Estimate price Good?Bad?

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shan2themax

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So, I had a contractor come today to give me an estimate of for things I need done, that I can no longer do myself because of work injury.... is this a decent estimate?
$15,250...
1. Correct sag in floor
2. Reinstall front door and install screen door
3. Fix 2 holes in floor were return air vents used to be
4. Drywall half bath ceiling
5. Repair rotted sill plate, replace siding there
6. Ventilation for full bathroom
7. Replace 6 windows
8. Reside the front of the house and left side (50×28)
9. Build a small deck/porch with steps and a ramp
10. Cut me plywood for my kitchen counters (2 pieces) with sink hole
11. Fix electric in one bedroom, the hall, part of another room and the garage
12. replace all fascia, soffets and gutters

I had no idea what to expect, I can do it all at once, or by the job

I'm kind of excited and can pay cash for it, I just want to make a good decision
 
I might say add that I am super duper tired of trying to find contractors who actually show up. Some dont want to do the jobs because of the mess. This guy was understanding and willing to work with me and help me out.
 
Is this a new address, and is your mom still in the former residence?

Windows single, dual or triple glazed, alum, steel or vinyl, any E glazing?

What is the grade and thickness of the kitchen counter rough top?
 
If it were me. I would break the whole thing up into smaller parts. Have him do the first one of the smaller group of things. If after the first smaller project your comfortable with him, he is on time, and he gets the work DONE. Not half done, not done "but", but totally done. Then have him do the next one or all the rest of the work depending on how much you trust him. If your honest with him and just tell him you want him to do the work but you just want to proceed cautiously he absolutely should be respectful knowing that making you happy will result in more money for him. By more money I mean that you will give him more projects (possibly every project here after) NOT that he can charge you more if you don't do it all at once . If you ever get the feeling that he wants to charge you more because your being cautious drop him and find someone else. If he is understanding of you then you can be understanding of him when he has "situations" that will come up during the work. Every contractor has a real life. Family things come up and stuff happens so they should be understanding of you EXACTLY like you will be understanding of them. A lot of contractors lack basic customer service skills if they aren't interested in maintaining a relationship with you and earning the title of "your go to guy" then don't deal with them.

I have way too much experience with bad contractors. As tired as you are with dealing with contractors having one bad one will be so much worse than the work it would have taken to evaluate more of them. I have been to court with contractors and all that entails. Your talking about 2 to 6 years of your life caught in a battle. If you break your project up into smaller parts then you can get on with your life IF things go bad. Then you can chalk it up to experience.
Hope that helps.

Oh and I forgot to mention that under $16k for the projects you suggested seems a reasonable cost to me. In my area it would be significantly more expensive than that to do those things. Here is what I would expect for and estimate in my area with the absolute minimum in materials(cheapest on the shelf of HomeDepot), work and no surprises or change orders. This is a random guess without seeing the work but I've got enough experience where I'm usually with $1000 of the total:

1. Correct sag in floor - $1500
2. Reinstall front door and install screen door - $500
3. Fix 2 holes in floor were return air vents used to be - $350
4. Drywall half bath ceiling - $400
5. Repair rotted sill plate, replace siding there - $400
6. Ventilation for full bathroom - $250
7. Replace 6 windows - $2200
8. Reside the front of the house and left side (50×28) $4800
9. Build a small deck/porch with steps and a ramp - $5500
10. Cut me plywood for my kitchen counters (2 pieces) with sink hole - $200
11. Fix electric in one bedroom, the hall, part of another room and the garage - $450
12. replace all fascia, soffets and gutters - $4000

$20,550 If they are a "general" contractor then in my area they would charge 10% to manage the sub contractors for a total of $22,605. Again it's important to stress that would be the price with no surprises, change orders, and the absolute basics in materials. Not trex decking, triple pane windows etc.
 
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After much pondering.... and praying.... and seeing your estimate and someone elses estimate, I have decided to take the plunge.... we are going to do it in 3 phases, paying in 3 phases, and no work progresses until I am satisfied with what has been done currently. I cant keep waiting on the perfect deal, perfect set of circumstances, I need to at least be able to pull into my driveway and see something pretty, even though the inside isnt. This will give me the opportunity to purchase my own insurance instead of bank forced insurance and.... I will be able to refinance to shorter and better terms. I feel at peace with the decision.
 
After much pondering.... and praying.... and seeing your estimate and someone elses estimate, I have decided to take the plunge.... we are going to do it in 3 phases, paying in 3 phases, and no work progresses until I am satisfied with what has been done currently. I cant keep waiting on the perfect deal, perfect set of circumstances, I need to at least be able to pull into my driveway and see something pretty, even though the inside isnt. This will give me the opportunity to purchase my own insurance instead of bank forced insurance and.... I will be able to refinance to shorter and better terms. I feel at peace with the decision.

Good Job!

I think that is an intelligent and mutually beneficial agreement. Get it in writing. You and the contractor can sleep well knowing you have a good and solid plan. If you have time to include in your written agreement what happens in the event of failure that would be great! Hopefully you'll never need it but it's good to know what you and the contractor must do if something horrible and out of human control should happen. It's unlikely, but really helpful to the party that's going through the trauma at the time to be able to reference the document and say "This is what I said I would do so I will do it!".

I think you deserve to be proud of the decision.
 
MrMiz,
Thank you. They actually offer a lifetime labor guarantee. I'm praying ots all positive, but I've watched enough shows and youtubes videos to know that something often comes up. I do feel better about it, looking forward to it, hoping it lifts the spirit surrounding the house and everyone in it.....
But most of all thankful for the opportunity to stop being ashamed of the entire house.... at least the outside will be much nicer and not half rotten. I will post pictures when I am able of before and after. I'm also incredibly blessed to be able to pay cash for it at this time in life. Thank you for the encouragement.... he was teasing me today when he went I was showing him the things I had done, he wanted to know if I had spare time to be added to his payroll.... lol hilarious..... I told him my schedule was full but that I am on vacation so you never know, I might ask for a discount in exchange for work completed by me.... lol
 
ok... so, dont beat me, but .... i have been a nervous wreck since Thursday... how can I go about cancelling the contract that I signed? I dug and dug, and even though he came with good recommendations from coworkers... he does have some ugly stuff on the internet. So, if today is Saturday and it was signed Thursday at around 5, is today the third business day or the second business day? I am in Ohio, and I am finding conflicting information as to the laws. :(:mad:
 
I sent him a text and an working on emailing a letter. From what I can tell, Saturday is considered a business day, I wont be able to mail it until Monday. I did pay a down payment, and from what I can tell that should be returned within 10 days, but I cant find a specific verbage. There is nothing on the contract that states it is nonrefundable
 

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