Negotiate reduced quote for renovation work?

Moonbeams8

Hi! I bought my house 5 weeks before the virus hit our shores. Before the country shut down I had met multiple contractors for quotes on renovation work and had decided who I was going to go with. He provided me with a quote and said he was unsure when he would be able to start as he had numerous projects (again all before the virus). On Thursday I emailed him and asked him when he might be able to start the works and he surprised me by saying May 18th. Now I'm wondering should I try and negotiate the price? He has quoted me in the region of 15k for labour. I will pay for all materials and skip. Work should only take about a month. This is my first house, I'm a female and obviously don't want to be throwing money away but I can't do any of the work myself. My Dad thinks it's a lot of money. He would be used to doing a lot of jobs himself but he is of an age now where he is a brilliant advisor to me regarding the house but not physically able to do any work and I am gently trying to steer him away from thinking that he can. Would welcome any thoughts! If you think I should renogiate price I'd be grateful for advice on how to approach this while still keeping a good relationship with my contractor...

paddybarry

Moonbeams8 wrote: »

Hi! I bought my house 5 weeks before the virus hit our shores. Before the country shut down I had met multiple contractors for quotes on renovation work and had decided who I was going to go with. He provided me with a quote and said he was unsure when he would be able to start as he had numerous projects (again all before the virus). On Thursday I emailed him and asked him when he might be able to start the works and he surprised me by saying May 18th. Now I'm wondering should I try and negotiate the price? He has quoted me in the region of 15k for labour. I will pay for all materials and skip. Work should only take about a month. This is my first house, I'm a female and obviously don't want to be throwing money away but I can't do any of the work myself obviously! My Dad thinks it's a lot of money. He would be used to doing a lot of jobs himself but he is of an age now where he is a brilliant advisor to me regarding the house but not physically able to do any work and I am gently trying to steer him away from thinking that he can. Would welcome any thoughts!

You both entered into the contract in good faith. He quoted a price and you accepted.

Moonbeams8

Well I'm not sure if I accepted it (genuinely) and he didn't send me a contract. He emailed me an approximate quote and then the country shut down so it was all kind of up in the air. When I contacted him to see if he had an idea of when he might be starting work again, I was surprised when he said May 18th as he said he was very busy right before lockdown and couldn't commit to a date.

Juwwi

What work is he doing that 15k ?

You might be better off using a different contractor if you want a reduction as this guy might not take the same interest in doing a quality job if the price is cut.

From his side, he's been forced to take off 6 or 7 weeks work , to then go back and do work for less than was already agreed (or he at least thinks that's been agreed ) he wont be happy .

Was he recommended to you ,

enricoh

15k for a months labour- how many men?
A guy cancelled a job on me yesterday - his circumstances changed, fair enough.
Obviously everyone else in the pipeline for him have pulled the plug too. After the Celtic tiger the reasonable guys I know were kept busy, the rip off merchants were twiddling their thumbs.

I'd tell him I'm waiting on a few other quotes, see if he sharpens his pencil!

Moonbeams8

I take your points. From my own side, I suppose I'm very aware of a recession coming in strong and I want to make sure I'm being smart with my money. I'm just nervous about going ahead with all my plans now. Especially as I'm doing this solo. I've heard of people renogiating house prices before signing contracts as market value of houses are not what they were pre-virus which is what put the idea in my head. Below is the labour. I have my own plumber and electrician. Also need to get new windows. Will paint myself - one of the only things I can do! Not sure how many men for this price. This was the very early stages of my plans for renovating!

Labour: (16k including fascia and soffit works of 2500)
General clear of works area
Removal of walls in kitchen/living area and hall & fit support
Form new hallway with stud work hall/kitchen/living room area
Removal of fireplaces and make good walls
Build up patio door ope
Insulation slabs 50mm to all external walls
Plasterwork to slab work and all new work
Increase size of bathroom ,reposition of partition
Adjustment to partitions up stairs
Fitting of new internal doors with with associated 2nd fix carpentry works
Making good floors and plasterwork after other trades
Increase volume of insulation of insulation to attic space
Adjustment works to external doors
Works to fascia and soffit (approx 2500)

Thanks for all advice, I do appreciate it! I don't want to do him out of money - I just want to be confident that I'm not doing a disservice to myself. I don't think this is my forever home, it is a home for the next number of years but I do anticipate selling at some stage down the line.

banie01

How many quotations have you received for the work?
The rule of thumb is 3.
Have you spoken to previous clients? Inspected his other work, and done other due diligence?
How did you find the builder rating to go on the 18th?


He quoted you 15k for labour, with you supplying materials?
Frankly that's quite niave, who pays for breakage and waste? Is the labour price fixed?
Who pays if it takes longer than estimated to finish?

You would be well served to get 3 costed/itemised quotes for your plan, even better served to engage a quantity surveyor or project manager to draft a tender.

Any renovation is stressful, renovating via a back of an envelope is a sure fire way to blow through a budget.

Juwwi

Sounds like you are having second thoughts about doing the work at all and that's understandable in these times , especially considering you don't intend to live there forever.

Unless the plumber and electrician are good friends the labour for those isn't going to be cheap , you are supplying materials which won't be cheap ,also new windows , you mention making bathroom bigger , you don't mention tiler could me additional costs ,this job I'm guessing could end up being maybe 40 to 50k ,,

Even if you manage to agree a reduction with this builder of say 1k to 2k it isn't going to make that much of a difference at the end of the project ,unless you continue to get good deals on windows ECT .

Maybe you should just put it all on hold for a while , doesn't mean you can't continue on in a few months if this covid-19 situation all calms down .

if there is a big recession and house prices drop and you plan on moving that 40k could end up going along way to the next house price .

Moonbeams8

Thanks for your advice Juwwi especially. I do anticipate living there for quite a while and obviously think it's a brilliant house (with touch ups!) but I am also hoping to have a family in the next ten years so that's why I'm not sure if it is my forever home. It's scary doing things like this by yourself! Thanks for reading.