Questions for experts: Accurate bids and cleaning up texture on floor

3 years ago

I live in a very rural area with few options for contractors. Things are done a little differently here than in a city. I have someone I trust, and he does a great job, but he doesn't come every day, and only works 4-5 hours a day, sometimes less. Last year, he installed new siding for me. He found a section of fascia board that needed replaced, so that was added to my original bid from him. I understand that extra amount since he couldn't see what was under the old siding. He said he had to add $8500.00 to the total because of the rotten board and because he had to order more materials than he had measured for originally on the bid. I paid it because if he put the extra materials on my house, he needs paid for it. However, that makes it tough to budget if the job costs a lot more than I was planning.

1. How can I get a more reliable bid from him? I have no idea if he figures the job correctly or not. I understand if something like the rotten board happens that the cost will be added, but mismeasurement? He doesn't do an actual contract.

My contractor told me he would be here in August to frame in a couple of walls, drywall, and texture a huge upstairs room (3 car garage size). (Last year, he brought someone to look at the beam in the garage ceiling, and they decided to put a couple of posts in the garage as a precaution.) So, in August, I emptied out the upstairs room and piled all the mattresses, beds, and other furniture in my living room. September came and I began calling him every 2-4 weeks. On April 1, he started on my upstairs. I paid about 65% in advance as per his request. We asked for everything to be to code and for a turn key job except for painting. So now that he has finished the framing, drywall, texture, demo, duct work, and wiring, he left to go work somewhere else while we painted. We thought we could get it painted quickly since it was the weekend, but there are blobs of mud on the plywood floor. I have swept and vacuumed, and washed the dust off the walls with damp cloths, and I still get dust every time I walk around.

2. What do I need to do to get rid of the mud blobs and the dust? Should I scrape the blobs off and use a damp mop? I thought cleanup was included in the job, but I guess it was not.

So, after the contractor finished the texture, he asked for the balance to be paid in full. He still has to install receps, switches, fans, lights, door jambs, doors, trim, and carpet. If he was incapacitated, and can't finish the job, that would cause me a lot of problems. I paid all but $1000.00, but I doubt someone would finish the job for that amount. He mentioned that he needed to add to the original bid again. I can't afford to give him unlimited money. There were no surprises this time. He just forgot to add things like installing new receps and removing some shelves, and evidently cleanup of drywall dust.

3. How much should I have paid him instead of the balance he wanted? I realize that he needs a periodic draw, but it is not my fault that he doesn't work every day and only works half a day. It takes him a long time to complete a job. I would certainly love for the job to be completed a lot quicker. I am stuck here at home waiting for him. I can't go to the grocery store since I never know when he will be here.

I don't have any other choices, so I deal with his timeline to completion. I really like that I can trust him in my home while I go the the store. He does great work, and never cuts corners.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Featured Answer

millworkman

3 years ago

I'll say it again and risk being chastised but you need to do a better job hiring people. And if these are the only people you can possibly hire you need to learn to either do it yourself, live with these issues or stand up to the contractors and demand they from the beginning they do it correctly.

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Comments (9)

Peke
Original Author
3 years ago
I know what you mean about feeling chastised....

I was at Benjamin Moore yesterday, and two painters walked in, so I got their names and phone numbers so I can get the drywall fixed around the recessed lights and stairway wall that someone else screwed up. They said they do texture too. No one advertises around here, and they don't have business cards. I guess I need to hang out at the plumbing supply place next.

We hired 7 or 8 electricians who were not actual electricians or they were training to be electricians. I thought when training, there had to be a licensed electrician checking what the trainee was doing. Not around here. When I asked, they left. Some even had a fake license number on their truck door. It took us two years to find a real licensed electrician that was insured, and now he has moved away from here. He moved because had a horrible time getting people to pay him. He said drug addicts, deadbeats, and rednecks were running him off. People here are used to cheap "electricians". You get what you pay for, and he was worth the money. I hate having to find a new electrician, but he already wired 95% of the house.

Once again, the guy I have does an excellent job, but he also has a ranch so sometimes he has to do cattle stuff.

This post is mostly about getting accurate bids and getting the mud off the floor. We are going to scrape it off today. I guess I will damp mop it tomorrow, and hope that won't ruin the plywood.

So, experts, when you give a homeowner a bid, do you add to it later if you have forgotten something? I imagine if someone does only one thing like tile or drywall, you probably never forget anything. Maybe that is the problem. My contractor does a little of everything, so maybe he forgets.

My husband just came downstairs cursing the "idiots" that installed indoor/outdoor carpet in this huge walk-in closet. He said they used silicone caulk to glue the carpet down to the plywood, and it was about 3/4" thick. The steel scraper is not getting it up, so he is trying a box knife.
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ci_lantro
3 years ago
Scrape the dried mud, vacuum & wet mop. Or wet mop, scrape the damp mud, vacuum & wet mop again (less dust). Or some combination. Run a fan to dry the floor.
Peke thanked ci_lantro
User
3 years ago
You have to write an accurate Scope of Work description on the front end in order to even begin to get accurate bids on work. If you don’t have the knowledge and capability to do that, then you need to pay someone to do that, and to draw out the Design Documentation that communicates everything you want. If you won’t pay to do that, and don’t have the knowledge to do that, and don’t demand better bona fides on the front end, and wont stand up to them walking over you, then there is nothing that you can do other than post on forums cataloging the results of the things that you’ve refused to do your part to fix.
DavidR
3 years ago
I think Live is being a little rough here. Not every non-technical homeowner has the knowledge to define a job in fine detail. At the same time, suggesting that you should hire someone so you can hire someone just doesn't fly very high with me.

I also realize that you're in a tough situation. You've written before about the shortage of reputable tradespeople in your area.

Surely if not nearby family, you must have friends and/or co-workers in the area, right? They're the ones who can help you find good people to work on your home.

I'm not too impressed with tradesmen who issue bids and then try to get the homeowner to agree to increases on the fly. Sometimes the "ups" are justified, but there's also that little matter of contract law. How that plays out in turn depends on what "weasel clauses" the contractor included, and how much headache and expense you're willing to take on to enforce the contract.

To me, one of the marks of a good, honest tradesman is that when he makes an error in his bid, he admits it and eats the difference. That's someone I'll probably hire again. But I'm speaking from a homeowner's perspective there, not a contractor's.
Peke thanked DavidR
Peke
Original Author
3 years ago
Live wire, I mentioned once before that you should not feel the need to respond to my posts. Your time is too valuable, I am sure, because you tend to insult everyone you respond to on Houzz. So, just skip my posts please...you just don't seem to understand that builders, architects, and structural engineers are too busy with new top dollar projects to bother with my remodel. I have to hire whomever is available. I have no control over them, so I have not refused to fix anything.

DavidR, I am used to Live_Wire because he does this to everyone on Houzz. It may be because he is tired after a full day of work...who knows, but it is normal. "Suggesting that you should hire someone so you can hire someone just doesn't fly very high with me." I know...that made no sense to me. I agree that when there is something unexpected, then I should pay the extra amount. The problem is that we only have so much money, and it doesn't just appear out of thin air. It will take a couple of months to save an extra $1000.00. I can't just be surprised about the new amount. We don't know anyone around here, and it is a lake community so some homeowners are here on weekends only. I have no problem taking on people who try to take advantage of me, but I have to walk a fine line to make sure I don't run them off.

A lightning strike hit my Dish Network/internet dish 15 years ago and destroyed everything that was connected, then blew out two places to exit my siding. Insurance offered me $1,700.00 to repair two holes in the siding, and replace 5 TVs, 5 Dish DVRs,5 DVD players, 5 VHS players, 1 PC, and 1 laptop. We had surge protectors on everything, but they won't help with lightning. It took over a year, but I finally got the insurance company to replace everything. $12,800.00. Big difference!

So thank you, David. Houzz is wonderful for people to ask questions on posts. Some people feel it is for contractors or professionals only. It is usually how homeowners look for answers when they don't know or understand something. Thankfully, most professionals are very kind and helpful. I think I can name 3 people that aren't, and 1 has been banned from Houzz.

To explain why I can't get quality contractors...

All of the really good contractors are busy working in Carlton Landing Development which is about 7 miles from me. Waterfront lots go for up to $245,800 plus the cost of building a home. The lots are small and most homes don't have garages. Homes cost up to $800,000.00 or more. I saw a 1 bedroom, 1 bath home selling for $270,000. That might be good for New York or California homes. If a house is not on the lake here, the median price for a home is $57,000 and many are mobile homes. We bought our lakefront house right before Carlton Landing started. Most low and medium income people can't afford a lakefront home now unless they have a lot of money or unless the lot is on a cliff with no access to the water.

Carlton Landing plans to have stores and restaurants so no one has to leave the community if they don't want to. They have had a community garden and a school there for several years now. The local motels are full of contractors from farther away that drive home on weekends. So, I have few contractors to choose from. Plus, my "town" consists of a Shell gas station, a Dollar General, and a post office. Nothing else. It is a quiet, peaceful place to live...IF you don't need contractors or shopping or good restaurants.

Carlton Landing $625,000.00. Those 3 homes are just a few feet apart. Very close together.

The above picture is their "waterfront". It is quite a walk to get to their community dock. Mostly steep, wooded, cliffs. Lots of snakes and deer.

Below picture is my waterfront lot. We were lucky to find it, even though we had to spend (so far) over $175,000 on remodeling. Not much of a slope to get to our dock. Deer walk through here all the time.
Louise Smith
3 years ago
Peke: You have a beautiful piece of land. I wish you well on completing your projects. I feel your frustration. I have a real tiny job: installing an outdoor light on my garage to light the driveway at night. Licensed electricians are just not interested in this job. I cannot even get one to come and speak with me about it. Even the handymen aren't really interested. For an electrician, it's a relatively simple job, but I can't do it, nor can any of my friends. There is no electricity where I need the light. I wish society would encourage more people to go into the trades rather than incur huge debt attending a four year college. This Old House runs an apprentice program; we need more of them.
Peke thanked Louise Smith
DavidR
3 years ago
Lulu, this is one reason that solar-powered wireless motion-sensing lights have gotten popular. Any homeowner who can climb a ladder can install one. They don't last forever, but the good quality ones (not the no-names sold directly from China on the big auction and e-commerce sites) will give you several years of service before the battery wears out..

PS - just so you know, as the homeowner, laws (almost?) everywhere in the US allow you to do electrical wiring work on your own home. Your friends may help you, but they're not permitted to do the work for you unless they're licensed electricians.
Peke
Original Author
3 years ago
Lulu, I know what you mean. I love watching the young trainees on This Old House, especially the females.

Like David R suggested, we had a solar light that lasted about 3 years. I think it was under $100.00 and easy to install. We also had a hard wired electric LED light that had 3 angles of lights. It blinded us, but it did the trick. The electrician wired it so it could be plugged in. I had to assume it was to code. His suggestion, not ours. He did not have to travel to us for such a small job so it worked for us. I think we bought it at Lowe's for under $150.00. It lasted 4 years. The deer kept setting it off walking on our driveway. Have you tried asking around at the local electrical supply places? Maybe they could fit you in if they have a house in your area in the future. Lowe's or Home Depot may install.

Questions for experts: Accurate bids and cleaning up texture on floor

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