Definitely pays to shop around

[dlundblad]

An update. The original goal was mid February. Worked out well because I wanted to do the cleanup while the ground was still frozen. Less likely to tear it up. I ended up calling him up about then to see where we were at time wise.. a few days later was when we received almost record amounts of snow, so that pushed me back either further.

I gave him a call a few weeks ago to see where we were at and he was able to come out the next day. Would he have come out if I didn’t call, probably not, but that’s fine with me.

They were here a little over an hour. The guys with the bucket truck showed up and got everything ready. Even put plywood down to protect the yard. The owner showed up about a half hour later then they started.

It would figure. My dog chased a squirrel up the tree the night before. First squirrel we’ve seen here since buying the house since 2018. There’s open field for a mile in each direction and we have hawks and bald eagles. Anyways, he was up there the following morning as well as when the branches were 95% down. He finally ran down to a nearby tree unscathed and stayed there until sometime the following day. Im assuming he wasn’t happy during this time.

 

[PandaBear]

You did the right thing and the 3 guys did their right thing.

What I learned is that often these guys will give you want they charge because they either have down time to waste, a cost to give up other businesses to do yours, or they are setup to do something else and they cannot be as cheap as some other guys, or miscalculate their quote and they are not making money doing yours.

In my tree cutting in the past I saw one guy who forgot about the sprinkler pipe under the root and end up breaking them and spending 2 hours gluing them back, and another with a bad back who will not go into the yard to cut without his automated tools, so he will need to farm out part of the work to other people, and then another guy who got burnt with broken sprinkler pipe and will not touch it unless I have a plumber on site.

The same goes for water main leaks, one guy is setup to glue pipe by hand and another is setup to do completely new pipe with air hammers and stuff. They give out completely different quotes.

The same for cabinets and countertops, sometimes the by sqft guy like Home Depot end up being better quality and cheaper than a small mom and pop that needs to sell one slab at a time despite lower quality. Sometimes it is the other way around, it all depends.

I would just politely decline guys who aren't the right fit instead of wasting their time. They are looking out for themselves and you look out for yourself.

 

[vwmaniaman]

Just had a new roof put on house Got 3 quotes. First guy was $8000 next guy was $9200 and the last guy was $5900.. Same shingles. Paid guy 3 half of the job when the shingles were delivered and on the roof. Gave him another 1/4 when mostly completed and final payment when complete. Roof looks good.

 

[dlundblad]

Just had a new roof put on house Got 3 quotes. First guy was $8000 next guy was $9200 and the last guy was $5900.. Same shingles. Paid guy 3 half of the job when the shingles were delivered and on the roof. Gave him another 1/4 when mostly completed and final payment when complete. Roof looks good.

Pardon my ignorance, but how long did it take?

I would have likely skipped the last 1/4 payment and paid him when it was finished. A mostly done roof isn’t any good and he could have split after getting 75% his money?

 

[Wolf359]

Pardon my ignorance, but how long did it take?

I would have likely skipped the last 1/4 payment and paid him when it was finished. A mostly done roof isn’t any good and he could have split after getting 75% his money?

Last roofing job I did, just paid $200 to start the job and the balance when it was done. Around here, everyone does it in a day, they have 10-20 guys depending on the size of the job and get it done when the weather is good.

 

[wildcatgoal]

I don't care if I have three contractors at the same time giving a quote. It's business. Buck up, buttercup.

When I had my roof redone, the first company that gave me a quote put a sign on my lawn without me noticing. I made them come back and get it because they didn't have my permission. That's how I role... Mr. Karen.

 

[dlundblad]

I don't care if I have three contractors at the same time giving a quote. It's business. Buck up, buttercup.

When I had my roof redone, the first company that gave me a quote put a sign on my lawn without me noticing. I made them come back and get it because they didn't have my permission. That's how I role... Mr. Karen.

That’s not being a Karen. I would have thrown the thing in the trash personally. Lol

 

[nomas]

Make **** sure they are insured . We had a big Oak taken down that was right next to my house and not accessible by truck . They had to use a crane and reach over my house and swing the pieces over . That could have gone really bad and gotten really expensive .