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You're both at fault here. He asked, you said yes. He should have offered at least a ballpark of what it would cost, and you should never assume he was just going to throw in labor and materials for free.
Agree. Your contractor should have been up front that this stuff would cost extra money - but nobody in their right mind would assume all of these items were "free".
Added recessed light near refrigerator 125.00 = If this was a "do you want" item, see the above. He proposed, you agreed, therefore you are on the hook.
Relocate hole, install matching kitchen recessed light and patch old hole in hallway $80.00 = It sounds as if he re-used the existing recessed light and simply moved it. I'm guessing this is the one you mentioned earlier, in which case this was an extra that you initiated without asking how much extra it would be.
Install smoke detector 95.00 (I didn't ask for this but he says it was better to do it) = This one is arguable. Do you have other smoke detectors in the house on that same floor or within a reasonable distance of the kitchen? If so, he should have asked you before arbitrarily putting one in, especially if it's IN the kitchen. IMHO it is not a good idea to have them in the kitchen because they can cause too many false alarms depending on how well (or not) you cook. Unless this was a Do you want me to item to which you said yes; then you have no case. Also if you had no other smoke detector on that floor, and to have one is code in your Town, he may have simply been automatically bringing you up to code.
Install outdoor GFCI near back door 130.00 (I didn't ask for this but he says it was better to do it) = This is definitely arguable, unless this too was a Do you want me to question thing. Was it an upgrade from a non-GFCI to a GFCI? If so, he was again bringing you up to code. I can't envision him just arbitrarily installing a brand new outlet where there was none before, though.
Provide material and labor for additional subfloor in kitchen to join living room subfloor, cut doors for clearance $495.00 = This is the sort of thing that can easily happen when you join two flooring surfaces, especially if an old floor covering was removed. It's par for the course and falls into the category of "necessary evils that you can't plan for but are required in order to do the job properly." In other words it's a grin and bear it and pay the man for what turned out to be needed.
Custom oak flooring border install throughout kitchen, living room, and hallway with waterbase finish. $1 Sqft labor and material $522.00 = The guy's response was to your question of "how much extra" was unclear and irrelevant. If I'd been you, I'd have responded with "So no extra charge? Great, thanks, I appreciate it" and then the ball would be in his court to either agree to the freebie or contradict with something like "Well, not for the materials but you'd just be paying for the additional labor."
Customer requested - demolition of existing base moldings in living room and hallway, install of 4 1/2 base moldings throughout living room and hallway, glue, nail, fill, caulk and sand. $1.39 linear foot + $225 install 364.00 = First two words say it all, 'customer requested." It wasn't in the original contract writeup, so it should be assumed an extra-cost additional work.
Upgraded casing moldings from standard colonial originally proposed. Labor remains the same. $.41 = It sounds like this was either a Do you want or a Can I have scenario. Either way, he's justified.
Honestly the only items that seem marginal are the smoke detector and the back door GFCI, if both were not "Do you want" question items. If they were, and you said okay without asking if they'd cost extra, he's well within his rights to charge you. Should he have told you, either before or after you said okay, approximately how much extra these things would be? Yes. Is he legally required to? No.
You have learned an expensive lesson, which is that your answer to any contractor's question that begins with "Do you want..." should automatically be "It depends on whether that will cost extra and if so, how much?" Then base your answer on their answer.
Is this the law? It sounds more like deceptive practices.
Agree. Your contractor should have been up front that this stuff would cost extra money - but nobody in their right mind would assume all of these items were "free".
I never assumed they would be giving me something for free.
When they were asking the questions I thought they were giving me the option to choose things that were included in the original quote anyway. So they were basically choosing between 2 things of the same price, that were already considered in the original quote.
I never assumed they would be giving me something for free.
When they were asking the questions I thought they were giving me the option to choose things that were included in the original quote anyway. So they were basically choosing between 2 things of the same price, that were already considered in the original quote.
I see. So, for example:
Option A: Custom oak flooring border install throughout kitchen, living room,and hallway with waterbase finish
Option B: no border.
Either way, the price remains the same! Makes perfect sense.
Install smoke detector 95.00 (I didn't ask for this but he says it was better to do it) = This one is arguable. Do you have other smoke detectors in the house on that same floor or within a reasonable distance of the kitchen? If so, he should have asked you before arbitrarily putting one in, especially if it's IN the kitchen. IMHO it is not a good idea to have them in the kitchen because they can cause too many false alarms depending on how well (or not) you cook. Unless this was a Do you want me to item to which you said yes; then you have no case. Also if you had no other smoke detector on that floor, and to have one is code in your Town, he may have simply been automatically bringing you up to code.
I can install a battery smoke detector for 10 bucks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
I can't envision him just arbitrarily installing a brand new outlet where there was none before, though.
They say there was one before. I am positive there wasn't. Or at least not an active one (may be covered with a cover and I didn't know it was an outlet? Why not just canceling it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
Customer requested - demolition of existing base moldings in living room and hallway, install of 4 1/2 base moldings throughout living room and hallway, glue, nail, fill, caulk and sand. $1.39 linear foot + $225 install 364.00 = First two words say it all, 'customer requested." It wasn't in the original contract writeup, so it should be assumed an extra-cost additional work.
Upgraded casing moldings from standard colonial originally proposed. Labor remains the same. $.41 = It sounds like this was either a Do you want or a Can I have scenario. Either way, he's justified.
I'm a layman. How can I know I need those things to be specified in a contract?
I see. So, for example:
Option A: Custom oak flooring border install throughout kitchen, living room,and hallway with waterbase finish
Option B: no border.
Either way, the price remains the same! Makes perfect sense.
The border was a special case where I actually asked if there was an additional fee. One of them said "we need to cut the wood anyway". Both the floor installer and the contractor were present when I asked that and no one mentioned an extra charge. Why?
Is this the law? It sounds more like deceptive practices.
I'm a layman. How can I know I need those things to be specified in a contract?
I have a hunch that if you read the fine print on the back (usually) of your contract you will find something more or less like this:
"The undersigned [customer] agrees that he/they have read each and every part of this Agreement [contract] and that this Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the Contractor and the Undersigned and that no agreement, promises or warrantees except those herein set forth have been made by the Contractor or its agents to the Undersigned, and no modification thereof shall be claimed by the Undersigned."
Other typical expressions include "this Agreement consititutes the full and complete scope of work to be performed by the Contractor; any additions or alterations to this Agreement shall be made in writing as an addendum signed by both the Contractor and the Undersigned" or words to that effect.
Or to paraphrase Johnny Cochran: "If ain't on the Contract list, it doesn't exist."
Hi,
Is it normal that a contractor presents a final invoice with lots of unexpected expenses?
I know I have the upper hand because the job is done, but it’s the first time something like this happens to me and I’m not sure how to tell the guy that I’m not paying for all that because he never brought those costs to my attention during the process.
Any advice?
No, that’s obviously not normal in any buisness especially construction which was my occupation for some 40 years.
Any deviation to the agreement, specifications or field conditions are Always brought to the owners attention, along with a price/estimate, prior to proceeding with any further work. This is really an industry standard and probably so with other industries as well. An auto mechanic would not proceed with any work on your car outside of what you agreeded to have done without your consent. That’s just the normal practice.
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Unless this was a Do you want me to item to which you said yes; then you have no case. Also if you had no other smoke detector on that floor, and to have one is code in your Town, he may have simply been automatically bringing you up to code.
