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We have a bathroom that has a small separate toilet room. That toilet room has 2 pocket doors: one leading to the bathroom and one leading to a bedroom. There is also an open area above the door to the bathroom we would also like filled in.
The door is a standard size: 80" by 30", the upper area is a triangle shape that is 60" by 21.5." Both walls are 5" thick.
We will be demo-ing the door and trim, we want the contractor to frame in the empty area and then drywall over it (that's it). We will be doing the trim, painting, and finish work.
I called a few handyman type companies to get quotes and the first got back to me yesterday. They said it would be a 4-5 day project and would cost $4,000 - $5,000.
I just cannot imagine a situation where this even a remotely acceptable price for this amount of work! This is 6 or 8 2x4s and 3 sheets of drywall, max (one per door, and one to cut in half for the upper part). I am expecting this is *maybe* 1.5 days of work: 1/2 day to frame, 1/2 day to drywall and tape, come back the next day to sand it. I was expecting a cost somewhere between $800 and $1200 on the high side.
In my last house two guys framed my entire basement in 2 days and later drywalling the whole thing also took 2 guys 2 days. 4-5 days? Wow.
Also, completely separate from this, we also recently hired a mortar company to do tuck-pointing (re-doing all the mortar) on our mostly brick house. Two neighbors got it done within the last year and paid between $12-$14k. We got 3 quotes: one for $12k, one for $13.5k and one for a whopping $26k!
How can contractors stay in business when they're that far outside the pricing of their competitors?
Thoughts? Also feel free to post your own outrageous contractor quotes!
My thought is you are simply looking at part of the job. Framing and drywall tape and sand. There is a heck of a lot more to it than that. Don't like the price? Get other quote. Or DIY.
I usually tell people if they dont like my prices they can vote with their wallet and go elsewhere or DIY
One of the issues I see with the OP's proposal is that the OP will be doing some of the prep/demo work thus the contractor could be presented with various situations/improper work that could well end up taking more time to correct. Plus the OP wants to do the finish work. The whole project is fraught with problems for a professional. Were I a contractor, I would pass on the job.
In an other life when a customer wanted to do part of the job (materials and/or work) and wanted me to do other parts, I would price it outrageously high as I wanted to discourage that type work.
I suggest the OP do it themselves. A $20 truck rental from the big box store gets all the materials home in one trip. I would also hire a professional to tape and mud the drywall as while it is not rocket science, it does take experience to do it properly.
An aside. I have pocket doors from Master Bedroom to Master Bath and a walk-in closet. I love pocket doors.
Daughter just moved in to a new (to her) home and we converted an office into a bedroom. One wall had a double door, the opposite wall had a single door.
We had the double door removed, framed, dry walled, textured both side of entire walls, painted both walls, removed the single door, moved it over a couple of feet, replaced with new door that swings the opposite direction, patched where door was removed, textured and painted, hauled debris. Cost $2000 dollars including he purchased the new door. We had the paint, so no cost to him, he supplied everything else.
Not a big job, the longest part of the job was mudding and texturing, due to drying time. He had to make several trips back, so it did take several days, but some of the days he was only here for an hour or so, then off to another job while waiting for drying.
Last edited by Grumpy ol' Man; 03-26-2016 at 09:40 AM..
No more fixer uppers for me! In fact, I'm about done with anything requiring any maintenance like trimming shrubs, etc. Ain't worth it.
People want $60 to $80 AN HOUR to do anything these days. I'm talking unskilled stuff that teenage boys should be doing! My Mezz'cans (don't even understand English) now charge me $60 an hour to trim shrubs! The wacko guy that I had paint my place going up for sale (white on white, no woodwork) charged me $80 an hour (crappy job, too). The movers that moved the stuff out got $95 an hour EACH. All are "average" prices by the way. Believe me - I look around and cost compare before I hire. These are going rates - and not in Manhattan; far from it.
The US has turned into Europe, like it or not. Everything is high ticket - like you're living in Paris or something. Only difference is that in Europe, that $4 loaf of bread is actually good bread; not the pappy junk they sell here (but that's for another time).
SO agree, on all points! Coming from Europe I can say it is getting like there. I have fixed up 3 homes so far. My first was during a period of "contraction" or mini recession. The trades ppl were falling over each other for my business and so I had good work done for a reasonable price. Now the prices are quite high and the quality of work is often poor. I can paint, and could have done a better job than the "professional painters" I hired. I feel like so many folks don't take pride in their work. What I've found in this area (Raleigh, NC), is that due to all the growth we have, people who aren't skilled craftsmen get into the business of painting, plumbing, carpentry repairs with minimal abilities and have plenty of work. They start believing their own PR and charging higher prices for sub-par work. References are of little help as they cover their mistakes sufficiently that the shoddy work doesn't show for a while and so customers will tell you they did a good job. I was burned using a painter like this.
My thought is you are simply looking at part of the job. Framing and drywall tape and sand. There is a heck of a lot more to it than that. Don't like the price? Get other quote. Or DIY.
I usually tell people if they dont like my prices they can vote with their wallet and go elsewhere or DIY
You are sitting pretty since people are too lazy to learn the trade themselves. You are overpriced all of you are, but who can blame you when no one else is willing to do it. As I get older and see the job market crumble, I ponder learning some of this stuff since those paper degrees don't seem to pay off anymore.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 03-28-2016 at 12:25 AM..
You are sitting pretty since people are too lazy to learn the trade themselves. You are overpriced all of you are, but who can blame you when no one else is willing to do it. As I get older and see the job market crumble, I ponder learning some of this stuff since those paper degrees don't seem to pay off anymore.
The internet makes it easier to learn than it was back in my day when you had to take something apart and remember where everything went. The bad thing about these days is the price of the materials....WOW
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 03-28-2016 at 12:25 AM..
We have a bathroom that has a small separate toilet room. That toilet room has 2 pocket doors: one leading to the bathroom and one leading to a bedroom. There is also an open area above the door to the bathroom we would also like filled in.
The door is a standard size: 80" by 30", the upper area is a triangle shape that is 60" by 21.5." Both walls are 5" thick.
We will be demo-ing the door and trim, we want the contractor to frame in the empty area and then drywall over it (that's it). We will be doing the trim, painting, and finish work.
I called a few handyman type companies to get quotes and the first got back to me yesterday. They said it would be a 4-5 day project and would cost $4,000 - $5,000.
I just cannot imagine a situation where this even a remotely acceptable price for this amount of work! This is 6 or 8 2x4s and 3 sheets of drywall, max (one per door, and one to cut in half for the upper part). I am expecting this is *maybe* 1.5 days of work: 1/2 day to frame, 1/2 day to drywall and tape, come back the next day to sand it. I was expecting a cost somewhere between $800 and $1200 on the high side.
In my last house two guys framed my entire basement in 2 days and later drywalling the whole thing also took 2 guys 2 days. 4-5 days? Wow.
Also, completely separate from this, we also recently hired a mortar company to do tuck-pointing (re-doing all the mortar) on our mostly brick house. Two neighbors got it done within the last year and paid between $12-$14k. We got 3 quotes: one for $12k, one for $13.5k and one for a whopping $26k!
How can contractors stay in business when they're that far outside the pricing of their competitors?
Thoughts? Also feel free to post your own outrageous contractor quotes!
Framing this area suggests that the area frames with two by fours and sheet rock to achieve the five inch thickness, correct?
Why can't you do this yourself?
The time period is right. It will take time for joint compound to dry. And it's dry, sand, dry, sand. No way to get around that. And for 5K, I would be doing that job myself!
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and charging higher prices for sub-par work. References are of little help as they cover their mistakes sufficiently that the shoddy work doesn't show for a while and so customers will tell you they did a good job. I was burned using a painter like this. 
