let me hear your horror home improvement contractor stories

[Anonymous]

Price does not equate quality though many people think it does.

We are in Northern Virginia and replaced our roof six months ago - almost 60 squares. We contacted five roofing contractors and got quoted prices ranging from $18K to $38K for the same grade of architectural shingle. We went with a contractor who had excellent ratings who did it for $23K. He did a great job.... totally professional with competent workers. BTW, the contractor who quoted a price of $38K gets plenty of business in our area and it is doubtless because people feel that paying a higher price means they get better quality.

The guy we used specifically told us that his pricing is the same whether we live in an affluent suburb or in West Virginia. I know for a fact that with some tradespeople if they see an upscale home they tend to jack up the price. It just goes with the territory.

Our yard work is done by an outfit that charges us 60% of what the contractor who used to do the work charged. He does just as good a job and other than the fact that his English is somewhat lacking, he and his workers are attentive and meticulous in what they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Price does not equate quality though many people think it does.

We are in Northern Virginia and replaced our roof six months ago - almost 60 squares. We contacted five roofing contractors and got quoted prices ranging from $18K to $38K for the same grade of architectural shingle. We went with a contractor who had excellent ratings who did it for $23K. He did a great job.... totally professional with competent workers. BTW, the contractor who quoted a price of $38K gets plenty of business in our area and it is doubtless because people feel that paying a higher price means they get better quality.

The guy we used specifically told us that his pricing is the same whether we live in an affluent suburb or in West Virginia. I know for a fact that with some tradespeople if they see an upscale home they tend to jack up the price. It just goes with the territory.

Our yard work is done by an outfit that charges us 60% of what the contractor who used to do the work charged. He does just as good a job and other than the fact that his English is somewhat lacking, he and his workers are attentive and meticulous in what they do.

As you mentioned that his English is lacking, I would inquire if perhaps he is not caring the necessary insurance/licenses thus allowing him to charge 60% of the market rate ? Its all good until someone gets hurt...then not so good....

[Anonymous]

We had a guy come do an estimate on finishing our basement. It was very simple - we had a new construction home and it was pretty much ready-to-go in terms of the basement - the plumbing was roughed in, the space was clean/neat, etc. We wanted a simple open space, bathroom, and storage room with some shelving. The guy quoted us $65,000 and then offered to do it without "pulling permits" (i.e., none of it would be inspected or official). We found another guy who would do it for $45,000 legally...

[Anonymous]

There are many factors, but price is most often one huge factor. My neighbor screams at her "workers" in broken Spanish and expects them to be helpful. Then she wonders why they don't show up again. For her half-a** addition, she must have gone through about five crews. And it shows. Being cheap and nasty aint what its cracked up to be.

[Anonymous]

I don't have one. I got five estimates (like a PP), picked one in the middle, and had a pretty smooth and good experience. I did my due diligence, checked everything out, spent a lot of time doing research, hired experts to help me when I needed help.

Taking on a construction project is a huge ordeal. Sounds like many of the PPs were naive or too trusting of these "professionals." Many of them are just not that ethical or good at what they do. You have to make sure they have insurance and all their subs are covered, and that they give you proof they've paid all their subs, etc. It's very time consuming to do all of this, but if you want the project to go well, you have to do a whole lot of work, don't simply leave it to the contractor.

We hired a very high end contractor, and still had problems, nothing major, but it wasn't smooth sailing all the way just because we were paying a lot of money for his (overall excellent) services.

OP, sorry for your troubles, but it's probably best to cut your losses. You've learned some lessons now, so your next project will be different. It sounds like the people you hired are pretty sleazy, and if they stole building materials from you, you ought to call the police and file a complaint. I hope you didn't pay them everything you owed them!! Do not pay them, no matter how much they threaten you! I've heard other horror stories about things like that. Their threats will go away when you threaten them back with legal action or a police action. Always hold back at least 10 percent of every job until you are completely and totally satisfied! We held back 30 percent until we absolutely had to pay, but our contractor was OK with that. He was honest, and got paid completely when the job was done and done right.