How do I get a Detailed Bid??? (i.e., with cost break downs)
junkbj
16 years ago
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mundster
16 years agorobin0919
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Please advise me on how to get bids
Comments (7)Tell the show room that you're shopping for and purchasing the finish items yourself and ask for the contractor's discount. They may extend it to you, they may not. If the person doing your work is a regular at the showroom, they should extend it to you. I never charged more to install a $1000 sink versus a $50 sink. Now, for example only, a washlet might incur a slight installation upcharge over a regular toilet since the washlet has additional plumbing and electrical concerns when compared to a standard toilet. Plumbers who supply toilets, sinks, etc, will often "warranty" those items IF they purchase them on their own. If YOU purchase the item and the plumber only does the installation, then typically no warranty is extended to you by the plumber. Do realize that if you stockpile inventory purchased by you, then you are responsible for the items. If the sub purchased them, he'd be responsible for them until installation was complete. Anything you buy, consider going over what is needed for installation with the plumber. Some items might require additional tidbits to install. You don't want to lose a half-day labor while the plumber waits for you to get that "special item" at the supply house. Also, things you purchase on your own? Open the packaging and inspect the item. Make sure that there are no hairline cracks in the toilet china, for example. Remember, you bought it, so it's your toilet. If the plumber supplies it, it's his toilet. Jut a few ideas. Mongo...See MoreCan I expect details in an a/c replacement bid?
Comments (4)I don't work in the HVAC field so I don't know how they do it here. I would expect the major parts to be broken down and the labor charge along with a price for hardware which would be the small things that are needed to complete the install. I may not expect exact model numbers but I would want to know brand and series for the major parts condensor, evap, air handler, air filter sytem, T-stat if one of the high end ones. I would only expect labor to be broken down for each task if I was also replacing the duct work then I would expect that to be quoted seperate. Mabey I spent to many years in the auto industry we normally broke it down for labor and parts. If the customer wanted we could supply a detailed parts list which would list everything we would order from the parts department inluding things like brake clean and O-rings for that job. We would even brake down the labor if wanted evac and recharge, replace the compressor, the expansion valve ect. Of course it is alot easier to do in the auto industry since they have companies that supply the labor time for replacing just about everything on the car. I wouldn't expect labor charges to be broken down that much for a home AC system replacment....See MoreGC bid summarized vs line item detail - is this normal?
Comments (23)I had a similar contract with my GC: a summary that detailed the aspects of the job (eg, install 4 ceiling cans, customer to provide fixtures, install cabinets, customer to provide cabinets, install gfci outlets, etc) and a total for the scope of work. My expectation was that if the scope stated that he would install something, that meant he would be providing any items needed to do that. And some things I didn't research thinking that he would just know what to do-- like placement of the relocated phone jack and associated power outlet in a way that would actually let me put the phone there and look nice. So, the only difficulties with that contract that I ran into involved a lack of detail in some aspects: the quality of the drywall sub, issues with fit and finish/ quality of material used (so some things I should have thought more about and specified in advance), only one GFCI installed. Since I ended up refinishing the found pine floor (at my expense) instead of installing the engineered, he found reasons to not discount for the work not done -- like, they had to buy a $19 fitting for the frig water line installation, and a line for the gas stove install, and screws for the pulls -- and that supposedly made up for not installing a floor. I understand expecting to get so much for a job but he was saved a day of labor too. It wasn't enough to sour me on the guy, though. It wasn't worth fussing about in the end, to me. To someone with tighter resources it surely might have been. But, it couldn't have been planned ahead for. Some of the issues (and they really aren't major, in the total scheme I feel) kind of are his crew nickel and diming me -- Claiming something wasn't mentioned in the scope of work (it was), not wanting to finish this, not wanting to fix that, wanting to be done and on to the next job and have no further labor expense on mine. Problems I think can happen with any kind of contract. So, my advice is to discuss any detail that you can think of and make sure it is clear who is providing what, to what quality (like in my case-- style of trim around windows, lack of insulation behind the over-stove exhaust fan, the exact number of GFCIs and where, new location of phone line)....See MoreContractor who lost bid asking for details of winning bid
Comments (7)Thank you both for your responses. I don't understand what the AHRI is going to do for him if I've already given him the model information, which I did when he called and I assured him that all was on the up and up by AHRI. Another thing is that part of the job is installing damper zoning, the cost of which, imo, differs due to labor costs, which, imo, is the most flexible area for being competitive in this instance. I told everyone that I wanted a 2 stage system and that hubby didn't want to exceed $10,000, which of course they all did, however, it was apparent which contractors actually gave any weight to what I was saying to them. Two quotes came in much higher than the others- Rheem and this guy. During our initial meet, I did tell him what the best dollar figure and system was, just as I did the person before him who won the job. The dollar figure and system to beat was a Trane, and it was a Trane dealer who beat that number, plus he included the next best a/c which featured 2 more years on the compressor- 12 years. That sealed the deal for us. Our system is being installed tomorrow, is there anything important that I should be looking at or watching for before, during and after the installation?...See Morejunkbj
16 years agomightyanvil
16 years agobiglumber
16 years agomightyanvil
16 years agojaymielo
16 years agobrmjandme
16 years agojaymielo
16 years ago
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