Boozer
04-14-2005, 01:53 PM
As the construction on my fathers house nears completion I started looking at a lot of the small details and it got me thinking about things.
Back in 95 my father had considered doing an addition to this house that would add not just a family room to the rear of the house but also a second story with a master bedroom and an additional bedroom. The plans were done and everything was ready to go. The cost was going to be $80,000.00. Unfortunately my parents marriage went south and it never happened.
In December we went ahead and started construction but this time the plans were a little different. We added a family room and extended the size of the kitchen. Total sqft added is 672. The initial estimate was $79,000.00 and the contractor gave his word he would stay as close to that figure as possible. Well the cost is now nearing $130,000.00. Of course some of that is our fault because we did some things that we knew were going to be extra like the surround sound system, upgraded cabinets, hard wood and ceramic tile floors, new windows through the whole house and a couple other things but none the less I still dont see how the cost got to the figure it did.
Now comes to the quality issue. The quality of these guys work has been shit. Everytime a project is completed by these guys I have to go over it and 99% of the time I find flaws that they need to correct. I have had to supervise this entire project from start to finish and I thought that was why a person hired a General Contractor in the first place but according to most people I have talked to their experiences have all been similar to mine.
It also seems that a sense of urgency is not something these guys have and when they do start to get a sense of urgency they royally f*ck up everything they touch. The kitchen cabinets were installed almost 2 weeks ago and we are still waiting for the granite counter tops. The GC says "I am trying to locate the granite you guys wanted." Funny last time I was at Lowes and Home Depot both seemed to have plenty in stock. They started building the fireplace last Friday and at this point theres only a firebox and the premolded mantle we bought hanging above it no dry wall at this point.
So I'm curious. How is it that costs have gone up so high in a 10 year period but the quality has gone down dramatically? Where is all this added money going? It's definitely not going to labor because I'm sure he found 90% of his guys from day labor places and gave them a ten minute tutorial with a drill and hammer. Has material cost gone up that much?
For those of you considering a remodel I'd like to make a few suggestions. Take at least 5 bids I only took 3. Check refferances and dont just call on the phone go see them in person look at the quality of work that is done I called and talked to about 10 people that were ecstatic with the job these guys did some offered to let me come down and look at the work that was done I took their word for it and never went and seen it which was a BIG mistake on my part.
Also, one other tip. If you plan to do your windows be prepared to run into a lot of flakes. I have had about 8 window people out here and some seem to be really good and on the ball but their prices are about 2-3X higher then most everyone else. The good priced guys are total flakes I have 3 guys who were suppose to call me back the next day to set up an appointment to come get the job done. The next day was 2 weeks ago.
I'll post some pictures later.
Back in 95 my father had considered doing an addition to this house that would add not just a family room to the rear of the house but also a second story with a master bedroom and an additional bedroom. The plans were done and everything was ready to go. The cost was going to be $80,000.00. Unfortunately my parents marriage went south and it never happened.
In December we went ahead and started construction but this time the plans were a little different. We added a family room and extended the size of the kitchen. Total sqft added is 672. The initial estimate was $79,000.00 and the contractor gave his word he would stay as close to that figure as possible. Well the cost is now nearing $130,000.00. Of course some of that is our fault because we did some things that we knew were going to be extra like the surround sound system, upgraded cabinets, hard wood and ceramic tile floors, new windows through the whole house and a couple other things but none the less I still dont see how the cost got to the figure it did.
Now comes to the quality issue. The quality of these guys work has been shit. Everytime a project is completed by these guys I have to go over it and 99% of the time I find flaws that they need to correct. I have had to supervise this entire project from start to finish and I thought that was why a person hired a General Contractor in the first place but according to most people I have talked to their experiences have all been similar to mine.
It also seems that a sense of urgency is not something these guys have and when they do start to get a sense of urgency they royally f*ck up everything they touch. The kitchen cabinets were installed almost 2 weeks ago and we are still waiting for the granite counter tops. The GC says "I am trying to locate the granite you guys wanted." Funny last time I was at Lowes and Home Depot both seemed to have plenty in stock. They started building the fireplace last Friday and at this point theres only a firebox and the premolded mantle we bought hanging above it no dry wall at this point.
So I'm curious. How is it that costs have gone up so high in a 10 year period but the quality has gone down dramatically? Where is all this added money going? It's definitely not going to labor because I'm sure he found 90% of his guys from day labor places and gave them a ten minute tutorial with a drill and hammer. Has material cost gone up that much?
For those of you considering a remodel I'd like to make a few suggestions. Take at least 5 bids I only took 3. Check refferances and dont just call on the phone go see them in person look at the quality of work that is done I called and talked to about 10 people that were ecstatic with the job these guys did some offered to let me come down and look at the work that was done I took their word for it and never went and seen it which was a BIG mistake on my part.
Also, one other tip. If you plan to do your windows be prepared to run into a lot of flakes. I have had about 8 window people out here and some seem to be really good and on the ball but their prices are about 2-3X higher then most everyone else. The good priced guys are total flakes I have 3 guys who were suppose to call me back the next day to set up an appointment to come get the job done. The next day was 2 weeks ago.
I'll post some pictures later.