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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]

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

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.[/quote]

+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,

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. [/quote]

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