Home Remodeling

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10 years 5 months ago - 10 years 5 months ago #40709 by OleCowboy
Home Remodeling was created by OleCowboy
Well I am eyeball deep in this remodel. Much of it is from the studs IN and OUT. I am tearing out supporting walls, replacing with architectural beams, master bdrm becomes the guest bdrm, living room becomes the master bdrm, the other guest bedroom, becomes the dining room, opened up to the kitchen and both open up to the office. Been working on it for 3 years in and out. Now the heat is on to finish the inside by taking up the entire tile floor, polishing/staining the concrete, all new cabinets thru the house, new everything.

Much of the work I do, but some I contract out, flooring, electrical, plumbing, mostly due to time for me to do vs time for them to bring in a crew and do it over a few days. Here are a few tips I have learned from working with contractors...


TIPS: You can only imagine how many bids we need and workers to do a remodel at this level. Here are a few things to remember if you request a bid on work.

ALWAYS ask for a break down of material and labor. You would be stunned at what some of these folks want to charge for labor!! We needed a AC duct move up about 7 in, the duct was about 8 feet long. Labor charge $400 per hour x 4 hr min. If you annualize that, its a bit more than $800,000 per year for duct work??? Only the best Doctors make that kind of money.

The other trick they like to pull is to pad the materials. Say you want a typical bedroom painted, about 2 gallons will do it. But they will bid 4, generally they will double betting you will have no idea of how much paint it will take. One plumbing bid I got he said I needed over 3000 feet of of PEX plumbing tubing, well over ½ mile. I told him OK, but if I pay for 3000 ft of PEX then when the job is finished I keep what is left over...never heard from him again. Just something to remember, if you pay them for materials they belong to you.

What out for 'GOTCHAS': We have all heard of Lumber Liquidators, a nation wide chain of floor covering stores. I wanted to put down a cork floor on top of an existing wooden floor in a room 12x14. The room is a guest bedroom. The cork was very inexpensive. But the cost to install was staggering. What they did what take installation and break it down like Glue. The glue was $180 per bucket, $40 per bucket at Home Depot. And it went on and on from there. I took their estimate per sq ft and multiplied it by the size of my home (2500 sq ft) and the cost to buy and install Cork floor covering would be over $35,000 dollars, almost all of the cost was in the install, as the Cork was only about $3 per sq ft.

The remodeling business is one of the most profitable business in the US, now you know why. Be cautious...

View from office into dinning room and kitchen, laundry room on the far right

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Last edit: 10 years 5 months ago by OleCowboy.

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10 years 5 months ago #40712 by jtallen83
Replied by jtallen83 on topic Home Remodeling
Are you talking actual bid work or time/material?
Bid is a bid, low bidder gets the job as long as they compare in material, never heard of giving a customer the labor breakdown on bid work, only on estimates for time/material work.
It pays to spec your material before getting bids, then your comparing labor cost unless one guy has a cheaper supply of material. On a remodel I would never give a bid unless I padded it heavily, to hard to tell whats behind the wall so you better plan for the worst. Most remodels would be cheaper going with time/material and picking the contractor with the good reputation. You take the risk of the unknown then but it keeps the contractor from padding for the unknown.
I've bid remodel work and lost my ass and then I've bid it and made $500 an hour :dance: ,
the more experienced the contractor the less likely you'll pay the $500 an hour :twocents:

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10 years 5 months ago - 10 years 5 months ago #40714 by OleCowboy
Replied by OleCowboy on topic Home Remodeling
When I ask for a bid, I want a breakdown, 2 numbers, materials and labor. If you don't ask for it, you stand a strong chance of getting ripped off, I have seen it time and time again. I owned a remodeling company, a roofing company and a painting company at different times. I never gave a bid that did not have a materials list and cost of materials, if you are not doing that then you are either bumping up the materials or over charging. Like $180 for a 2 gallon bucket of glue, that sells for $40 bucks.

The guy that wanted $400 an hour to raise a duct 7 in, 4 hr min got throw out of the house when he said that.

Raise this 7 in (its raised in this pic):

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Last edit: 10 years 5 months ago by OleCowboy.

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10 years 5 months ago #40716 by jtallen83
Replied by jtallen83 on topic Home Remodeling
Looks like everything is in the open there, no secrets behind the wall! I can't see $400 total there unless your living 100 miles from the nearest outlet!
Maybe he sensed a time crunch and thought he could cash in. :huh:
Could be he is used to government contracts! :rotfl: then again that ain't so funny :dry:

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10 years 5 months ago #40718 by OleCowboy
Replied by OleCowboy on topic Home Remodeling
It is wide open, very little sheetrock, all exposed studs, on a slab, no attic work, this should be a plumbers and electricians dream job...so far 3 plumbers have turned down the work?????????? Still waiting on a electric guy to give me a quote of somekind.

Historically I call 10 contractors (any kind), of the 10, 2 will show up, the rest will only promise they will and don't. Of the 2 that show up, 1 will give me a bid so stupid and out side of common sense and only a billionaire could afford.

Several years ago I called 20 HVAC companies for quote to replace my HVAC system. 5 showed up and 3 of them wrote the quote from the driveway, NEVER went into the house. Bids were stupid money, over $10,000, sight unseen. On of my Harley riding buddies owned a HVAC company I found out and he did the job for $3500 bucks.

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10 years 5 months ago #40719 by jtallen83
Replied by jtallen83 on topic Home Remodeling
I can relate, when I did my kitchen about 5 years ago I had to update the breaker box. I did all the wiring but had to have a "licensed electrician" hook up the new box per the code. I called every one of them in the phone book several times and never got even a return call let alone a visit or price. I went to the utilities office and asked them how much the fine was for putting in my own box???? They told me I "couldn't do it". I explained I knew how and could do it, didn't want to but couldn't get anyone with a license so I was going to just pay the fine and do it myself. 15 minutes later they had a guy lined up for me and it only cost $100.
"Couldn't do it" my ass, :mad:
There's only three wires and the instructions are in the box! :usa:

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10 years 5 months ago #40725 by Siscowet
Replied by Siscowet on topic Home Remodeling
One of my AR10 friends is a master electrician. He is coming up next month and help me rewire our rental property we just bought. The stuff still has knob and two wiring from the 20's! We found a jack of all trades who does plumbing and remodeling. We buy the materials, and he is a straight $35 an hour. Does nice finished work. Those guys are priceless.

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10 years 5 months ago #40726 by jtallen83
Replied by jtallen83 on topic Home Remodeling

Siscowet wrote: One of my AR10 friends is a master electrician. He is coming up next month and help me rewire our rental property we just bought. The stuff still has knob and two wiring from the 20's! We found a jack of all trades who does plumbing and remodeling. We buy the materials, and he is a straight $35 an hour. Does nice finished work. Those guys are priceless.


Better fire up that massive grill for them! They are few and far between these days.

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10 years 5 months ago #40763 by NightForce
Replied by NightForce on topic Home Remodeling
Cowboy, I like the open look! Having no walls makes it easier to find things or someone. Slipping between the studs also saves time rather than walk half way around the house only to get in the room on the other side of that wall.... :laugh:

Remodeling is a lot of work but when it's finished it'll look great! :twothumbs:

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10 years 5 months ago #40813 by OleCowboy
Replied by OleCowboy on topic Home Remodeling
Beam me up Scotty, Going to replace the 2 2x4s in this supporting wall with this beam I just bought. Note the wooden dowels in the beam, est about 150 years old or older.

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:whistle:

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