Author Topic: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?  (Read 3151 times)

CarpeDime

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How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« on: July 08, 2016, 11:25:57 AM »
Fellow Mustachians, I'd love some advice!

Mr. CarpeDime and I bought a modestly-sized house last year with the intention of making a small, basic addition to it for some much-needed functional space (7'x14' first floor mudroom / laundry room, with a closet above it on the second floor).  We intend to DIY as much as possible (painting, trim, etc.), but will definitely need an architect and contractor for the bulk of the project, which is beyond our skill sets.

Living near a major city (Chicago), we quickly learned that the fancy pants design/build firms were not for us - their quotes were laughably high ($88,000!).  We've since gotten another quote from an independent general contractor which is slightly more reasonable, but we don't know how to go about identifying other contractors who align closer to our expectations.  Since the quote process is pretty involved and takes time (appointments at the house, a week or two waiting for pricing information), it would be great if there was some way to filter out the schmancy price tags and identify professionals who are willing to take on a very basic project.  We don't want to keep wasting their time or ours.  I've searched for reviews on Yelp and Houzz and haven't had much luck - most reviews are for the big, fancy firms looking to land on the cover of Architectural Digest.  Great, but not for us.

Has anyone added on to their home who can offer advice as far as how to track down reliable, no-frills contractors? 


 

SomedayStache

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2016, 11:58:29 AM »
Following.

thd7t

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2016, 12:25:46 PM »
You can get an Angie's List subscription very inexpensively (around $3/month) for just one month. I find that the contractors advertised there tend to be very no-frills. I also asked on this forum if Angie's List was worth it and received a resounding yes.

Trede

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2016, 12:39:08 PM »
I'm "near Chicago" too and used http://www.schaumburg-home-improvement.com/ "Tom's Best Quality Remodeling" for a gut and replace of a master bath (with wall reconfiguration) and they did a good job so we used Tom again for a to-the-studs remodeling of our kitchen including some outside wall and interior wall work.  I found him by referral from my folks, who used him several times, and they found him through an ad in their church bulletin.

I can't speak to his craftmanship or range of services for additions, but I do note that Home Additions is on his website.

Fishindude

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2016, 01:20:27 PM »
I build for a living (industrial projects), so have a bit more experience than the average person, but will give you my two cents worth.

Starting your search looking for a "low cost" contractor is a big mistake.
What you want is an honest, reliable contractor.   Forget the competitive bidding process, and just work with a good contractor to come up with plan to meet your needs and budget.

I most recently had a brand new vacation cottage constructed at a site 300 miles from home.  This was a very pleasant building experience, it was completed very quickly, the workmanship is good, and there were no financial surprises or loose ends.  Here is how I went about the process:

1.  First created construction drawings and a very detailed written scope of work clearly explaining everything that I wanted.  If you do not have these capabilities, hire a professional residential designer to help you out with this.

2.  Every location generally has a large lumberyard where most of the residential builders acquire the majority of their supplies.   Not Home Depot, Lowes or Menards, builders generally deal with the larger privately owned lumber yards because they have much better people on staff and are much more customer service oriented.   Locate this place, then call and ask to talk to the manager of contractor sales.

3.  When you locate this guy, share with him what you are wanting to build and ask him for a name or two of who he would suggest to do your project.   Be clear with him that you want someone reliable, that pays their bills, and does what they promise to do.   Likely he will give you a name or two with a strong recommendation.

4.  Call the recommended contractor, tell him where you got his name, roughly what you are wanting to build and ask if this is something he might be interested in doing.  If he's interested, set up a meeting.

5.  When you meet, show him your plans, explain that your not interested in getting competitive bids, and that you simply want to partner up with somebody good that can get this project done quickly without a bunch of surprises or hassle.   Explain that in the interest of not wanting to waist a bunch of his or his subcontractors time, please take a look at the plans and scope of work and put a quick ballpark budget number on it to see if it makes financial sense.

6.  If the budget number sounds good, tell him so and ask him to firm up the pricing to an exact figure and put it all down in writing, including payment terms, who handles permitting, etc.   If budget is more than you want to spend, share your budget number and ask if he has any ideas to get you your number?  The point here is that you are trying to be respectful of his time, and trust and work with one guy, rather than competitively bid your way to a number.

7.  When you get everything nailed down, don't be afraid to ask to see a couple finished projects or talk to a couple past clients prior to turning him loose.  Any good builder will allow this.  Also be sure to get copies of his insurance coverage prior to starting, and have you own insurance man take a look at it to assure you don't have any coverage gaps.

8.  When the project gets underway, hold up your end of the deal to by making timely decisions, paying bills on time, etc.   Scope of work changes once the project is underway will be costly for you, and a hassle for your builder, so get as much worked out in your original drawings and design as possible.

Building projects do not have to be a hassle.   Select a good builder, trust his expertise and let him make some money.   If you are not in the business, you have no business evaluating bids or proposals so forget the whole stupid competitive bidding scenario.

Good luck !





 
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 01:56:32 PM by Fishindude »

CarpeDime

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2016, 01:38:51 PM »
Fishindude - Thank you so much for this thoughtful response!  As a home addition rookie, I really appreciate the insight.  :)

HipGnosis

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2016, 02:42:35 PM »
Join NextDoor.  It's a social media venue that uses website, Email and apps. It is totally neighborhood based.  You can 'join' neighboring neighborhoods (I know that sounds weird) for a broader coverage (which I think you'd want as not many ppl do  additions).

Since joining, I will be cancelling my Angies list subscription (which I've had for years).  I really appreciate being able to see what someone recommends, comments to recommendations and even being able to ask a direct question.

I agree with not just looking for the lowest bid.  I don't shop for lowest-cost.  I shop for highest value.


FIRE me

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Re: How to find low-cost contractors for small home addition?
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2016, 07:57:29 PM »
You can get an Angie's List subscription very inexpensively (around $3/month) for just one month. I find that the contractors advertised there tend to be very no-frills. I also asked on this forum if Angie's List was worth it and received a resounding yes.

You are right in that many people swear by Angie's List.

Myself, I would not use Angie's List if it were free.

The problem is that no matter how bad your experience, and no matter how long the contractor takes to fix, no matter what you go through in that process, once they fix it to your satisfaction, all negative information in your review is removed from your Angie's List.

Even factual information, along the lines of “The new garage that Billy Bob Inc built for me was okay, except that the roof leaked badly. I had to call them 127 times, and threaten a court case, but a year later they fixed the leaky roof at no charge to me”.  <--   That would be deleted, once you admit that the leak is fixed.

That seems very revisionist to me, and is not a system that I would want to use.

https://consumerist.com/2015/12/14/angie-of-angies-list-defends-policy-of-removing-negative-reviews-if-customers-get-refunds/