Why HOs Hate Contractors

DBBII

Over the weekend, my neighbor comes by. She knows I am a commercial GC, and was confused and looking for help. She needed a new roof on her house. House is about 14 years old. As a total WAG, there's about 40 square. 6/12 pitch. Multiple hips. Like most HO's, she got multiple prices. All the houses in our subdivision are around the same age, size, etc. What she was confused about is she could not get two roofers to give her the same story. I think she had 15 prices, ranging from about $11,000 to over $30,000. Most of the roofers were using the same shingle from the same supplier. Some said the existing roof had to be torn off; some said it didn't. Some said she has to have protection board over the old roof; others said a protection membrane. Payment terms were also all over the place, anywher from 10% to 50% down. Two guys wanted her to pay the shingle supplier direct. When she asked about lien waivers, two told her after she made final payment, she could get one. (NOTE -- in Florida, the supplier has lien rights, even if the HO pays the contractor. Note on building permit says to make sure the suppliers are paid before you pay your contractor). Similar issues with warranties. Two people offered a Labor and Material warranty from the shingle manufacturer. (yes, there's an added cost, but I told her it was worth it). From a sales standpoint, one guy apparently told her they looked at her house on Google Earth, so that was all they needed. She said this guy seemed to have the best proposal, but was in a hurry to get to the next house and didn't want to spend any time answering questions. I don't believe she was actually looking for a cheap price -- she was doing what I think she should be -- trying to compare apples to apples. The more questions she asked, the more confused she got. The only real help I ended up giving her was the name of a roofer I had some trust in. I said from a GC standpoint, we go thru this with just about evey trade!

480sparky

Anyone who solicits 15 bids is just asking for it.

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Site : the area or exact plot of ground on which anything is, has been, or is to be located.
Sight : The power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.
Cite : To mention in support, proof, or confirmation; refer to as an example.

J F

To the op, could you please use some paragraph spacing? It would make your post much easier to read, gracias.

mics_54

Why HOs hate contractors

Hmmm I thought it was just ME!

Mike Finley

There is about 10 criteria to have before even considering any of what you said she was confused about.

References? Insurance? License? Warranty? etc... etc... etc...

If homeowners narrowed down the contractor first there would be a whole lot of head aches.

The problem is not everybody is qualified to bid on the job, but homeowners don't pre-qualify. Their prequalification is done after they get an estimate instead of before.

J F

She should try to find a roofing company that DOESN'T do "free" estimates, that would be a start.

480sparky

Call Handyman99. He'll do anything, no questions asked.

__________________
Site : the area or exact plot of ground on which anything is, has been, or is to be located.
Sight : The power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.
Cite : To mention in support, proof, or confirmation; refer to as an example.

J F

I missed that one, got a link?

SelfContract

Handymen99 won't ask customer any question... but ask CT contractors for advice...

...and no, he doesn't ask CT for the question "how much"... but this Q ==>> "Why there is a stupid code!?""

J F

sorry I missed it

JumboJack

Sounds like the HO is not comparing apples to apples....

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

480sparky

To what?

__________________
Site : the area or exact plot of ground on which anything is, has been, or is to be located.
Sight : The power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.
Cite : To mention in support, proof, or confirmation; refer to as an example.

J F

just found some posts, I think he's a plant from plumbtalk

J F

handyman99 posts...but I found 'em

480sparky

These total wastes of bandwidth and memory?
We don't need no stinking GFI!
Who cares about polarity? I made money!
Black to where to save your what? Fuggedabowdit!

__________________
Site : the area or exact plot of ground on which anything is, has been, or is to be located.
Sight : The power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.
Cite : To mention in support, proof, or confirmation; refer to as an example.

J F

J F

He's definitely from plumbtalk

JumboJack

How in the world did you miss those?

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

J F

The thread titles didn't interest me, but yeah hm99 is an interesting fellow...

JumboJack

I tend to stay out of threads that don't interest me also..But when i see one go into 4-5 pages real quick,I will pop in to see what the hubbub is....

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber