Home Improvement Happy Surprise

[FA-18C]

After a couple of years of having a lot of work done on the house, was glad to have a decent hiatus. Our rescue dog Bea changed that when she panicked when the cleaning crew showed up at the house. Result was a destroyed carpet trying to dig out. The door just needs some filler, sand and paint, not an issue.

So the happy surprise was that having carpet installed in the two rooms that don't have hardwood downstairs was really easy. Two showrooms for a total of 30 minutes, two quotes Monday, agreed on Monday afternoon, carpet installed this morning. I did a lot of moving and prep, but the 4 installers showed up 5 minutes early and start to finish took a tad over two hours. This is the first home improvement project that went smoothly and no surprises. Despite my inability to speak Spanish, this crew was like a well orchestrated ballet. No wasted time or movement - and the attention to detail restores some hope in my eyes.

In contrast, I cannot even get anyone to come quote master bath refurb. Over the phone they will say that a bathroom ie $45K in "my neighborhood." I completely dread the process, but need to get some things done in the next year. Sadly had a good contractor, but complete lack of follow through on stopping by to talk about the project. And I am talking 10-15 times after a phone call.

Babbling - just really like it when you feel you get a good value, and are able to watch some good old fashion pride in the end product.

[jyl]

$45K for a bathroom remodel - wow, gulp, yike.

What are you thinking of having done?

[70SATMan]

I had a design and build guy come in last year when we were deciding on our kitchen remodel and he tossed me 50k/bathroom! And that was without detailed discussions on the grade of finish!

[jhynesrockmtn]

I could see $45k in a high end large bathroom with separate tub/shower, lots of tile, etc. In my little house I got a decent kitchen with walls moving, etc. for close to that. In 2015. My bathroom needs to be done according to my wife. I just keep going, yep, we'll look at that someday. That has bought me a couple of years at this point. My bathroom should be $15 to $20k

[ltusler]

FFS, how nice of a space does one need to SS and S?

[FA-18C]

The hard pill is there is no plan to rearrange the MBR. AND, I want simple - shower walls with no grout, solid shower pan, new tub, some telework around bathtub and sink area. LVT for floors, new can lights and fan system. The I price out materials I am in the $10-12K all in for materials. I cannot see $30K in labor here. Worst case scenario, I figure this is 240 hours (this is 3 FTEs for three weeks), at $75 and hour is $18K. With materials - even allowing for a 30% markup, I am at $33K. I have no issue with a business making a reasonable profit, but they should not get $125 an hour for all touch and trade labor.

We are not trying to build out a spa here...just refresh and update a tad bit from the late 80s when the house was built.

[look 171]

Chris, most smart contractor will quote you a number and see if that's within the ball park of what you want to spend. WE know there's a number in every home owner's head but that has to mesh with the contractor's. Often they do not. 75 bucks an hour will cause that contractor to go broke within a couple years. I willtry and get you a simple break down below.

I wouldn't go out to see anyone unless its a referral. Even then, I talk to them and try to give them a ball park number over the phone. I do not have a web site or anything on the net only because we aren't interested in working for the masses and don't want to have to call people back that only want a number that have no interest in working with us. Yet people somehow find our number and call a few time a year asking if we are interested in bidding their project. The answer is always nope.

A decent workmen worth a damn is about 40-50 bucks an hour. I can't get any concrete finisher to come out unless they are earning 400 a day. At 75 bucks, it barely covers expenses or overhead such as fuel, insurance, etc.. My insurance is 57,000 a year. Then there's 29% on every dollar we pay out.

It use to be that CA construction pricing is always higher but in recent years, we discovered that elsewhere in the country (not talking about big cities) is much higher. 1000 bucks to install a simple water heater up in OR or WA. 500 bucks is like pulling teeth here.

Your material list. No grout on walls - solid material like a single piece of quartz, granite or marble? Well, that aint no 3000 bucks. It more like 6-8 K. There's solid pan that match the walls then there's solid pan that's made of some case materials for 500 bucks, cheap. Maybe you mean stone floor over a mud pan and he's thinking about something else. Of course, I have not seen your bath, so I can only pull these numbers out of my butt.

If you are really interested in working with them, call them back arrange a meeting and tell them you looked over their number and that it look to be OK and you want to talk further. hopefully they will come out. Everyone is busy, and they see all home owners as tire kickers. We are about a year and a half out and people are willing to wait. I am not saying you are the tire kicker, but wanted you to see it from their side. No one is dumb enough to give you a plan hoping you will have them do the work. I went through that song and dance in my youth. They will only take that drawing I worked so hard on solving all the spacing planning issues and have some dumb contractor do the work. No more mr. nice guy but I have done that for some on Pelican only because I have no dog in the fight here and some of these guys need my help.

Have them quote you a real number after your meeting with the contractor and do not do any work without a plan, a simple one will do. That is your biding contract and always refer back to it to clear things up. You spec the materials, have them get it and let them mark it up and be very specific about this. Most home owner have a real issue with materials mark up (we don't mark up plumbing and lighting fixtures. Simple cheap advertisement for us) If they screw it up or drop it, they buy you a new one. Leave finish materials out of the line items. Easier for both parties.

Good luck with the bath remodel.

[FA-18C]

look - this all makes sense, and I do not disagree with your points above. We are 85% government services, but have a full service boatyard that developed over the past 5 hard years. So, fully appreciate the cost of good labor. The scope of our master bath should fall within a general small remodeling company here in VA. For solid wall - I am referring to some of the newer solid-surface fabricated walls, like swan stone, Kohler and others have. They look like more modern subway tile, but install like sheet rock. HATE grout. Not looking for a natural stone solid wall, and concur that is $$$$. The quoting process is very similar to what we do on high end boats - and you are correct, there are a number of tire kickers. So I get that. The challenge is getting someone I can trust to be in my home, get the project done in a reasonable time, and with materials and finishes I want. I cannot live in a house with two women with 1 bathroom, that is at least the 4th or 5th level of hell.

I imagine to be 18 months out, your team does good work. We are in the dead slow season here and are 6 weeks out for new boat projects. Right now my plan is to build out a detailed description of what I want to do, complete with materials by name, colors etc... and try and find someone to walk through it with me. For 2 months I have tried 4-5 different contractors and left voicemails and emails with no response. I also know that some of the smaller teams have been challenged with material availability, one of the 5, maybe another appear to have shut down their business and moved on. Will keep at it. This is one of the reasons I started this thread, to share what was surprising to me, that I was able to get a quote on a SAT, and the following Friday have carpet installed. If only my bathroom was that easy

[look 171]

I start with the local friends and family for recommendations. For a small bath, I suggest a small time contractor instead of a mid size company. the one thing I dislike about the larger companies is that they have too many people doing the work, one day you get one, someone else another to pick up where the previous person didn't finish. I hate that and it happens all the time. You know, the construction type workmen are not the most punctual and often they do not show up to work. That screws up everyone's schedule. Interview a few and get a feel for them. You can tell a lot by talking to them. Oh, I almost forgot, ask to see their work, not off his list of previous clients but current jobs and talk to the owner if possible. They will tell ya if things aren't going well. I know that's asking a lot but it will give you a piece of mind unless he comes highly recommended. See the job site at the end of the day, are there junk all over the place or its cleaned up so the home owner can walk through the mess and without construction crap all over the place. That tells you a lot about the guy in charge. Talk to local lumber yard or places where he buys from and ask if he pays his bill on time. Most trades guys, I found, are horrible with money. They have a couple of bucks burning a hole in their pockets and it must be spend instead of paying bills.

[FA-18C]

Most trades guys, I found, are horrible with money.

Nodding in agreement here, but from a different slant probably. A friend has a crew as you describe above. He took it over from his Dad, and has a phenomenal all around master carpenter guy that can do electrical and plumbing, two guys he brings in for larger jobs, and one village idiot that carries stuff and cleans the job site. I just can't get on the same page with him since he started doing insurance work... I owed him about $12K balance on a larger job, check sat on my desk at the hours for 7 months. He just kept forgetting. Helped with an emergency toilet replacement and have voicemail and texted no fewer than 20 times to get an invoice so I can pay, and he is "right on it..."

His guys do good work, and I trust them, it is just that things take forever. My wife is ready to go to a plan B, but given the lack of returned calls, everyone must have plenty of work right now. Perhaps it will change this year, we will see.

What you describe above is my guys in the boatyard. It is like they never left High School. If they have a few bucks, new wheels for the truck, or another man-toy (motorcycle, boat, gun etc...). Several have $30K+ SnapOn tool boxes and a monthly bill that are half my mortgage. I shouldn't complain, it benefits our company, and as a byproduct I get the SnapOn and other tool trucks every other week on site to walk through.

[oldE]

Reading the numbers you folks have been throwing around makes me SO glad I built this place myself (except for electrical). I was suffering the other day after stripping ceramic tile and repairing subfloor, but I have other things I choose to spend money on.

Best
Les

[FA-18C]

Les I wish I had the experience and time. This is for my wife, after 20+ years in navy I can shower in a phone booth. Lady likes a good soak…