renovations went completely over budget...floating expenses on a credit card now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If OP unearthed something totally unforeseen while doing a renovation, I can see an additional 20K being needed, easy.

We renovated a fixer-upper and had planned for 100K, which then ballooned to 200K due to issues we discovered AND upgrades we decided to do along the way. Luckily, we had the funds for it, but this is to illustrate how quickly costs can increase.

Contractor should've paid at least half of this. You got raped by the contractor.

? What a weird comment. We changed what was written in the contract, silly.

Agreed. That person has clearly never undertaken a serious reno. When, for instance, unexpected structural issues arise behind walls, under slabs or in soil that is not the GC's dime.

Contractors already pad estimates we always make sure to negotiate.

Well, duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get some sort of second job to help pay it down? Weekend babysitting? Dog sitting? Retail?

Don't be ridiculous, OP isnt a teen.
I can only imagine telling my physician friends I'm babysitting for a few extra sucks a week. Lol.

Bucks not sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my renovation project went completely off target. so right now i am in floating the renovation costs onto a credit card and it's going to total about $20,000. i had signed up for a 0% APR 15 month credit card and will transfer that debt to the 0% APR card and aim to pay it off in 15 months, which is ambitious. It's going to mean shelling out $1333 a month to pay down this debt.

how many of you experience nightmare renovations where you simply run out of cash but need to get the job done? i have nowhere else to turn but to float this debt.

First husband was a aeronautical engineer who was a idiot with zero common sense. He hired a architect who was the son of our neighbor against my advice. Architects are notorious for not understanding budgets nor caring. They understand design only. He added 2 bedrooms and a laundry room for our home. Tried to save costs by hiring people that weren't licensed etc. I told him when we were in Hawaii I would bet the house wasn't stucco'ed, and wouldn't be when we got home. The guy took the money and never came back. At this point I had already planned to divorce him since my word didn't matter, so I watched and waited. Finally the house was done and looked good, but he had to get money from his dad. His dad gave us 15k to get it done fyi so thankfully he didn't put it on a credit card. I divorced him 2 years later, and own the house to this day.

[Anonymous]

Your over-run of $20,000 w/o context of % is kind of meaningless but it is typical. It always costs more. I have done 3 large additions and several remodels/upgrades. While I have been lucky and never encountered disasters my over-budgets were always upgrades or change of plans on my part. Only one I regret was upgrading windows on house O ended up selling a year later - not worth $$$.

PPs who think a contractor is responsible or would share in unforeseen - or even somewhat "expected" structural/whatever surprises are ridiculous. Why in the world would they be responsible for something outside of a contract for work?? If it is discovered that previous work wasn't permitted, or if termites/damage found - or roof is older etc etc - if work is beyond scope of work agreed to it is on you - not the contractor. And believe me - in the prefect world a contractor may start a project looking at a 25% profit (that is actually high) but jobs are never perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your over-run of $20,000 w/o context of % is kind of meaningless but it is typical. It always costs more. I have done 3 large additions and several remodels/upgrades. While I have been lucky and never encountered disasters my over-budgets were always upgrades or change of plans on my part. Only one I regret was upgrading windows on house O ended up selling a year later - not worth $$$.

PPs who think a contractor is responsible or would share in unforeseen - or even somewhat "expected" structural/whatever surprises are ridiculous. Why in the world would they be responsible for something outside of a contract for work?? If it is discovered that previous work wasn't permitted, or if termites/damage found - or roof is older etc etc - if work is beyond scope of work agreed to it is on you - not the contractor. And believe me - in the prefect world a contractor may start a project looking at a 25% profit (that is actually high) but jobs are never perfect.

A good contractor understands working on old homes and there wouldn't be surprises unless they are incompetent or scammers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my renovation project went completely off target. so right now i am in floating the renovation costs onto a credit card and it's going to total about $20,000. i had signed up for a 0% APR 15 month credit card and will transfer that debt to the 0% APR card and aim to pay it off in 15 months, which is ambitious. It's going to mean shelling out $1333 a month to pay down this debt.

how many of you experience nightmare renovations where you simply run out of cash but need to get the job done? i have nowhere else to turn but to float this debt.

First husband was a aeronautical engineer who was a idiot with zero common sense. He hired a architect who was the son of our neighbor against my advice. Architects are notorious for not understanding budgets nor caring. They understand design only. He added 2 bedrooms and a laundry room for our home. Tried to save costs by hiring people that weren't licensed etc. I told him when we were in Hawaii I would bet the house wasn't stucco'ed, and wouldn't be when we got home. The guy took the money and never came back. At this point I had already planned to divorce him since my word didn't matter, so I watched and waited. Finally the house was done and looked good, but he had to get money from his dad. His dad gave us 15k to get it done fyi so thankfully he didn't put it on a credit card. I divorced him 2 years later, and own the house to this day.

You are disgusting, he got money from his family and you stole it. The only common sense he lacked was marrying your despicable ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog sitting and dog walking! You can make $30-40 a day per dog. My friend has 6 staying with him over this holiday weekend. It's a great way to bring in extra cash since I assume you won't be taking many weekend vacations for the time being.

Your friend is gouging people.

This is the going rate here. Dog sitting in your home is $40/ day.
Dog walk , half hour, is $25.
Visiting a dog is $35 first visit, two visits is $50.

+1 we pay $40/day to our dog sitter -- the dog goes to her home, and walks are included in that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your over-run of $20,000 w/o context of % is kind of meaningless but it is typical. It always costs more. I have done 3 large additions and several remodels/upgrades. While I have been lucky and never encountered disasters my over-budgets were always upgrades or change of plans on my part. Only one I regret was upgrading windows on house O ended up selling a year later - not worth $$$.

PPs who think a contractor is responsible or would share in unforeseen - or even somewhat "expected" structural/whatever surprises are ridiculous. Why in the world would they be responsible for something outside of a contract for work?? If it is discovered that previous work wasn't permitted, or if termites/damage found - or roof is older etc etc - if work is beyond scope of work agreed to it is on you - not the contractor. And believe me - in the prefect world a contractor may start a project looking at a 25% profit (that is actually high) but jobs are never perfect.

A good contractor understands working on old homes and there wouldn't be surprises unless they are incompetent or scammers

Kind of my point: if you hire someone with a good reputation - it is because they can predict what they will find and it is in the original contract. Not a contractor but similar field so I can promise you that like all good contractors - my 60% business coming from referrals or repeat customers is not because I am the cheapest but because I give a fair price that is close to what is going to be a usual scenario. But as I said - finding out about non-permitted work is usually after homeowners assures otherwise; termite damage well covered in a newly purchased home. These surprises are on homeowner - not contractor. Remodeling an older home's bathroom a contractor who is coming to you with satisfied customers is already factoring in in the scope of work that sub-floor will more than likely be replaced; extra sq footage contractor has already said you need larger AC unit. You deciding you don't like the tile you signed off on?? That's homeowner's problem - and the costs of perhaps expedited shipping, changes in schedules to accommodate the wait - on homeowner too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your over-run of $20,000 w/o context of % is kind of meaningless but it is typical. It always costs more. I have done 3 large additions and several remodels/upgrades. While I have been lucky and never encountered disasters my over-budgets were always upgrades or change of plans on my part. Only one I regret was upgrading windows on house O ended up selling a year later - not worth $$$.

PPs who think a contractor is responsible or would share in unforeseen - or even somewhat "expected" structural/whatever surprises are ridiculous. Why in the world would they be responsible for something outside of a contract for work?? If it is discovered that previous work wasn't permitted, or if termites/damage found - or roof is older etc etc - if work is beyond scope of work agreed to it is on you - not the contractor. And believe me - in the prefect world a contractor may start a project looking at a 25% profit (that is actually high) but jobs are never perfect.

A good contractor understands working on old homes and there wouldn't be surprises unless they are incompetent or scammers

Are you crazy? You think contractors never get surprised by what's behind walls once demo starts? Concealed termite damage, old work not done up to code -- all kinds of surprises pop up. They don't have x-ray vision, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my renovation project went completely off target. so right now i am in floating the renovation costs onto a credit card and it's going to total about $20,000. i had signed up for a 0% APR 15 month credit card and will transfer that debt to the 0% APR card and aim to pay it off in 15 months, which is ambitious. It's going to mean shelling out $1333 a month to pay down this debt.

how many of you experience nightmare renovations where you simply run out of cash but need to get the job done? i have nowhere else to turn but to float this debt.

First husband was a aeronautical engineer who was a idiot with zero common sense. He hired a architect who was the son of our neighbor against my advice. Architects are notorious for not understanding budgets nor caring. They understand design only. He added 2 bedrooms and a laundry room for our home. Tried to save costs by hiring people that weren't licensed etc. I told him when we were in Hawaii I would bet the house wasn't stucco'ed, and wouldn't be when we got home. The guy took the money and never came back. At this point I had already planned to divorce him since my word didn't matter, so I watched and waited. Finally the house was done and looked good, but he had to get money from his dad. His dad gave us 15k to get it done fyi so thankfully he didn't put it on a credit card. I divorced him 2 years later, and own the house to this day.

You are disgusting, he got money from his family and you stole it. The only common sense he lacked was marrying your despicable ass.

lol No he kept most of the assets and I assumed the loan. No equity whatsoever fyi. He was happy to be rid of it and quit claimed it. We had a friendly divorce actually. One lawyer because we both agreed on everything who put it through. We never had to go to court even.

No one stole anything nit wit.

[Anonymous]

I don't think 20k on a credit card is a big deal. More important to get the house done.

You can factor that extra cost in. Maybe less dining out for awhile, cut the cable etc.

Don't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dog sitting and dog walking! You can make $30-40 a day per dog. My friend has 6 staying with him over this holiday weekend. It's a great way to bring in extra cash since I assume you won't be taking many weekend vacations for the time being.

Your friend is gouging people.

Be my guest and find me a single dog sitting service charging under 30-40 a day for in home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your over-run of $20,000 w/o context of % is kind of meaningless but it is typical. It always costs more. I have done 3 large additions and several remodels/upgrades. While I have been lucky and never encountered disasters my over-budgets were always upgrades or change of plans on my part. Only one I regret was upgrading windows on house O ended up selling a year later - not worth $$$.

PPs who think a contractor is responsible or would share in unforeseen - or even somewhat "expected" structural/whatever surprises are ridiculous. Why in the world would they be responsible for something outside of a contract for work?? If it is discovered that previous work wasn't permitted, or if termites/damage found - or roof is older etc etc - if work is beyond scope of work agreed to it is on you - not the contractor. And believe me - in the prefect world a contractor may start a project looking at a 25% profit (that is actually high) but jobs are never perfect.

A good contractor understands working on old homes and there wouldn't be surprises unless they are incompetent or scammers

Kind of my point: if you hire someone with a good reputation - it is because they can predict what they will find and it is in the original contract. Not a contractor but similar field so I can promise you that like all good contractors - my 60% business coming from referrals or repeat customers is not because I am the cheapest but because I give a fair price that is close to what is going to be a usual scenario. But as I said - finding out about non-permitted work is usually after homeowners assures otherwise; termite damage well covered in a newly purchased home. These surprises are on homeowner - not contractor. Remodeling an older home's bathroom a contractor who is coming to you with satisfied customers is already factoring in in the scope of work that sub-floor will more than likely be replaced; extra sq footage contractor has already said you need larger AC unit. You deciding you don't like the tile you signed off on?? That's homeowner's problem - and the costs of perhaps expedited shipping, changes in schedules to accommodate the wait - on homeowner too.

+1. In my view, a good contractor should be able to tell me, "We probably need to do X and Y; here is my estimate." An excellent contractor should also be able to give my an idea of what the most likely surprise or two will be, based on his experience with similar houses, so that I understand the possible extent of the work if I am unlucky. And -- this is important -- he is only going to give estimates on the work for which he can produce a reliable estimate. He can't see through walls and he can't possibly know about the do-it-yourself wiring job or the newspaper insulation uncle Floyd installed and never told anyone to expect. If someone gave me an estimate for a project that claimed to cover all eventualities and had no specifics, I would assume that one of two things have happened:

A. I am massively over-paying this contractor, because he is padding the estimate enough to cover any crazy thing that could happen,

or

B. This contractor doesn't understand how to protect himself and is going to go bankrupt.

You don't want A. or B. You want realistic estimates and some extra funds on hands for making additional repairs or upgrades to meet current code.

You should also know that it is possible we could find Z when we cut open that wall, or something else unforeseen. A reasonable home owner doing anything complicated on an old house should be ready for the possibility of discovering something unforeseen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they pad estimates. There is also a major difference between a small surprise and big one.

No estimate covers the discovery of significant additional and foreseen problems.

The world gets a lot more interesting when you begin to open walls or retrofit old systems, or discover just how much someone else did with no permit.

A good contractor will already include that in the estimate

Yeah, no.