Important things to consider when getting estimates.

We are happy to provide our customers with no cost estimates for the services that we provide. However, when you are gathering estimates, it is important that you understand the scope of the work and the details of the estimate. This is of particular importance when you are using on-line services such as porch.com, Angie's list, yelp, craigslist, etc.

There is a prevalence today of services that provide a customer with several estimates for a job. The estimates come from several contractors. Please be cautious when using these services to get quotes. Many of these services provide very little job information to the contractors. It is sometimes extremely difficult to accurately bid a job under these circumstances. If the contractor is not allowed to submit questions about the job before providing the estimate, this should be a "red flag" for you. Another problem with many of these services is that the contractor is paying for these "leads". You are not necessarily getting the best contractors this way. You are getting the contractors who have paid for the lead.  Also beware of services, such as Angie's List that rate contractors. Understand that all the contractors who are "rated" high are paying for that privilege.  The best way to find a quality contractor is to ask people for whom he has worked.

Walter White always provides appropriate measurements with
quotation requests :). 

As a service provider, it is always difficult to estimate a job based simply upon a description in an email. Pictures and measurements are essential. Ideally, the contractor should visit the job site to gather the information to more accurately compile an estimate. However, this is not always practical.

All of our preliminary estimates detail the work that is to be done. Make sure that each vendor who provides you with an estimate also provides sufficient detail of the work to be done. Otherwise, you are likely not really comparing estimates for the same work.

When comparing estimates, it is essential that each potential contractor is bidding on the same scope

This is a picture from a job that we recently quoted. The drywall
was cut out by a plumber to access plumbing that needed repair. We did not
simply quote the repair, we also quoted the finishing and painting.

of work. This sounds easy but it is not always as simple as one would think. For instance, when we estimate a drywall repair, we always estimate it as a finished job. In other words, we include the taping, finishing, sanding and painting/texturing. We have found that some of our competitors simply quote replacing the drywall. Sometimes this makes our estimate look expensive until you actually understand the scope of the work. We quote it this way because this is what most customer's really expect. Most customers want the finished job to look like it did before the damage occurred. If this is not what you want, we will be happy to simply replace the drywall but we need to know this in order to accurately estimate the job.

It is also important that you verify that the quality of the material is consistent from one estimate to the next. For instance, when we repair wood fences and gates, we never use nails as fasteners. We always utilize wood screws. Depending upon the size of the job this may add cost. We also always use only treated wood on outdoor applications. This is the proper way to do the job but, it adds cost.

When we do interior or exterior painting, we use rollers and brushes. We do not spray, We find that this gives us a better finished product. Because of this, our quotes are sometimes higher than those of contractors who spray.

Read the estimates closely when comparing.

I suppose the real point here is that you should always make sure that the quote covers the work that you want to have done. In addition to that make sure that the method used to do the work is of an acceptable quality. Generally, if an estimate seems too good to be true, it is. You will ultimately not be happy with the work if you do not understand the work that is to be done.

Also, I strongly recommend that you understand how additional costs will be handled. An estimate is just an estimate. Sometimes costs fluctuate due to circumstances that are beyond the contractor's immediate control (i.e. rising material costs, damage that was previously hidden, etc.) We immediately notify the customer before proceeding if the cost goes up. If the customer makes changes to the job we require a change order that details the change in work scope. It is always a great idea to minimize surprises. Make sure that you and your contractor agree on what will be done if changes are needed.

I hope this post has helped you to more accurately compare estimates.

Please contact us at any time if you need an estimate!

Till Next Time

William