Reputable Remodelers: Do they really exist?

The remodeling industries reputation as we know in the past few years has deteriorated to that of a Mortgage companies'. People on a regular basis are being ripped off, ripped on, and badgered on a constant basis. Has anyone really wondered why?

How is it that you always hear of someone who hired a "professional" to work on their home, only to realize that who they hired, was a thief, con artist, or drug addict, who only wanted to take their money, belongings, or both?

And how is it that the homeowners COULD NOT FIND OUT who or what these men really were before they hired them?

Simple, They never asked for the right information...

This lens will provide you (the homeowner) with the tools and information you gain will help you with your remodeling needs, so if you are interested...

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Lately, I have been hearing a lot of stories of complaints against salesmen. These men and women have been using unethical sales moves to make quick money in the remodeling industry. these tactics are not new, but they are very slick. Because of this recession, the majority of contractors have been under pressure to make more sales, and keep themselves in business, and these desperate dogs threw their integrity out the window so they could stay in business.

Take for example this story... A couple in Portland, Oregon needed a full bathroom remodel. They thought about it for a month or two, wondering if they had the money, and real need to renovate. After mulling it over between the two of them, they decided they were going to go for it, so they hopped on Google, and searched "Portland construction". Kaya Contractors came up second on the list to some Wikipedia article on cement, and they decided to add them a call.

They called up Kaya with their request, they had a standard eight foot by five foot bathroom with a standard tile floor, and tile wall. nothing fancy, just a plain old builders grade bathroom. The representative on the phone was nice, asking for the age of the home, what they wanted done, their contact information, and set up an appointment for next Tuesday. The salesman arrived ten minutes early, dressed in a nice tailored suit, gelled hair and a smile on his face. He walked in an introduced himself very professionally and asked where he could place his laptop and materials. The kitchen became the spot of business, and he laid out his presentation.

The homeowners started to usher the sales rep upstairs to the bathroom before he even finished laying out his materials, to which he responded "one moment ma'am, I have a few questions to ask before we head up there". and he proceeded to ask his qualifying questions. they then proceeded to go upstairs for the look around. the salesman measured, checked, and double checked the bathroom with meticulous care as he jotted down notes on his little flip pad. All this while making jokes about his receding hairline and telling stories about his company. He finished the examination, and the gathering of information on what the customer wanted, and all the while, the homeowners were getting nervous about the price. The big question finally came up, and the salesmen answered "$16,500 is the grand total"...

The Homeowners we Floored...
"How could this be?" they wondered "the cost of materials couldn't be more than $4000, max... we are definitely getting another estimate for this remodeling job"

So the salesman wrote up the estimate making sure he wrote in big bold letters "NO EXTRA CHARGES, completed in ten days, and the start date will be in three months time" . signed the document, and left their home.

Well, needless to say, the homeowners called up some friends who knew someone who could do it for much cheaper than sixteen grand. it was Hanks' Handyman Service. The homeowner called him up, and scheduled an interview for Friday (they thought), only they couldn't hear much of him because it sounded like he was driving a tank in the background. Hank showed up at their home a half hour late to their appointment because of "traffic" and he was still wearing the work jeans, Dusty boots, and an old collard shirt he sported at the job site. He came to their house in a 1979 Chevy pickup truck strapped with trash and debris from the job. He just walked in, asked where the bathroom was, walked upstairs, looked around for five minutes, and asked said "I can do it for $6,500"

"WOW!" the homeowners exclaimed "That's more like it! the other guy charged ten thousand dollars more than you, why is that?!"
"They greedy I guess" he responded, chuckling a little
"you got the job! when can you start?" the Homeowner asks
"one week"

They then signed a check for $2000 dollars, and they were on their way to a new bathroom (or so they thought)

One week went by and they did not see hank, they just got a phone call:
"hey guys, sorry to bother you, I cant make it out this week, my other Bath remodel is running long, we have to push back the date 2 weeks, sorry about that"

two weeks went by, he finally decides to start the job:
Problems...
He demolishes the bathroom, re-installs the plumbing with copper pipe and doesn't realize that the house was built in 1920 and was on well water, so the acidity in the water will corrode the copper. He did not ask about any of that, so he calls up the homeowners, and give them two options:
-Option 1: he can charge them an extra two thousand to fix the damage (still cheaper than Kaya construction), and keep going with the project
or
-Option 2: he can just leave the job as is, and have someone else complete the work

they chose to complete the job with the added cost.

Problem 2: subcontractors
-He hires Cheap subcontractors to wire up the house, and they use the wrong gauge of wire: short circuits happen and fry their panel, as it turns out, the subcontractors weren't insured or licensed, the same to options were given

This time they chose option 2, with the addition of a court case on hanks.... to bad hank was not a real company, they did not sign an contract, and he used a fake name. so now they had to call up Kaya, tell them the story, and still paid $16,000 to complete a bath renovation. they had no problems, everything was done very well, and they were very pleased.

look at that story... If they would have realized that the first salesman was just trying to be thorough and that he was giving them a industry average price (remodeling magazine, 2009 says in the U.S.A. the average price for a bathroom remodel is $15,899 http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2008/costvsvalue/national.aspx) and adding value with his detailed contract (no extra costs). and he asked questions to make sure these mistakes did not happen in the first place.

So, to wrap it up, here are the life take away's.

#1 look at the national averages for the remodeling costs
#2 look at professionalism (punctuality, inquisitiveness, thorough questioning)
#3 look for licenses
#4 Do Not go for the cheapest price
#5 Get at least three estimate

Any questions, email me at Smoore@reputableRemodelers.com