Recently, we had our bathroom entirely redone. We took the 1960s tile style out, along with the bathtub that had a date on the bottom from 1941. Now, we have a beautiful bathroom with stainless steel fixtures, brand new cabinets and large ceramic tiles on the floor.
We’re happy, but the job did not come without some hiccups, like the contractor trying to hit us up for $540 he couldn’t explain and a quote that ended up being unreasonably low.
First: Find a Contractor
Before jumping into my story, I have a rule when it comes to hiring people. I set up at least three appointments. Of those three, anyone who is late does not get hired unless they call before the appointment to let me know. Those who are late before they are hired will be late later, and you’ll be the only one to blame for it.
People who are on time are worth listening to, but some must be out of their minds. When I was living in Jacksonville, NC, I had a repairman over to see about changing the drain in my tub. He said it would be $3,000 because he was “really going to have yank on it.” He was yanking on something, because he also quoted me $800 to get the fan in that same bathroom going again.
I think some people just think their clients are suckers or made of money.
After finding a person with a good price who shows up on time, make sure he has insurance and the proper licensing.
The Home Repairs Begin
My bathroom was done entirely by sub-contractors. On the first day I was told they would be there at 8:00 am. When they weren’t I didn’t sweat it, because I hadn’t paid them any money, and I was going to be able to handle it when they arrived. At 8:05 the contractor called.
“Why are your guys late?” I asked impatiently.
Just like managing people in an office, managing contractors is the same. If they can walk over you they will. I let him know with my tone and brevity that I was unhappy.
The sub-contractors ended up being very nice guys who understood I expected them when they said they’d be there; they worked efficiently and were willing to come in on Saturday and Sunday to finish up more quickly, which made me very happy.
I took their number because they’ll be doing my next job without the middle man.
How my Bathroom Gut Job Finished Up
Before this job started, the contractor said the entire thing would be done for $2,500-3,000. $1,850 for labor and $700 for materials.
Three days later, I accepted the bid and said I wanted to get started right away. He then said that the quote did not include things like the shower and tub, and anything else I was going to buy from the bathroom supply store. When I asked why, he said that he didn’t know what kind of stuff I was going to buy, and the prices varied greatly.
I could accept this, but it threw up a red flag that he quoted me so low because he’d left out a large part of the actual costs.
When the job was finished I’d already paid him $3,000 and was ready to settle up, but I told him I wanted an itemized bill. Two weeks later he called back and said I owed him $2,300.
“Now, is that a balance of $2,300?” I asked “or did I overpay?”
“No,” he said, “that’s the balance.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s all itemized. Come on over and we’ll sort through it.”
“I’ll be right over.”
More than two hours later he showed up. I greeted him kindly and took a look at the paperwork, which listed:
- Bathroom Supply: $1,000
- Hardware Store: $702.13
- Add: $540
The first discrepancy was that I had paid for everything but the shower already. This I could accept as an honest mistake and he called them to confirm, bringing this item down to $500.
Next, I took out a calculator and the receipts from the hardware store came to that exact amount. Did every item on them get used on my bathroom? I couldn’t tell you if they did.
“Now,” I said, “what’s this third item, Add-five-forty?”
With this, he ran around in circles. First, he tried to say it was the insurance costs. Then, he said it was for something else. After some time he ran out of answers and I said,
“What’s somewhat disconcerting to me is that you quoted the job as being $3,000. Even after the shower you’re about forty percent over your quote.”
“That was just for labor,” he said.
“No, the labor estimate was $1,850, but I can understand why it went up to $2,520 [already paid this] because the flooring was all rotted out and I had guys in here on Saturday and Sunday.”
He seemed as though he hadn’t considered this, but was glad I had. After going through a multitude of things like how he only made $250 off the entire job and that the original estimate did not include the cabinets…
“The estimate was for a complete remodel. We discussed cabinets.”
…he finally remembered that the item for $540 was for a different job and that his wife must have accidentally put it on my receipt.
I crossed it off and went to write him a check. He said it would be easier if I wrote two checks; one to the hardware store, the other to the bathroom supplier. My guess is that he is going to claim that he only made about $250 on this job by having as little money pass through his hands as possible.
Out of $5,300 I only paid him $1,000 directly. But I’m not the IRS and I don’t really know for sure.
I later learned that he was notorious for under bidding, and that he’d overcharged his mother-in-law $40,000 for a home he built her.
Some Rip-Offs You Cannot Avoid
Of all those receipts from the hardware, I’m not really sure what belonged to my job and what didn’t. In the end, he might have scored an extra $100-200 off the job by buying an extra item or two with each trip, or buying things for my bathroom and someone else’s but keeping it all on the same receipt, leaving me to wonder:
is it white collar crime because it’s somewhat sophisticated, or blue collar crime because he’s a contractor?
