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There is a reason you have not already gotten quotes from other contractors. The job does not really appeal to them to take on. The profit for their time is not enough to get excited about. And they really do not want the job. If they really wanted it, they would have gotten you a bid real quick. You are looking for some way to get the cost down to what you want to pay, and it is not going to happen. The job involves more than you realize, as they have to support the weight the former wall has been supporting. I think that bid was very reasonable.
The bolded is very true. I have a sheet-rocking job I need done, roughly 1000 square feet of walls and ceilings composed of four rooms and a hallway. I called a blue-board and veneer plaster guy Thursday morning. He came over that afternoon, took all measurements and went over the rooms with a fine tooth comb identifying small items I need to address and then gave me quote(s) over the phone on Friday afternoon for multiple levels of 'finish'. If a job provides decent profit contractors will respond pretty fast. Ironically I'd like to get a conventional drywall mud & tape quote for comparison but I am having a hard time getting responses from drywall guys.
I have had a mixture of small and larger jobs as part of my overall renovation project. I also need a 60 foot utility trench dug right now and I cannot for the life of me get any excavation contractors to even return my calls.
Crew of two you are looking at $1200 per day for just labor.....But you are also needing not carpenters, but an electrician for a day, a taper, painter.... I can easily see at least $3000 just in labor. So what if the taper only has 1/2 day on day one and 1/2 day on day 2 to tape and finish tape your walls....you have bought the guy for two full days. $1000 for the taper.... Just the reality of construction.... You have to pay a full day if the guy only needs 5 hours to do his job....so if you have a busted joint in the basement, try to get that included in the job, because you are buying the guys time for a full day
Crew of two you are looking at $1200 per day for just labor.....But you are also needing not carpenters, but an electrician for a day, a taper, painter.... I can easily see at least $3000 just in labor. So what if the taper only has 1/2 day on day one and 1/2 day on day 2 to tape and finish tape your walls....you have bought the guy for two full days. $1000 for the taper.... Just the reality of construction.... You have to pay a full day if the guy only needs 5 hours to do his job....so if you have a busted joint in the basement, try to get that included in the job, because you are buying the guys time for a full day
This depends on several factors. When the construction econ9my is booming, Jim is correct. There are lots of jobs out there, and tradesmen don’t want to throw lowball bids at clients when the job will cost them because they are taking time away from something else.
If the econ9my is slow, tradesmen will give you lower numbers because they need the work.
Right now, with a booming economy, you are go8ng to be paying full days most of the time.
This is where acting as your own PM and splitting your remodel into tiny chunks will cost you more in the long run. You are missing all of the economies of scale.
I've given out inflated project prices to customers that I'd prefer not to do business with.
I call this the WTF price - bid it high and if I get it, WTF I'll do it.
To the OP - No Job Too Small doesn't mean they will take on any small job. They will take on a small job at a price that is profitable.
Also, it's June and you're in southern NH. Your job will cut into valuable outdoor work time or Lake Winnipesaukee time for the contractor.
The only thing I can offer is that you keep trying to get a couple of more quotes to compare or wait until September to get quotes when builders are trying to line up indoor work for the winter.
The only thing I can offer is that you keep trying to get a couple of more quotes to compare or wait until September to get quotes when builders are trying to line up indoor work for the winter.
Good point. Right now it is prime roofing and siding season in the northeast.
2nd quote received -- less than 1/4 the price of the first
Haven't read all the replies since I last posted (some of you were getting just a tiny bit rude, or you simply weren't reading what I was writing and instead making assumptions), but I DID get a second quote TODAY, and it is WAY more in line with what I thought the cost should be -- actually on the low side.
Total? $1,259.90. That includes EVERYTHING that the other (non-detailed) quote includes (which means it DOESN'T include electrical, but my electrician estimates 1/2 day at I think $65/hour, and it DOESN'T include moving the cold-air return, but that should not be expensive) EXCEPT painting, which I was planning to do myself anyway (or my handyman and I will do it).
And yes, the 2nd quote includes the beam, the temporary wall, the drywall patching, etc. This contractor is down the street from me, is fully licensed & insured, has been in business for decades, and has great (verified) reviews online. This particular project is a relatively quick one (which again is why I was so shocked at the first quote).
Honestly, from what I've seen of relatively short walls coming down -- which is what mine is, literally an 8' section of a current ~10' wall coming down -- the 2nd quote makes total sense. It's an incredibly important job, obviously, but not a particularly time-consuming one with expensive parts. The beam is the most expensive single item, and it's not expensive.
Anyway, NOW maybe you can understand why I was so shocked at the first quote??? Even if the "all-in" price -- including electrical, the cold-air return, and misc. small things I might have forgotten -- ends up being $2,000, that is still less than 40% of the first quote.
I am actually on a business trip at the moment but I will be back early next week and told him I'd call him then to get more details and MAYBE get on his schedule! He emailed me that he would try to get the quotes for the rest of my projects in within a few days (mud room addition "shell," kitchen cabinets/related -- can't order them until the wall is down, and front porch). I hope this works out ...
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P.S. To answer a few of you, although you're making assumptions that are simply wrong, as I've pointed out many times already: there is nothing in that wall currently except 2 outlets (1 on either side), 1 sconce (will be removed entirely), and a cold-air return (which will be moved 3 feet to the left --easy access below, and a quick job according to all 4 contractors who came to see it). No plumbing, nothing else. But somehow you are STILL making assumptions about the incredibly time-consuming job this must be, which will require 100 2x4s and a $1,000 beam etc. Nope. Again, it's incredibly IMPORTANT, but it's not what you are imagining it is.
Also, I have no idea why some would suggest taking down the entire wall, when it will be fine -- and fully supported -- by 2 2'-wide walls on either side (one side of which is EXISTING), PLUS the beam. Why would I want to take MORE of it down if I don't need to?
I need to move to your neck of the woods. The first quote seemed reasonable to me, and the second? That is almost giving it away. Regional differences are pretty profound.
To properly buttress the ends of that beam, it will have to extend into the “support” walls. This is why multiple people have said that the entire wall would need to be demoed and rebuilt.
To properly buttress the ends of that beam, it will have to extend into the “support” walls. This is why multiple people have said that the entire wall would need to be demoed and rebuilt.
Thanks for the clarification. One 2' wall will be totally new (the door opening is there now), the other will be the right-side (looking from the dining room side) of the existing ~10' wall. All the contractors came and saw the actual site so I know they know what they're doing, but now I also know what those posters must have meant!
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2nd quote received -- less than 1/4 the price of the first
