< Return to Talk
07.24.08, 07:46 AM General Topics
32 replies
just got bids from contractor and they are $100,000 over our budget ($150,000). we're so screwed. anyone have a great reasonable contractor in manhattan? they are estimating $15,000 for painting and the apt is only 900 sq ft. is that right? also $25,000 for cabinets in a kitchen that only has 2 walls. help! [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:46 AM Flag
 

Dear UrbanBaby community,

Thank you so much for being a valued member of the UrbanBaby community. We wanted to inform you that we are shutting down the site on July 6th. We are grateful for your participation and support that has helped make UrbanBaby such an important resource to parents for many years.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at urbanbaby-support@cbsinteractive.com.

Thanks so much,

UrbanBaby Support

»
You need to get on Angie's List. www.angieslist.com. It's the only way I've saved myself several times being screwed with our house (we're in Boston, but they have it for all major cities, I believe). [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:48 AM Flag
»
how is that remotely possible? we painted a 3 bed house for $5K [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:49 AM Flag
»
We did a 4 BR for 6K. That estimate is crazy. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:44 AM Flag
»
900sq ft and they want $250K to remodel? What are you having done? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:50 AM Flag
»
don't use a general contractor and bid out each component yourself. Assuming that every wall is not getting skim-coated and there's not a ton of priming, painting shouldn't run more than $7-8K. Are you getting very fancy cabinetry that's completely custom? You can take your measurements and go to home depot for an estimate. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:50 AM Flag
»
contracts will all try to screw you - but you may want way too much for what you want to pay - 100k over budget is a lot imo; can you do somehtings yourself - like paint, buy cabinets at ikea on your own, only have them do the major stuff and do cosmetic stuff yourself [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:51 AM Flag
»
Contractors are not all trying to screw you. Many of them are hard working people trying to make a living in a very competitive industry. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:01 AM Flag
»
np: I agree with you, but, in my experience, any job ends up costing more than the original estimate. There are always little costs nobody thinks of, or job takes longer than originally thought. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:05 AM Flag
»
You can price things one of two ways. A cost basis where if there are no problems it costs the original amount and if there are problems or changes, the amount goes up. Or a fixed price. But on the fixed price one, since the contractor is taking additional risk, the price is going to be higher. In this scenario, any change is much more expensive. Guess which option 99.9999% of clients ask for? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:08 AM Flag
»
the best way to avoid this is to have a complete set of drawings. architects shy away from doing this, but it really helps the contractors for bidding and helps back them in a corner so that they can't claim surprises when they really knew the condition was there. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:36 AM Flag
»
We just got an estimate to paint our 1100sqft 2 bedroom 2 bath apt for $2000. The kitchen renovation could run 25K, depending on cabinets you choose. If you go with semi custom you can save some $$. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 07:52 AM Flag
»
I'm not giving you mine but I will tell you this much: the architect had the bidders fill out a worksheet specifying how much each part cost. DH went through each of the bids and raised questions. For instance, they had $700 for each line item in one section re plumbing. Now that's just being lazy. And if something seems off-kilter, like the painting, call them out on it. Ask them why it cost so much. Force them to do realistic bidding b/c lots of times they will lick the finger and see which way the wind blows rather than giving realistic bids. It's laziness. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:34 AM Flag
»
^^also, why not bid out your kitchen and the painting to other people, and let the contractor know that he needs to bring the price down or that you well let others do that part. but honestly, i don't think $25k is a lot for a kitchen. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:35 AM Flag
»
^^^also, i will tell you this much, almost all contractors are charging more right now (at least in nyc) because the materials are so much more expensive now. people have reported 10-20% increase in the cost of materials. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:37 AM Flag
»
np: and one way many contractors figure out cost for a job is price times some percentage. So as price goes up your cost goes up for the labor as well. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:45 AM Flag
»
Partially it is laziness, partially it is the fact that people will call three (or more) contractors for bids on a $200,000 job when their budget is $100k and they are looking for top of the line equipment. People treat the estimating process as if it had no cost just because it is free. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:42 AM Flag
»
this is true. we are on round 2 of bidding after doing major cut backs in the scope and materials. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:45 AM Flag
»
15,000 to paint your apartment is INSANE. I had my 1300 sq ft apartment painted for less than 2K and they did an excellent job! [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:40 AM Flag
»
both of those line items seem high. i agree that you should try to contract out the pieces yourself, though that will increase your labor and time spent on the project. we got the same $15K estimate for very good (not the best, but very good) painters for an entire townhouse, including the paint. $15K for beautiful semi-custom "green" cabinets. but we also went 100% over budget, half of which was due to actual bids coming in much higher than what our contractor put in the budget. sounds like in addition to needing to kick the tires on some items, you may need to cut out some items. try to figure out what you could do or contract out yourselves at the end of the project - that way you at least save the GC upcharge. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 08:58 AM Flag
»
There are a lot of added costs in recent years to doing work in manhattan - materials, insurance, gas, higher min wage and parking tickets. You can definitely get your apartment painted for less money depending on how high end a job you want. My friend had 900 sq ft painted about 7-8 years ago for $5K, but it wasn't done by a business - it was a guy who did this on the side. The paint job was decent but not phenomental and she didn't have molding. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:03 AM Flag
»
FWIW- a lot of times, molding makes it easier. Cutting in that 90 deg corner so the line is crisp and straight is not as easy as the pros make it look. The molding often hides that very top edge so you have wiggle room. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:12 AM Flag
»
Even so, crown molding, etc. needs to be painted by hand and that is very time consuming. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:14 AM Flag
»
The top 2+ inches needs to be painted by hand either way. (Well, unless you are masking off the entire space and spraying the walls.) I've never painted professionally but I have worked with guys how did. Unless the crown molding is getting a different color than the wall and ceiling, I don't think it adds much time. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:21 AM Flag
»
It's unanimous here that the estimate is nuts. Def do Angie's list. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:14 AM Flag
»
I've gone thru 2 break-thru renovations and both went over budget b/c of unexpected items. That said, your painting bid seems high if it's just painting. But if they need to strip paint (which in older apartments could be ??? layers), to skim coat, to prime, and then to paint -- the price doesn't seem that outrageous. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 09:19 AM Flag
»
Yes: Call United Homesteads, 866.438.5979. VERY reasonable...young guy, just startingn out, but he does good work. Good luck! [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 01:18 PM Flag
»
www.unitedhomesteads.com [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 01:25 PM Flag
»
$15,000 for painting sounds outrageous. We had our 2000 sf apt painted for $5K and that was the high end [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 07.24.08, 01:24 PM Flag
»
One other place you can try is thefranklinreport.com. I had a great experience with my renovation and it was on budget. I picked the painters, plumber, electrician and floor guys separately and designed the kitchen with a Home Depot person. It ended up being 70k for combing two 550 sq ft apartments. The electrical was the most expensive piece. We didn [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 11.03.08, 06:21 AM Flag
»
thefranklinreport.com worked great for me. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 11.03.08, 06:22 AM Flag
»
wtf: this post is more than 3 months old. This is why cnet site sucks [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 11.03.08, 06:24 AM Flag
»
we had a similar situation . we had a contractor look at a house we are thinking of buying and he estimated $85k to $125k, basically to do painting, put new electrical fixtures, and put in a new kitchen. assuming the kitchen cost 25k, he was essentially charging about 60k for painting and some electrical work. i think he would do a great job but it's not worth it for me. i can hire someone for a few thousand dollars. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 11.03.08, 06:48 AM Flag
Refresh » New Post »
Select Category
close [X]

close [X]

Select a Category (only 1)

category
Stages
Regions