Wow, this must be why so many people have a hard time getting a project off the ground, the huge variations in bids is hard to digest.
I am waiting for one more bid to come in but so far I got $4350 and $1850 to do the job. I didn't get a warm feeling from the $1850 guy though I did check a couple references and they seemed happy (but who knows if they were family, etc). All bids are from licensed and bonded contractors.
I'm a little shocked at the $8k number since this is mostly labor, though I'm no expert so there could be extra steps I'm missing.
So my first bid was $1850, the next was double that, then the experts on here say double it once more....maybe I can live with it the way it is now
Thanks guys, a lot to chew on!