Quote"Are you saying that the rough-in plumbing takes a day, underslab piping takes a day, and trim out takes a day? My bids for plumbing are in the $15,000-$20,000 range. That's a pretty hefty daily rate! " The main water line & house sewer line from the street to the structure plus the interior DWV & water distribution piping under slab are the "rough-in", and yes, the guys are alloted one day to finish that. After the house is dried in and interior walls framed they will return and do the "Stack-out" phase, which is the water lines & DWV lines which will be inside the walls, and here again, the crew is alloted one day to complete that. And when there is to be ABS or Fiberglass tub or showere enclosures they are also installed during the stackout. After the bathroom floors & walls are finished and the kitchen cabinets are in we return a third time to do the "Trim out", which is where we set the sinks, waterclosets and all final valves or trim, and this too is to be done in one day, And those schedules are the same whether its a remodel job or a whole house. So what you see is three days work, but don't think for one monent that all you get for your $20k is 3days. As soon as I get your prints & site plan I have to go to the municipal water & sewer providers to find out exactly where they will be installing the water & sewer taps, then I have to work out the entire water distribution and DWV layout for your job. That generally takes the better part of a day, then I have to go back over the prints and do a complete material workup, right down to the last pipe hanger, roll of solder and gas for the soldering torches, flux, pipe cleaner, glue etc. After I have the material list I have to contact my suppliers to get a confirmed price, so there is another day. I then have to order the material and as it is delivered to the shop we have to package and stage it for your job, so I have the overhead cost of that storage area plus the labor to handle it in the staging area. Now let us consider the cost of the crew. In addition to their wages, there is $600yr per man for drug tests, $4k per man for tuition for the apprenticeship training course at the local college, $90 per copy for the code books and every employee must have one, then there is workmans comp insurance, vacation time & paid holidays and individual safety equipment such as OSHA approved respirators (one for each man), hard hats, hearing protectors, gloves etc. Then we have 1ton 4x4 crew cab pickups with jobbers boxes for $65k each, a one ton dump with heavy equip. trailer $70K + $6K, a backhoe $95k, bobcat $90K mini-trackhoe $75k, ditch-witch trencher $120k and specialty tools such as the Rigid cordless PEX crimper for a mere $1600, oxy-acetylene tote weld torch $350, for brazing copper under slab, Then we have a small truck load of hand tools or cordless and cord type power tools that are supplied by the company plus a large portable generator and lights incase we have to work late into the night or we happen to be on a site where they don't have temporary power setup yet. Add to that the cost of the office & shop, secretary, bean counter, warehouseman, equipment maintenance and fuel, not to mention another $5k a year in licensing fees. Now don't get me wrong, I am not crying in the least, but if the final analysis out of your $20k if I get $300 for my pocket its a good day.

To properly flash windows, the weather barrier should be flashed to the rough opening with sticky flashing, on the bottom and sides (not the top) before the windows are installed. Then the top nail flange of the window tucks behind the weather barrier, while the sides and bottom install over the sticky flashing. After the nail fin is fastened, another layer of sticky flashing is installed over the nail flange and weather barrier, following the normal sequence of flashing, working from bottom to top. At the top, the sticky flashing should tuck underneath the weather barrier, and stick the nail flange to the wooden header. Then the weather barrier is folded up and then back down, to achieve this. The sticky flashing and weather barrier should be able to take a direct spray from the hose, and when the water runs down, it can't get behind any of the layers. It's just like flashing a roof penetration. I would want both jobs to happen simultaneously, to ensure the workers can do their best job. A sales person doesn't care about how the installers of retrofit windows cut corners and neglect to do a thorough job with the flashing. But because you are getting a new weather barrier and siding, along with new windows, this is not a retrofit job. It could be done as well as new construction. You should get a copy of the installation instructions for Anderson Renewal windows. And make sure you get permits and have an inspector check the flashing and weather barrier before they put on the new siding.

Beachem I would tell him what lyfia said. I just double-checked a painting estimate I have from reputable company that does a ton of work around here, I know they are not the cheapest. $7,000 to paint my main and lower levels, all trim and ceilings. My home is 2900 sq. ft. I live in an area that often gets overpriced as contractors assume by living here, people have a lot of money. I have had to do that in my own home remodel. We moved from out of state to a new area to a house needing major remodel. We got a recommended GC (my husband's boss used him extensively). I didn't get other pricing because he was highly recommended by my realtor and DH boss, and was told he was priced mid-range comparatively. We gave him our budget, and we started moving forward. After getting things priced for our downstairs, he said we won't have enough money to do anything else we want (and we have a large budget). Well I can't live in a half finished house! I did get other pricing, and had to tell him as much as I wanted to work with him, he was simply out of our budget. In fact, he was one of the highest priced of all. He also cost me on the few things he did start on. One, we wanted our children's rooms finished so they could have a room right away (carpet, trim painted, ceiling fan installed). Well looking back now he knew we were replacing all the windows, why did he let me get the trim painted? It's all ripped off sitting in a corner right now. Also, to help us 'save money' he put trim on and painted our cheap flat panel hollow core doors. Only as of this month did I see hollow core doors were only 30-$40. I think I actually paid more having him trim out and paint them all. Really gets me upset, I could've used the money spent to upgrade to solid doors. In the end we are going the route of GCing it ourselves, and using one contractor who works alone, but has a wide skill set, so he is doing many projects for us. I guess like a handyman, however he is very professional and knowledgable. I did vet him with seeing his previous work (bathrooms, floors, cabinetry) and calling references. It's not ideal because I really wish I had the advice of a true general contractor (the guy I have is able to advise in some areas but not all), but I've learned that either way you go you need to educate yourself on the nature of the work going on in your home.

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.