Tips or a website on soliciting renovation bids?
Porter Bayne
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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4 years agoLakshmi
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Remodeling nightmare with a contractor from HELL
Comments (41)Here is what I obtained from our village website. They only provided "tips". I have included my comments to some items. More detail would have been helpful: Tips on Home Remodeling Getting Started The Village of xxxx allows homeowners to act as contractor for their own home remodeling projects. It must be noted, however, that a permit is required for all projects in which an addition or alteration will be done at the property. (comments: I can understand additions, difficult to define "alteration" e.g. cabinets replacement, carpet replacement with hardwood flooring, or replacing existing vanity and tub, or replacing existing fluorescent light with regular light.. etcare these "alteration"? or alteration of the structure of the home?.. this is a grey area dont understand this.. this can be interpreted different ways unless there is a definite definition for this) Additionally, projects that require the alteration of the roofline of the existing structure must have drawings sealed by a (STATE) licensed architect or structural engineer. Lastly, check the covenants for your subdivision before proceeding with any work; individual subdivision covenants may have special requirements and restrictions. Obtaining a Permit Although many people consider obtaining a permit to be a burden, it does have a critical role in any construction project. Having a permit entitles each homeowner: · Provides inspectors to answer questions. · Offers some security from contractor fraud. (some security? What does this mean? With permit contractor fraud did happen. With "zero" security from the village) · Allows inspectors an opportunity to verify that the contractor is working in a professional manner.(does this mean that the inspectors verify the quality of work and also the behavior of the contractors? Define what does it mean by "verify that the contractor is working in a professional manner" again.. this can be interpreted differently by inspectors according to their likeness unless there is a definite definition) Tips on Hiring a Contractor · Insist on a written contract. Obtain a written contract and make sure you understand the terms. Include a time frame for the completion of the project, but do not rush. Include terms of a payment plan and agree as to who will handle additional unforeseen expenses. · Make secure payments. It is not unusual for a contractor to require some money up front before construction starts. Make certain, however, that payments do not get ahead of work that has been completed. Never pay the full cost of the job up front. If a contractor insists on full payment up front, look for a different person. · Conduct interviews with potential contractors. Remember the contractor is working for you. Be certain that you are comfortable working with this person. Additionally, talk with friends and neighbors: people who have had experiences with contractors (good or bad) are always willing to share their knowledge. · Check with the Better Business Bureau. Checking with the Better Business Bureau will give you an opportunity to assess a potential contractors work history. · Verify the handling of inspections. Come to an agreement as to who will handle the permit and inspection process. If the contractor is scheduling the inspections, ask for copies of the results and keep them with the permit. · Make sure the contractor has insurance. Without insurance you may be liable if a worker is hurt in your home. The Village of XX does have an ordinance requiring all contractors working within the village to be licensed and bonded. · Ask for at least 3 references. Make sure that the sources had work done that was similar to your proposed project. · Get at least 3 bids. Check material pricing with that of your local building supply store to see if the price quoted is fair. · Establish a reasonable timeframe. If the contractor states the project will take 8 weeks, do not insist on 6 weeks; doing so might affect the quality of work. Revised...See MoreHow did your contractor put together his bid?
Comments (14)I know all about small additions with kitchens that equal big bucks! Although mine is a little larger than 50 square feet, but not by much. It is depressing. I feel like we followed our architect's lead and got led down a rosy path but also got some very good professional judgment (as well as nice work) so it's confusing. If the estimate is based on the architect's drawings and specifications then it should be apples to apples in comparing the bids. If you haven't completed decisions on things like appliances and fixtures you can get all the bids without those (which you can get costs for easily anyway) just to make sure they are pricing the same thing. In our case the architect said that the different firms they recommended were all going to come in around the same cost and the same quality and since we really liked one over the others that's who we went with to get a bid and move forward (we're supposed to start in June). The problems for us really started with the one *estimate* we got (different GC) which was terribly LOW compared to reality. This was what we based our initial decisions on. This started us on the path to having plans drawn up that completely and overwhelming exceeded our budget. Now we're in what I hope are our last throes of making changes to get ready to rumble. By the way, the guy who did the low-balled estimate later would not bid the job unless either he was the only bid we were getting (of course we could still have rejected him and moved on) OR we paid him $3,500 to prepare the bid. It would have been interesting to have had him bid on the job since I think his estimate was 50% off (a poor basis for us to have made decisions)! Later we found out that the architect expected that GC's bid would be off by 20%....See More4-foot bump out: That way lies madness? Or salvation?
Comments (42)- Are you a solo cook? For daily meals, will there be two cooks? For dinner parties, will there be multiple cooks? Mostly solo, with occasional interference, um, assistance in prep, etc. from others. Mysteriously, no matter which way I turn, there always seems to be somebody in the way. Perhaps there are additional people living here I haven't met yet. - Do you typically serve food family-style (at the dining table), buffet-style (dining room sideboard or kitchen counter?), or waiter-style (plate in kitchen, serve each guest individually at dining table)? Buffet style? Horrible dictu. Either family-style or plated, depending. - Any quirky needs for where and how you prep? Like my "sink on my left" fetish? I like my sink on the left, too. but perhaps I'm just used to it. I would love vertical prep space, like an 8" shelf to put stuff on as needed so it doesn't end up ten feet away. But I may not be able to achieve that. In any case, I like cockpit cooking--everything I need in arm's reach, nothing in reach that I don't need. I like to expel things out of my way when I'm done with them, so I thought a long time about a garbage can accessible through a hole in the countertop. Then I realized the danger of breeding Swamp Thing on bits that get stuck in dark crannies. In addition to getting rid of garbage, I do not like to touch or see cooking implements once I'm done with them. I want them out of my way. Sounds weird, I know. But that video of an iron pan careening into a Kohler cast iron sink at top speed held special meaning for me. - Are you a big baker? How important is a baking center? Occasional baker. My mind doesn't really work that way. But I bake for holidays or just when I feel like it. A full-blown Iron Confectioner Baking Stadium would be nice, but I'd settle for a place to keep baking stuff out of the way of other prep tools. - A big oven user? Need double ovens? Speed? Steam? Need venting over the oven? Yup, I'm an ovener. Double would be fun for those Yorkshire Pudding occasions. I'm actually liking my tiny Easy Bake. It will be horrific when company comes, but for the two of us to roast the odd chicken, it heats up fast and works well. I do need someplace to cook my Christmas seven-hour pork shoulder. - A many-burners user? Need four, six, eight, ten? Six would be nice. I'll live with four if I have to, but what really bothers me about four burners is the crowding. - Any preference for range or cooktop/wall oven? No preference, though obviously a range is generally cheaper. - Are there any unusual tools you plan to include? Grill, griddle, deep fryer, wine cooler,(swing oven, blast chiller, immersion circulator, live fish tank . . . ) I'm not much of a nanotechnologist, so if I ever get the hankering for a molecular gastronomy experiment I'll just use the basement workbench. I'm a little old school, so I need to keep out my vintage Osterizer and two no-control toasters, one of which was my parents' wedding present in 1938, on display. The blender gets the most use. I need a place to securely clamp things, like apple corers and pasta makers. The chitarra can stay in the cupboard; I think it rusted, anyway. I need a place to store two sets of pasta board and pins. One is mine and oversized; it's a piece of plywood a counter deep, with a long dowel that can hang from a cup hook on the end somewhere. My mom's I'd like out on display; it's an old breadboard with a smaller roller. Plus there's her wooden spoon that needs to hang on the wall somewhere nearby. Never had a grill, I think I'd like one. - What size refrigerator is ''necessary''? How much pantry (linear feet of shelf) is ''necessary''? An unusual size is OK but not too small. The fridge always seems to fill up with wine and salad. Of course, even with French door fridges I can never find anything. I wish they were all six feet wide and a foot deep. I do have a root cellar in the basement, where I can store overflow cans of tomatoes once we get the paint cans out of there. I should mention the spice thing. You know when you go into a supermarket and see that huge rack of spices? OK, trim it down to one jar deep. That's what I've got. It's in an upper cab now, on those little step shelf inserts, and it's horrible. I want alphabetical. Neat. Accessible. All in a row. - Is a bar/beverage area important, for mixology, chilling, decanting, jello shots? Way. I may be able to find a nice bar for the DR or LR. But mixology has to happen somewhere. - How many people do you want to seat at this dratted ''eat-in'' zone? Two? Four? Two comfortably, 3 a little awkwardly, possibly 4 with permanent sciatic damage. Just to appease the future toddler moms. - Do you prefer pots and pans to hang or be stored in drawers? I loathe hanging pots and pans. In my apartment pots and pans were in a super susan, the kind where the door is attached and you just push it in, right next to the range. Worked well, except for flat pans, which you had to stack to infinity. So, I want them hidden, but I don't want to unnest two hundred pounds of metal to fry an egg. Appliances to live on counters or be hidden away? I imagine the stand mixer has to stay out, unless you figure out a way to lower it from the ceiling on command. Toaster and coffee maker out but out of my way. The Cuisinart should be accessible--the days of jamming my hand into a cupboard to find a sharp blade really have to be over. - All things being equal, do you prefer lots of upper cabinets or fewer? Lots of windows or fewer? The light here is great, but houses are somewhat close together. I want to keep at least one window on each wall (size may be flexible), but a wall of windows would not really be that pleasant. I do like uppers, but some need to be glass and I desperately want to avoid that oppressive Great Wall of China look. - Are you a "can't live without double dishwasher'' sort? No. - How ''traditional'' a look do you want? For example, in the 1920s homes didn't really have fixed kitchen islands. I'm thinking serious vintage, with allowance for creative interpretation. My inspiration is that online collection of 1920s kitchen photos, but I'm not going to replicate an entire dysfunctional '20s kitchen--I just want the charm. I don't 100% need a fixed island, either, but I'm not opposed to one....See MoreStone yard was miserable. Is that what I should expect?
Comments (39)We had a pretty good experience at most of the slab yards we visited. There was one in our area that wouldn't tell us prices - said we had to tell our fabricator which stones we were interested in and he could call for a quote. That was one of the smaller slab yards and they didn't have anything we were interested in. Most would ask our fabricator's name and then quote us a price. My impression was that their discounts to fabricators may vary based on the volume that fabricator does with them or something. Most let us browse on our own. When we needed help such as when we wanted slabs moved to choose which ones in the lot we might want, we went on a weekday. They were crowded on the weekend and it is hard to get individual attention then. We found a stone that we really wanted. Only two yards in our area carried it and one had very small slabs and the other had slabs that weren't as long as we would have liked and would have required an extra seam. The latter was a regional chain. They held the slabs which we were willing to buy but also checked their inventory and found large slabs at another of their sites around 100 miles away. They moved the bundle of larger slabs to the local yard so we could decide if we wanted them and select the slabs. I can understand slab yards choosing to not allow minors - especially young children because there not necessarily kid friendly with heavy equipment moving slabs around at times. Possibly it is a requirement of their liability insurance. But they could have handled it more pleasantly and shouldn't object to a 16 year old waiting in their lobby. Our fabricator didn't accompany us - we were to select slabs and they would then visit to vet them to make sure they didn't have any significant defects that we had missed. Our fabricator quoted one fabrication price (not including the material cost of the stone) regardless of which stone we chose. They have been in business a long time - I think they quoted a high enough price to cover their risks and costs over a range of stone. We chose a fairly expensive quartzite and they did comment that they had to be extra careful because they didn't want to have to eat the cost of a replacement slab. Quartzite being hard also takes extra time on the fabrication equipment. Most of the yards are sellers of stone, not geology buffs. Even the pleasant ones are often pretty ignorant about details on the stones like which ones are really quartzite....See MorePorter Bayne
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4 years agoJeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
4 years agoPorter Bayne
4 years agoPorter Bayne
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoPorter Bayne
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4 years agoCharles Ross Homes
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoHALLETT & Co.
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