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Old 03-25-2016, 07:10 PM
 
320 posts, read 508,276 times
Reputation: 426

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Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278 View Post
Those guys can stay in business because they most likely have plenty of work thats why they quote high prices now. There is plenty of work out there but an extreme shortage of skilled trade,workers due to the aging workforce and,no replacements coming in. Kids are only taught to go to college and a lot of them are afraid of hard work.

Yup, I guess this is really what it is. Plus where I am (in Seattle) there are A LOT of old homes that need work, so there's lots of work to go around.
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Old 03-25-2016, 08:03 PM
 
3,477 posts, read 3,165,710 times
Reputation: 6485
Welcome to 2016. Get used to it.


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).

Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 03-25-2016 at 08:11 PM..
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Old 03-25-2016, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Ohio
1,217 posts, read 2,821,973 times
Reputation: 2253
We've done a lot of renovating in several homes and yes contractors will quote high when they A) don't want the job and/or B) don't need the work.

Were you dealing directly with the person who will be doing the work? Twice we found out the person coming to bid the job was the "front man" whose only job was to get the job and collect a commission for getting the job from the actual contractor. Busy contractors hate wasting time looking at potential jobs, talking to homeowners (blah-blah-blah) then writing up a bid that 90% of the time will go to someone else who'll do a crappy job but gave the low quote.

Finding the right contractor for the job is the hardest part. Like Goldilocks the job had to be "just the right size" and also happen at the right time in his schedule and preferably be something he's done successfully before. If it looks at all iffy and he's not sure how to get it done fast he'll quote high for the unknown factor.

Since the real estate meltdown so many contractors moved or left the business or retired. I think many told their sons to go into a different career. We just finished a guest bath remodel which took waaay too long and 2 different contractors had to redo part of their work (their mistakes) and one almost made a mistake but we caught it before it was too late. They will probably give a higher quote to the next customer to cover their future blunders.
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Old 03-25-2016, 08:17 PM
 
2,994 posts, read 5,556,186 times
Reputation: 4690
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinbrookNine View Post
Welcome to 2016. Get used to it.


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).
Are you hiring contractors in business or someone just trying to make extra cash? There is a BIG difference.

Those landscaping companies usually have lots of lawn equipment, trailers, trucks and employees to cover and other overhead.
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Old 03-25-2016, 08:22 PM
 
2,994 posts, read 5,556,186 times
Reputation: 4690
Quote:
Originally Posted by imagardener View Post
We've done a lot of renovating in several homes and yes contractors will quote high when they A) don't want the job and/or B) don't need the work.

Were you dealing directly with the person who will be doing the work? Twice we found out the person coming to bid the job was the "front man" whose only job was to get the job and collect a commission for getting the job from the actual contractor. Busy contractors hate wasting time looking at potential jobs, talking to homeowners (blah-blah-blah) then writing up a bid that 90% of the time will go to someone else who'll do a crappy job but gave the low quote.

Finding the right contractor for the job is the hardest part. Like Goldilocks the job had to be "just the right size" and also happen at the right time in his schedule and preferably be something he's done successfully before. If it looks at all iffy and he's not sure how to get it done fast he'll quote high for the unknown factor.

Since the real estate meltdown so many contractors moved or left the business or retired. I think many told their sons to go into a different career. We just finished a guest bath remodel which took waaay too long and 2 different contractors had to redo part of their work (their mistakes) and one almost made a mistake but we caught it before it was too late. They will probably give a higher quote to the next customer to cover their future blunders.
The real estate market going down will only affect new construction there are millions of existing homes, commercial and industrial businesses that need to be maintained. People seem to think contractors only work in residential.
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:05 PM
 
3,477 posts, read 3,165,710 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278 View Post
Are you hiring contractors in business or someone just trying to make extra cash? There is a BIG difference.

Those landscaping companies usually have lots of lawn equipment, trailers, trucks and employees to cover and other overhead.
How do I know? They look for all the world like people out making extra cash. The "perfessionals" do charge more. My "landscaping company" consists of a 60 year old man and one or the other of his sons-in-law. They do good work though. For about the same price, btw, I had my shrubs hacked to hell by some clown a couple years ago. The movers were obviously working "after work." Said they'd show up at 2...showed up at 5:30. I Yelped them....they apparently do that to everybody.


The point here is this is unskilled work - worth $10 an hour + tip.
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:37 PM
 
193 posts, read 421,837 times
Reputation: 347
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinbrookNine View Post
How do I know? They look for all the world like people out making extra cash. The "perfessionals" do charge more. My "landscaping company" consists of a 60 year old man and one or the other of his sons-in-law. They do good work though. For about the same price, btw, I had my shrubs hacked to hell by some clown a couple years ago. The movers were obviously working "after work." Said they'd show up at 2...showed up at 5:30. I Yelped them....they apparently do that to everybody.


The point here is this is unskilled work - worth $10 an hour + tip.
So you hired a "clown that hacks your shrubs" and is unskilled,
what then is the 'professional landscape company' that doesn't hack your bushes? ....still unskilled?

$10hr wont pay workers comp insurance, advertising, licensing fees, equipment, accounting fees or liability insurance. The helper gets $12 to $20 /hr.

You obviously want the cheapest hack that is out there and wont hire a pro-mover company, or do any research BEFORE you hire them. Didn't think to Yelp these guys first?

Do it yourself, pay up or quit whining.
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:39 PM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,129,358 times
Reputation: 30912
Quote:
Originally Posted by eightbitguy View Post
I already have 2 other calls in. I'm not trying to vilify their business practices, I'm honestly wondering how companies can stay in business when they're that far off from the market? I also noted the tuck-pointing in my post, where one contractor (out of 5) was almost twice as much as the others. I'm just wondering if others see it as well, occasionally. We had some plumbing work done and all the quotes were within 20-25% of each other. So its not all contractors, obviously.
Well -- I know when we bid something and we don't want it, we bid high. We call it a stupid bid -- you're stupid if you take it, and if you take it, we're stupid to say no. We've made a lot of money that way...


The job is too small, your contractors aren't hungry. It sounds like you could tackle it yourself.


Give it a shot. Drywalling is not hard. Taping and mudding joints isn't hard, mistakes can be sanded. Wear a mask.
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Old 03-25-2016, 10:42 PM
 
31,652 posts, read 26,506,721 times
Reputation: 24472
Welcome to the Cosmo Castorini school of contracting quotes:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1slibJ52yoc
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Old 03-25-2016, 11:23 PM
 
18,512 posts, read 7,269,444 times
Reputation: 11320
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinbrookNine View Post
People want $60 to $80 AN HOUR to do anything these days.
Even so, this is a 4-6 hour job, which would put the price at less than 1/10 of what the quote was.

Which makes me wonder why you don't do it yourself.. The part you're not doing is far easier than the stuff you plan to do yourselves.
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