I remodeled my bathroom about a year ago and since then, have had to replace the shower handles and repair a leaky toilet. I’m starting to regret my decision to try and save on materials and labor.
How do you quantify the long term cost savings for people interested in keeping their costs down?
All we do is try our best to let them know we know what we are doing and We just simple tell them that you get what you pay for. Let them know to check out the company doing the work for them on the BBB or angie’s lists before making there desicion. Also we tell them always google your contractors name to make sure you know who you are working with. Make sure they are fully Insured and Licensed contractors who know what they are doing. Basically you save money going with a contractor who knows what he is doing or you will eventually end up playing for the same job twice to have it re done the right way.
We are not typically the lowest bidder on projects. While we are keenly aware of our country’s current economic situation, it is more important, in our humble opinion, to do the job correctly the first time. Coupled with our immense amount of experience, we have also learned ways over the years that can achieve a great deal of cost savings through identifying the root cause of our customer’s issues (leaks) or desires (new roofs), and then providing a good, better, best proposal together that allows our clients to choose the roof options that they want that fit their budget best. It is our job after that to make their choice of roof look fantastic. Our company takes great pride in our craftmanship, and we employ only journeymen-level skilled professionals for our jobs.
You have to let your client understand that lowest bid is not always the best way to go. Making them understand the cost of doing our business is to fulfill their needs to their complete satisfaction. Sometimes the lowest bid is not going to save them any money in the long run if you have to call me to come and fix it later after you start having problems with your remodel or remodeler.
Walk away…they will learn later that they made a very costly mistake.
If we can see from the rest of the property that the owner definitely will take the lowest bid, we wish the owner success and we walk away. Otherwise, we may communicate our budget number, explain our value proposition, and tell the owner that if they commit to working at that budget, we will submit a proposal.
The client can ask as much as they like to have the lowest bid, they are looking for prices. You do not have to give low price. Low price will not get the job done, good and fair clients look for price to get the project done. This client I want to work with.
My company’s policy is to counsel according to budget…there are a variety of materials, and material costs, but almost the same in installation costs.
There is Habitat for Humanity Stores—many new building materials --Clients can look and save money on discounted new or slightly used salvageable items.
There are many ways to save money, but it has been my experience the low bidders, end up producing more change orders, and end costs are higher, for things they should have known in their original estimate. Low bidders approached people with a general scope, and not the real thing.
For instance, you call a contractor for your bathroom, his price, may be of low grade materials, thus the low bid----the potential client, then suffers problems…
I counsel my clients of all possibilities, so there is no change orders, the possibilities are added in the contract, and contract may contain alternate if in discovery, no damage or replacement needed, there will be a refund…It’s obvious, the higher bidders know what is happening, and can normally do the job with no change orders, thus savings…
Change orders cause delays and extra costs…even if it is a deletion, most contractors will charge you a % for the deletion…sort of like a restocking fee, when you cancel on order.
Lowest bids are seldom the best, yet high bids are not always the best either----you need to go with a company that gives you counsel on the whole scope of the job, any possibilities, the pricing of everything “IF”, other solutions if the “IF” is out of the budget…that way, there are no surprises and the client can be assured of costs and quality.
My counsel to anyone looking to remodel any bathroom or any structure—research the materials
Typically we don’t bid these projects because it turns into a nickel and dime situation and never is an apples to apples comparison. We do a fair cost estimate, which saves me from having to shave corners when there are none to shave. We also strongly remind clients that there is always somebody that will be cheaper (ala working for a six pack) but are you comfortable spending money on someone when you might have doubt on ability to bring desired results.
My company attempts to facilitate all our customers need and wants, while ensuring that very realistic costs are kept in line with their expectations.
The lowest bid can fool you. Compare apples to apples when looking at bids ask what they are using for materials and how their install goes. You may be surprised to find they are using less expensive materials that may not last as long.
I would bid the actual cost and if they needed to lower it, i’d have them take something out of the project.
You must educate the prospective client on why the lowest price is not always the best thing. Overhead costs, types of materials used and installation practices are for the most part unique to each contractor. We generally ask if the potential client has a bid sheet with all their wants and needs for each contractor to use , so everyone is apples to apples. If they don’t we offer that service as well so even if we don’t get the job they have all the information to make an informed decision. Ultimately you must know the true costs of running your business and charge respectively.
I typically let the customer know up front that we likely are not going to be the cheapest quote they get, but I show them previous projects we have completed to show them the quality of our work. I also have references ready and hand to reassure them that we do quality work. Make them understand that even though we may be a little higher on the front end, we will save them money in the long run because they won’t have to pay someone else to come in behind us and either completely rework what we have done, or fix problems. Customers appreciate the honesty, and are happy in the end that they choose us to do their work.
Sadly, I have also experienced this personally recently because I went with not the cheapest, but a middle of the road bid to do some remodel on my home. It is now 2 years and 4 months later, and they still aren’t finished! A project that should have taken no more than a few months. Two and three months at a time that they haven’t shown up to do work on my house because they went to other jobs instead. Were supposed to show up this past Saturday, and I haven’t seen them yet and it is Wednesday! So just be up front and if you are the customer, don’t always go for the cheapest. The old adage, you get what you pay for is absolutely true!
Often times when a customer is seeking the lowest bid, they are unsatisfied with the quality of the work. A quality contractor will stand behind the expertise of craftsmanship his company provides, and wouldn’t allow the customer to get anything other than what their vision of the project was. Sometimes it costs a little more for the right quality work, and Quality materials are essential to making the customers vision a reality.
I quote the project that they are requesting of me, and include in the quote package pictures, numbers and email addresses of similar project that I have done recently. Including the contact info for others with similar projects often invokes communication with the previous customers; from there our work ethics usually makes the sale.
Never go with the cheapest
We try to really listen to what the client is asking for and their actual needs. Then we put together an all inclusive, complete proposal for two scenarios usually based on the actual budget: a low cost scenario and a higher cost scenario showing the difference and material costs with attention to detail and options that definitely separate the two choices.
For either scenario, we at Ippolito Renovations include proper building permits and schematic details for any project that calls for it. This makes the difference most of the time; there are low-budget companies that are licensed and do not include any somatic details and/or building permits when performing for instance, a bathroom or kitchen remodel.
We also give a very thorough breakdown showing where their money is being spent and then compare apples to apples on a legitimate and professional level.
I think we as professionals need to educate homeowners on the proper steps and methods within our industry, to weed out Low Ballers and unlicensed individuals within our industry that give us true professionals a bad name and lower the bar so to speak…
Ultimately the difference is having a proper and active license, EPA certifications, Workmen’s Comp, liability insurance and so on …that’s who I would hire!
We tell the customers that we are not low bid from the door to save everyone time. Something like “if cost is king we are not the company for you” “we strive to be the middle bid” that sort of thing. We walk from problem bargain hunters. We just want to do a great job and that has cost. I learned early not to rush and use cheap materials to make numbers work. It’s hurts everyone. I won’t do it.
Quality of Quantity is something to keep in mind. You want to get a good deal, but you don’t want to hire a contractor that is going to skip corners, or use less than what a project calls for to be fully “complete”. Make sure that your contractor is fair, licensed, fully insured and is has references. We at Kanler are proud that we do things in a very unique way that offers clients a very fair and reasonable price for their projects that is precise and nearly always accurate. We also stand behind the quality in our work.
