Wait till you hear this...good news!

14 years ago

I have a happy contractor (well, happy customer due to great contractor) story for y'all.

Although the kitchen part of my reno hasn't started yet (2 week, I think), we are knee deep in the addition that we are building so that we can then do the kitchen. We hired the man who built our house 11 years ago to do all the work. We were happy then, never had any problems with the house, made sense to hire him for this.

When contract was signed, I gave him a small deposit. When work started, I gave him a large check to be held in escrow. With the contract came an itemized estimate of expenses. He told me that the prices for everything are the cost of the actual stuff plus 15% for him - very straightfoward. This week he handed me a stack of invoices for every purchase made thusfar. Stapled to the front was another copy of the estimate with another line added for the actual prices (with his 15%).

Not only was everything perfectly itemized, but the actual costs are LOWER than the estimates. I was shocked. An honest contractor? Lower costs? Unheard of, right? In fact, at this point in our project, we are $3500 below estimate. I know we'll make up that price somewhere else, but it's nice for now. Honestly, I wrote that ridiculously large check with pleasure because I was so happy to do business with someone honest. No arbitrary numbers, no wondering if we were overcharged.

I was truly shocked - pleasantly - but shocked. I just had to share a good contractor story because so many of you have lived with the hellish ones. They're out there, I swear. Good people who work honestly, do a good job for a fair price.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that it continues to go this smoothly.

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Comments (21)

la_koala
14 years ago
Wow, that is an awesome story!!! Thanks for sharing it.

Where is this contractor with integrity? I might want to hire him when your job is finished. :-)
judydel
14 years ago
I love our contractor also. He has either had us buy the material (with his discount when possible) or he has bought the materials for us. Either way he gives us the bill and charges us his cost . . . no upcharge.
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remodelqueen
14 years ago
That is terrific and the way people are SUPPOSED to be. Congrats!
bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
14 years ago
If by chance either of you with good honest contractors happen to live in central Texas, PLEASE PLEASE contact me via email at bevangel_72 at yahoo dot com. I'll happily hire them as soon as they're done with your work!
remodelfla
14 years ago
Any of you with those honest hard working people that live in So. Fla... please drop me a line!
desertsteph
14 years ago
yes, there are some. yrs ago - early 70's we built an addition to our house. it was much larger than the original house. orig was 3 rooms and a bath. we added 5 rooms and a bath twice the size of the orig one.

work started in Feb (in IN) I was due to deliver at the end of May and wanted it done by then. He promised.

They finished by very early may and UNDER BUDGET!! YES!!

he was an awesome builder. very considerate and careful with our money. he also used Amish men - great builders and woodworkers and plain great workers!

he was in his 60's then so I'm sure he isn't building anymore.
judydel
14 years ago
Sorry, my guy is in CT. He's gorgeous to boot. Love to watch him work LOL
rubyfig
14 years ago
Oh, that is so great! I have a plumber in SoCal that is like that. A gem!
chowgirl
14 years ago
judydel,

I am in CT. Would you be willing to pass along your contractor's info? You can email me. Thanks!
melinrk
Original Author
14 years ago
NY metro area for me - sorry Texas and FL folks. I'm sure he travels, but not that far :)
holligator
14 years ago
I had a similar experience with our remodel. Our contractor gave us copies of every receipt for every purchase he made and he didn't add any upcharges at all. Best of all, he finished on exactly the day he said he would. It's great that good, honest businesspeople still exist.
claireanne
14 years ago
rubyfig -

I'm also in So Ca. Would you mind telling me where your plumber is located. Thanks.
antiquesilver
14 years ago
Isn't is great to have someone who is honest & knows how to estimate?
alicia58801
14 years ago
We also have a fantastic contractor (up in ND) for our house build. He set us up with a contractor credit line through our home supply store, which allows us to get money-back rebates and airline miles (should have 2 tickets to Vegas when the house is done!) We've bought all of the materials and see every dollar spent. When he has to buy, he gives us the receipts so we can see exactly what was purchased. He has been very reliable and honest through the entire process. Not to mention he's a very picky carpenter and does nice work (the kitchen looks great!), and has been very patient with all of our requests.

This is our first and last house built, but it is nice to know there are honest contractors out there!
rubyfig
14 years ago
clairanne,

Sure. He pretty much works in most of SoCal.

Heritage Plumbing (Dale Shuttleworth): 909-578-1599
damom
14 years ago
melinrk...I'm in Westchester...what is his name!!!
ptyles
14 years ago
Melinda,

I am so glad to hear that it is going so well!! I cannot wait for you to post pics!
charlikin
14 years ago
Sigh. I wish I could say the same for my contractor. (Both about the honest and the nice to look at parts - LOL!)
gabeach
14 years ago
I am friends with our general contractor. He is building a house right around the corner. I was talking to him a couple weeks ago, and he said the new owners are thrilled because everything is coming in so low. He said lumber is so cheap now. And, my realtor pointed out how cheap drywall is now.

The economy, coupled with the lack of hurricanes last year, has driven the cost of materials way down, according to the people I have talked to.
nc_cowgirl
14 years ago
It's so nice to hear stories like this. We are getting ready to start building and had our eyes on a meninite from our area. I don't care who we talked to they had nothing but positive things to say about him.."Not a weak link in the chain" one of them said and the first thing people said was that he was 100% honest. And that did it for us. Of course he does quality work too! It's not often you find one like that! I just love to hear the "good" things!
melinrk
Original Author
14 years ago
Angelo Menna - (845) 469-8606
Please tell him it's from Melinda Koss. I live in Rockland, he lives in Orange. Will go to Westchester (asked him today).

He's fantastic. As I mentioned, he built my house 11 years ago and we were happy then too. The house was being built as a spec house and was mostly done when we got involved in it. He saw that I was 100 months pregnant and had a 2 year old running around the back yard one day and said "I gotta build you guys a fence". The house is on a hill. Didn't charge us. We were thrilled when he agreed to do this job.

An update - I sold the old kitchen via Craig's List. Sunday theis guy came over to see it and gave us a deposit, but said he needs the kitchen by Thursday. After speaking to Angelo yesterday morning, he sent his main guy to my house today and the two of them demo'd my kitchen. It's all sitting in my garage waiting to be picked up. Everything came out in great condition. That's a lot of service.

Now I have no kitchen - weeks before the cabinets are due in - oy! Anyone want us to come for dinner??? :)

Wait till you hear this...good news!

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