how do you come up with a budget for your project ?
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9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPrecision Carpentry
9 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (13)We found a talented interior designer who helped us make many design decisions from the planning stage to now. The architect was more the one we went to for construction issues or clarification. So, for us the interior designer together with GW is how we have gotten half way through our build and made the decisions thus far. It has been stressful and I have not enjoyed it. However, know I will love having a custom built home at the end that I could never have gotten if we had purchased a resale house. That last idea is what has helped us through, and also knowing that once some decisions were made, they were behind us. Don't forget to troll around on Houzz for inspiration pictures. Sometimes you can think you want something, and then we you see examples of your vision you change your mind and go another direction. Good luck, Carol...See MoreHow do you know whether to give up on your contractor
Comments (14)Interesting - I'm already full of self-recrimination about how this job was handled, both on my end and that of others, so it's hard to hear from third parties how I've bungled it. As a newbie it's hard to know how to make it happen. I guess the better approach would have been to let someone else run the job, soup to nuts, and just pay more for their services. I thought I could handle it, and learn quickly, and I was wrong. I'm an attorney (write contracts, so am leery of contracts, I realize how little they are worth and the people behind them are more important), and a lot of people think what I do is hard to understand - well, compared to the contracting business it's easy! When I say I'll be there at 2 - I mean 2 not 4. At least in NYC 2 is just a ballpark time and it really means, whenever I can get there, maybe 2 maybe 2:45. And I've found that most contractors follow that approach here. Most contractor candidates just bid out a door, maybe a type of door, but not a specific product. Not one person said to pick out a door ahead of time, and had they done that I would have had no idea what type of door to pick anyway. I'm relying on professionals for that. This is a temporary kitchen job; I've got appliances either delivered or being delivered. I just have to buy cabinets and countertop and backsplash but that doesn't have to be part of the GC's job and in fact it wasn't part of his bid. My goal has been to get the basics done, so I can get a tenant on our lower floor and apply for a loan so I can finish the job with the proceeds. If we don't get approved for a loan we can still finish, just on a tighter budget. I guess my original question comes back to, what to do when you have lost confidence in your GC, do you try to get it back, do you muddle through, do you fire them. I don't want to fire this guy, he's in the thick of it, I just don't want to use him for anything someone else can do that doesn't require a permit - and he's almost done with the part that required a permit. We'll close out the job (he has to do the floors, install the appliances, and turn a window into a door and he's mostly done; all but the window-door conversion should be done in a week and then we wait for the door to come; he's also putting together a laundry area and that's an add-on and since we really could use a working washer/dryer we're not pulling that from him) I guess the harder part is, once we're done with this guy we're not really done. Then I have to get cabinets and sink ordered and installed, and then get a countertop ordered and backsplash installed. I guess there's an end in sight. But with filthy floors, dust all over, no washer/dryer it's hard to see the end game. So yes I messed up thinking I was up to the challenge of being on the front line with the contractor. Perhaps some contractors, yes, but mine no, so yes he's getting the blame, perhaps unfairly. In the end, perhaps we needed an architect to just run the job, and yes an architect getting paid by the project not the hour. The architect I liked best is hourly, and a number of people have had problems with him for that reason, he ended up overcharging them and they either couldn't finish their job or complained to him about his fees and got them reduced. I took the tack of, using him less and adding stress on myself. Not a good approach....See MoreDo you tell GC your Budget first or No??
Comments (10)I don't see any harm in telling the contractor your budget. Tell him what you want. Tell him approximately what you have to spend. Tell him you are getting competitive bids based on a written scope of work. When his bid comes in at $30,000 for what you want done and you only have a $10,000 budget - then you wasted everyone's time. Be upfront and maybe he can work with you somehow to get everything you want for a given amount of money. Without knowing what you have to spend, its hard to come up with a realistic plan on what kind of improvements you can do. Quick secenario: I recently visited a large manufacturing plant to bid some major exterior work. The company was taking 4 bids. I was the first contractor there and asked them what kind of budget they had to spend. They wouldn't tell me but said they had budgeted for it. I spent many trips and hours preparing my bid as did others. When all the bids were presented they dropped the project because they were off on there budget amount by 60%. If they told me upfront what kind of $'s they had budgeted - I could have changed the scope of work to help them out. They decided to keep paying the cities fines for the substandard building instead of repairing it. Not all contractors are out to rip you off. Most are there to get the job done with the client being satisfied and get repeat business and referrals. If I know you are getting other bids, then my bid will be as competitive as possible - regardless of the budget amount....See MoreDo you tell GC your Budget first or No??
Comments (14)Trouble is, in remodeling, the 'product' must usually be tailored to fit the budget. If the budget is $10,000 for a bathroom remodel, the short answer is that yes, a bathroom remodel can be done for $10,000. It might be not up to the standards you want, or it might be more elaborate than you planned. For $10,000 in this location, you could get all new fixtures, mainstream brand (but not designer), a nice quality tile (again, not designer), and labor. It would not include redesigning the layout, moving plumbing, installing a tile mosaic, replacing rotten studs or subflooring, or rewiring to meet code. Asking the GC candidate what type of bathroom remodel he could do for you for $10,000 would be a fair (and shoud be free) question. But nailing him down to an exact, binding on him (but not you), quote for a project that may or may not meet your hidden agenda? That's asking him to do a lot of work (for free) with a low probability of success. If you have reason to believe that the scope of work equals your budget, or possibly more, I'd ask in terms of "What's the largest amount of work / best quality you can provide while still meeting my budget of $XXX." If the scope or quality doesn't meet your needs, you and the contractor can discuss where to trim, or whether a budget revision is in order. I think there are about as many dishonest homeowners as there are dishonest contractors. It takes good faith and a willingness to make some compromises on both sides to have a good working relationship. If you demand better-than-average work, expect to pay a higher-than-average price. That's only fair....See MoreUser
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9 years agoJennifer Weinman
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9 years agoJoseph Corlett, LLC
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9 years agoJoseph Corlett, LLC
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