help hiring contractors!

[omelet2000]

We're doing a backyard patio on a new home and have requested bids for a patio. The bids were so far off for similar jobs. Of course we want to save money, but we're concerned there's something wrong with such a low bid.

For example, contractor A offered to do a 750 sq. ft. Angelus pavers for $5100 ($7 sq. ft.), while contractor B bid $11800 ($14.7 sq. ft) with Belgard pavers.

Contractor A bid a 17.5x29 lattice patio cover with 36" footing for $5500 ($10 sq. ft), while contractor B bid a 14x38 with 24" footing for $8600 ($16 sq. ft.)

Are we missing something here? Should there be more questions we are asking? We don't want to get screwed with a shoddy job.

[Richard A Hetzel]

Do you have precise architectural drawings, with detailed specifications, for the work you want done? If not, this could be the cause of your problem. Here's why. Let's say all you have is a little sketch, if that. Contractor A says to himself "I know there will be things that will be required, that I don't know enough about now, and I know other contractors are bidding the job, so I will price only the bare necessities, and I'll ask for extras as the job moves along." Contractor B says to himself "I know there will be things that will be required that I don't know enough about now (sound familiar?), so I will put some money in my bid to cover them". Both bidders are acting in good faith! But, what have you learned about the true cost of your job? The right answer is that it's probably somewhere between the two bids, and probably closer to the high one.

The fact that the contractors are bidding on two different pavers is the clue that you have not specified the job properly for them. You should be telling them what pavers to use, not the other way around, and that is true for every single little detail of the job. If you let contractors write the specifications, naturally, they will be a little "loose", to give them "wiggle room", and the worst thing is that you are not protected!

It might cost a few hundred dollars to get good plans and specifications from a qualified design professional. That will not make your job cost a few hundred dollars more, and is likely to save you much more than that in construction cost. You have a $10,000 difference in the price of your job now, and the true cost of it is probably about, say, $$17,000 or $18,000. Good plans might save you 2 or 3 thousand dollars below the high bid, and many many headaches with the low bidder.

And, best of all, you will have a detailed guide to use while the job is under construction, and there should be no arguments about how things are to be done, because those plans and specifications, if you're smart, will have been made a part of the contract.

Get some plans and rebid the job, and it might pay to add a third bidder to your list. When you get prices, there will be a low bid, and there should be a corroberating low bid...in other words, another bidder who thinks the job is worth about the same amount, give or take a little. If you get one guy way down there all by himself, you are not obligated to deal with him, but you might say to him "Your bid is (say) 15% lower than the other two bids. Your choice is to either honor your bid or withdraw it". Don't let him raise it 14%!!! If you have checked out his reputation (or else what is he doing on your bidders' list?) and he agrees to honor his price, then you might decide to contract with him. Or, you may feel more comfortable with one of the two that seem to agree with each other. It is a judgment call you will have to make.

In any case, I wish you luck.

[Paves]

the cost of pavers in not that different the first bid sounds a little low. and as with the post above be sure that your comparing apples to apples with the only the stone being different. The second bid sounds about right but in cali. there are a lot of paving companys get a third and fourth. Go with the guy you trust. use a small contractor that you know will be on site every day not a company that subs out all the work. Check out our websites page on paver installation (http://www.designhardscapes.com/Construction.html). we're in Colorado but the a min of 3" (in cali) of base should be used.
Good luck find the company you like and stop worrying :D


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