. Cope with any of the inevitable small difficulties that will crop up as installation proceeds. We had to slightly alter one wall; worked out all right though, actually gave extra depth for an electrical panel. Not too hard to do, provided it is a dead simple job. We did just that almost 40 years ago. Two opposing 8 foot counters, two upper and two lower cabinets, plus appliances and a later added dishwasher (which now needs replacement!). Kitchen still works fine although after bringing up a family and doing some catering through it for some 30+ years it's looking a bit worn now! I'd tackle it again, using standard units as far as possible although every building is a little different, now in my mid 70s! But being now retired got lots of time; this time! And time worth money; eh?

Reply to
terry

It cannot be handed down either. I don't have his skills. I used to work with him on occasion, but could never do the fine work he was capable of. Nor did I study architecture in Vienna as he did. Even if I did, getting it translated from the brain to the hands is not the same.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I can't speak for anyone else. I'm sure you'd find people that would take your gladly take your guarantee (more on this later).

Whether the kitchen was a direct replacement or not, whether the layout was done yesterday or forty years ago, the odds are great that it could be improved upon.

I don't know of any carpet installer, painter or fairly "straightforward" trade that charges for estimates. There was an architect I knew - didn't really like his work or his ways - that would visit a client for the first time, then send them a contract in the mail. If the owner didn't sign it without any questions, he wouldn't answer their phone calls. It takes all types.

Effective, but I doubt either of you were happy with the way it turned out.

Guaranteed measurements are dangerous. If you guarantee a measurement to the wrong guy, and the measurements turn out to have some problems, the guy will take you to the cleaners. It's also dangerous for the contractor. An error in the measurement means lost time. The owner might just want to pay for the replacement cabinet, and ignore the contractor's lost time. Obviously the contractor would have other ideas.

Construction is all about risk. If you are not thoroughly and intimately familiar with construction, and all of the potential pitfalls, you'd be nuts to willingly assume more risk to get a slightly better price.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Sounds like an interesting guy. Post some pictures of his work. I'd love to see some.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Or don't have much of an idea what it takes to operate a business.

A $5 tape measure and a couple

Reply to
George

My husband just reminded me we had to pay home depot $100 to measure for laminate flooring we were going to do. They sent out some one with a tape measure and a scratch pad (no cad drawing) The resulting number of square feet was off by 150. I remeasured and a future contractor measured to confirm. The number of square feet was just recorded in the order department. We did not receive a materials list or anything professional. As for the kitchen design we took our own measurements in and they were used to give us a free cabinet layout.

That's the basis of why I would not pay $100 for someone to measure or write up a proposal. It's part of the cost of doing business as a contractor in hopes of getting the job.

Reply to
Madx

There are a couple of problems with that. First, if I got back the written estimate from the carpet guy and it said my living room is 2' shorter than it really is, I'd notice, and eliminate that carpet guy from consideration, because I'd assume he is simply not competent to use a measure, and so would not want him anywhere near my house.

Second, in this age of the internet, I'd probably blog about him, by name, so that other people looking for a carpet guy would have a chance of finding out that he can't even measure right.

Producing incorrect work is generally a bad thing to do, regardless of whether it is on accident (because of incompetence) or on purpose (as part of some sort of plan to keep people from using your work without paying), because to the consumer of your work, the two cases are usually indistinguishable.

Reply to
Tim Smith

Reply to
bigjim

Since a decent stainless steel cap cost almost that much, it is a good deal. You did get stainless didn't you? I found out abut rusting caps the hard way with the first one.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I wrote, "Most people that get more than a couple or three bids are simply price shopping. They think that all contractors are interchangeable and will pick the lowest bid."

How do you construe that to mean, "Don't get bids?"

BTW, I wouldn't take a ladder off a truck for $40, much less go up on a roof and install something. Maybe you're thinking about a handyman working out of his 1987 Econoline or Town & Country?

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I didn't mean this to be a personal attack on you so I apologize if it seemed that way. I was simply trying to point out some difference of opinions we apparently have.

Let me explain; Your statement "Since you brought up the 3-5 bids, where does that come from? Do you think that somehow gives you a better project or saves you money? It doesn't work that way." leads me to believe that you think a customer shouldn't shop around. (and BTW, if you look up provider in any dictionary, you'll find it means something to the effect of someone that provides a service ;-). You also said "My work is far above the norm and so are my prices." which is where I inferred that you meant just by spending more, your customers will get more and that, I will admit and apologize for, was probably reading too much into your words.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my analogy between you and a car salesman. For example, building an addition onto a house can be compared to buying a car. Just because you're looking for a four door compact with good gas mileage doesn't mean that a Chevy Colbalt is the same as a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. Sure they both have four wheels and meet your other requirements but they differ greatly in many areas such as quality, price, customer service from the dealership, etc. etc. Just as adding a family room onto a house adds space for living, not everyone that can swing a hammer or cut a board will build it the same way. But either way, and I don't mean any offense, to think that you are not (or were at one time when you were still building your reputation) a salesman is... well.... foolish. You provide a service and based upon what you said, a quality one, but you still have to sell it to the customer or are we to believe that every one of your jobs (again, even when you just started out) are asked for with blind trust from the home owner that you wouldn't rip them off. I doubt it. I bet you had to "sell" it to them by getting them to believe that you would do it in a quality manner.

One area that I whole-heartedly to agree with most taking part in this thread, providing detailed drawings and plans IS providing a service that should be compensated for. But just to receive a bid for the job, which is what I understood the OP to be talking about, is larceny, burglary, thievery or whatever else you'd like to call it.

Again, I'm sorry if this looked to be a personal attack, it really wasn't meant as such. It's just unfortunate that the world we live in today is full or scoundrels and thieves. But, for those of us who don't hangout at the local lumber yard, how else are we to know we're not being ripped off if we don't shop and ask around.

Scott

Reply to
Scott

I thought the normal thing was to write numbers down and then do the CAD drawing whereever the computer was. A floor is two dimensional, and ought to able to be represented on paper.

OTOH, this guy couldn't. :)

I suppose if the work were done by HD you would have/ might have gotten the extra 150 feet for free. What *do* they do then.

My caution that they might run out of the color still seems possible but less likely with laminate tile, because they can ship from all over the country.

Reply to
mm

"Scott" wrote

Not to belabor the point, but even look at this subject title. He said to measure the kitchen.

nancy

Reply to
Nancy Young

mm wrote: ...

Well, it depends wholly on the business model of the contractor or business. Trust me, you're paying for it whether it's an upfront specified charge or buried in the proposal. It is a cost of doing business, true, but as someone else has already pointed out in order to remain in business one has to cover those costs in some fashion.

You can choose to only deal with businesses whose model is to make the cost invisible to you, but you're still paying. While you may feel good about "stiffing" the fella' who doesn't charge when he comes out, you can be pretty sure he'll think again next time you call and that the cost of window-shoppers is built into his fee schedule.

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Reply to
dpb

why charge $100 for an estimate,when you can charge $300 for the plan.

free estimates are what gets potential customers to call you in the first place.

I say give the window shoppers the free estimate without a plan and if they want a plan, charge them $300 for it and it is NOT deducted from the contract price. at least this way you are being paid for your time and you didn't waste more than 20 min. on a plan that a window shopper is expecting for free.

I usually give free estimates at the time of looking at the job, then I inform them about the "design fee" to get a plan.

works like a charm it usually weeds out the garden so to speak.

| > ScottO. | | yeah sad too many windowshoppers. | | you can take your measurements to lowes and their kitchen designer | will come up with a nice plan |

Reply to
stainer

Interesting how things work differently at different places. If you gave me an estimate and then mentioned the design fee (especially since the fee is not credited toward the project if we accept) I would have tossed you out the door as trying to rip me off. Especially since I am sure the actual bid doesn't always match up with estimate after you get exactly everything down on paper.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

We decided not to go with Home Depot after the measuring was done and we saw the drawings.....apparently they measure the angle on all the corners and one of ours was off. Our kitchen is rectangular, opposite walls are parallel, so it made for weird looking drawings. Obviously, the wallboard at the corner wasn't perfect. If they couldn't see the obvious and correct it, I didn't want them mucking around in my kitchen. They had one long wall shooting off into space, about 5 degrees off 90.

Reply to
Norminn

comparing estimates is fine if you:

compare oranges to oranges which is what doesn't happen

lowest bidders usually leave out something or forget to figure something in.

example: I bid on a roof that was 36 sq. of asphalt shingles strip and re-roof new venting system, architectural 110 mph, impact and algae resistant certainteed shingles.

you would assume all the bids were close in price..........right. NO the lowest bidders price was half of my estimate (which by the way, was the materials cost) trying to figure out how this was possible..........I ask the customer to see the other estimates in fear that they were being taken.

Yup, I was right they did not include water and ice barrier, re-flashing chimney and pipes. they substituted certainteed shingles with GAF from HD. they weren't replacing dripedge and were not pulling a permit.

needless to say, the customer hired the lowest bidder anyway.

and yes the customer is still going through the court system trying to get blood from a stone.

so, did the consumer save money? not a chance.........it has cost them 10 times more in the long run, and get this, they called me to take care of their water damage from their new roof. which I declined, because I told them before they hired the other contractor. The consumer said "hindsight is 20/20" and I replied with "I was your hindsight" sorry I can not accept the job.

sure I could have raked them over the coals (like some contractors) but I take pride in my work.

lowest bidder usually means inexperience in one way shape or form.

Unless | the estimate is in the range I was thinking the job should cost then | I will get a couple estimates. | For instance the chimney cap blew off my chimney. On most houses I'd | have ladder up and deal with it. However my tudor type home has a | Very high chimney (cant reach top even from roof. Had a couple people | come out- #1 "You need new cap- starts at $175". I said I'll get back | to you. #2 Local Co. in town says that normally costs $40 or so but | never shows. #3 comes out says "$50 we can do it now" I said "Do | it!!" For a really large job estimates help determine a fair price. | If three guys are about the same money then its up to refenreces and | reputaion. Hi pricers are usually ripoffs and lowballers may be shady | | On Jun 22, 10:11 pm, RicodJour wrote: | > On Jun 22, 8:50 pm, "Madx" wrote: | >

| > > So then a person with a remodel job would have to pay $300-500 up front to | > > get 3 - 5 bids and then only $100 would be credited back. Seems like quite | > > a racket. Why even be the low bid. You could make a living just going out | > > on estimates - just give an outrageous bid. I will never pay for a quote. | > > It's highway robbery. | >

| > Wouldn't it be more like burglary since we're talking about | > houses? ;) | >

| > You've heard the old saying, there is no such thing as a free lunch, | > right? Well, it's true. You may not think you're being charged for | > that "free" estimate, but you are. The contractor just buries it in | > his price somewhere. I prefer to be more upfront about it. | >

| > It requires effort to prepare an estimate. There's the site visit, | > discussing the customers wants and needs, working up the estimate | > itself, then sitting down with the customer to review the estimate and | > point out where there are areas where money could be saved, or areas | > where more money will be required to do it right. In short - | > educating the customer. | >

| > Where do you think that time comes from? I have no more hours in my | > week than you do. I can't just ignore hours anymore than your boss | > will ignore hours if you decide to skip work. From your comment, it's | > obvious that you're not the boss or I wouldn't need to explain this | > stuff to you. An estimate and presentation might take three hours or | > more. What do you feel would be a reasonable amount of money to | > charge for that time? | >

| > Since you brought up the 3-5 bids, where does that come from? Do you | > think that somehow gives you a better project or saves you money? It | > doesn't work that way. Most people that get more than a couple or | > three bids are simply price shopping. They think that all contractors | > are interchangeable and will pick the lowest bid. My work is far | > above the norm and so are my prices. You and I would never get past | > the initial phone call. I screen potential customers at least as | > carefully as the owner screens me. If someone is price shopping, | > there are other contractors who are eager to race each other to the | > bottom of the barrel. I'm not. I've never been the low bid, and if I | > was informed I was, besides being shocked, I'd assume I'd missed | > something and go racing to double-check my estimate. | >

| > When you hear about a remodeling project where there were horrendous | > cost overruns, it's usually due to an owner price shopping, taking the | > lowest bid and hoping for the best, or because an owner doesn't | > understand the correlation between what they'd like done and what has | > to be done. Both scenarios are recipes for disaster. | >

| > R | |

Reply to
stainer

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