Should I get multiple estimates?

16 years ago

I love the handyman company I use. I adore them. They show up when they say they will, they finish the whole job without disappearing, they do quality work, they clean up after themselves, they're responsive about my punch list and they don't nickel and dime me. When I need something done, I just call them and they know it. We've been using them for years.

Unfortunately, we find ourselves needing a new driveway, new garage door and new roof this spring and they don't do any of these things. They did, however, recommend one person for each job, people that they've worked with. I'd be very, very surprised if these weren't good faith recommendations. I've called them to come for estimates and made sure they know how I got their names. So, do you think I can rely purely on the fact of the recommendation of my regular guys and be sure I'm getting quality work at a fair price or should I ask for references, get other bids etc, etc? I don't want to be stupid or naive, but don't want to make this a bigger hassle than it needs to be.

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Comments (5)

fandlil
16 years ago
I agree with ogoopogo. But what you do with the new information is a question. If a second estimate is in the same ballpark, a little higher or lower, go with the first people. But you may get a much lower estimate, a deliberately low number designed to suck you into a deal, and once they're hired they'll figure out a way to nickel and dime you to the point where their price isn't so low anymore. It's done all the time. The only way to protect against this is to get references, but that is not always reliable because they'll never give you references of customers they didn't treat right. So you have to go out on your own to get references or recommendations from friends or neighbors. It's a long and sometimes tedious process -- it takes time and patience.

Another possible way out of your predicament, if the work you need done can be done that way, is to hire one of the first contractors, the one recommended by your trusted handyman company, but give them a LIMITED job to see how things play out. Then hire them for the whole job it you like them.

The one thing in your favor right now is that the building industry is in a big slump, so it should be easy to find workers who are ready, willing and able.
oskiebabu
16 years ago
I run a business and always get at minimum three bids on everything we buy.

I have done the same with my home remodelling. I had 4 different bids on both closed-cell and open-cell foam insulation in my attic rafters as they are much better than fiber glass and blown cotton, besides the fact that rodents love nesting in clown cotton and fiber glass. If you seal the attic rafters and walls with foam it is totally tight and keeps your attic much cooler. And the bidding was all over the place, just as it was with bidding on TRANE HVAC systems.

Just make sure the cheapest price is giving you the smae bid and performance as the higher prices.

I never let my fondness for a certain dealer or person get in the way of business. I let them quote and if they are much higher I may give them the opportunity to meet the lower price. If they tell me-"I thought we had a good relationship" I would reply--"So did I, but I hadn't realized it was based on you making a lot more money off of me".

Greg

Greg
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This is now getting beyond frustrating.. :-/ Refinisher "A" (the same one who submitted the bare-bones quote for the separate new-install area) had quoted me $825 (no sales tax) to repair (install new oak) an area the size of the former fireplace heart,now removed, and strip/refinish the entire room which is 16x19. But he never responded to either phone messages or emails asking for clarification of his vague new-area quote, which gave me a bad feeling about using him. Refinisher "B" quoted me $904, including sales tax, to do the same job. This refinisher also separately quoted for the new-install area and alternatives to same in prefinished engineered. Yesterday after getting better quotes for the new-install area using prefinished engineered from a different company entirely, I emailed Refinisher B saying that I would like them to just do the repair/refinish 16x19 room (the third company does not do repair/refinish, only new installs of various hard floorings). They responded by email that the $904 quote was based on them doing the ENTIRE job (even though they supplied separate quotes) and if I want them to do only the one room it would be subject to their minimum repair/refinish charge which is $1150 plus sales tax. :-/ Now I am up the creek because that job should be done first before any of the other flooring, and my choice is either to sign with them to get on the schedule ASAP (and pay several hundred dollars more than I expected) -or- start from square one again and try to get more flooring guys in for estimates which... going by recent experience... will take weeks to even get them in the door. At this point I am disgusted. There was nothing on the $904 quote to indicate that it was based on them doing "the whole thing" and I clearly indicated to them at the beginning that I was getting separate quotes for the different flooring option areas of the house. Sorry, just need to vent.
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User
16 years ago
I'm a homeowner who's GC'd an $85,000 remodel, one our architect estimated to cost near $150,000. Before we decided that I'd GC the project, we interviewed 5 GCs, and then another 5 in each of the trades (rough and finish carpentry, eletrical, plumbing, HVAC, cabinets, windows, appliances etc). At the start, we didn't know what we were doing, but by the end of the last interview, we had spoken to people who gave us tons of different views about how to do our project and also tons of views about the current state of our 1918 house. Having all this knowledge enabled us to figure out the best plan for our house, and it also enabled us to save $65000 because I then had enough knowledge to be the GC. Today, we know our house, we know it's solid, we know how work should be done and we know that ours was done better than code required.

Should you go with just 1 bid? It's not for me to say, but that would not work for us.
brutuses
16 years ago
I don't think you can have too many bids. What patser said is so true. I just called out 2 guys for a brick bid. The first gentleman was older, very experienced, or so he said and I thought. The second gentleman was half his age. To make the point, the younger guy was more knowledgeable about how the brick should be done and in the process educated us. He got the job!! Oh, to top that off, the old gentleman was twice the price of the young guy. Go figure!!

Should I get multiple estimates?

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fandlil

oskiebabu

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