Which contractor do use?

Question

Hello BP family, we are planning to renovate and upgrade the master and guest bathroom, and add a kitchenette.

The first contractor is the one that we used for Our Rental, he is good, but it’s not responding back on a timely manner. Until now we don’t have a quote for the job and it has been almost 2 wks.

The second GC Is referred by our lender. He is also a real estate agent. He quoted us 20k For two bathroom renovations with the kitchenette- labor only… And he said that he can finish the job in two weeks.

The third GC is one of the vendors from Opendoors who repaired our door. He quoted for 20k but woth labor & some materials (some we need to buy) he said he can finish in 3-4wks.

We have no idea how much would the material cost for the bathroom renovations…

Any thoughts? Who should we choose?

Both of them asks for a 50% down payment. Is this normal? The two other renovations we had, contractor asked to be paid halfway on their job.

thank you so much. By the way, this renovation is in Florida Orlando area.

Peyton Millirons · Answer

Hey Catherine, it is honestly crazy to me how 50% has become the norm for all of these remodeling contractors.

I have signed 9 remodeling contracts in Fort Myers in the past 5 months and only required a 20% down payment. Each job well over $40k worth of material and labor. We take care of all material and labor.

50% down just seems like a lot to me. Especially if they aren't coming out of their own pocket for hardly any material.

I am living in the Tampa area at the moment and would be glad to take a look for you if you'd like. Just shoot me a message if you are interested!

In the meantime I would definitely not pay 50% down to a contractor that can't give you a full material and labor bid. If you wanted to just pay labor you could go find a handyman for probably half the price to do all of the work for you. The contractor is supposed to be in charge of the the full bid, any handyman can you give you a labor only bid.

Scott E. · Answer

A lot going on in your post... here is my feedback:

-Forget about the first contractor who isn't responding.

-The 2nd GC is a referral. That's good IF you know and trust your lender. A referral is the best way to go for a job like this. You want to find a GC who somebody you know and trust has had a RECENT good experience with.

-Forget about the third contractor from Opendoor.

-Bathroom renovations out here run me about $7500 each when I hire a GC, which includes labor and materials. This figure will vary a LOT though based on the size of the bathroom, the amount of wall tile, whether or not you're putting glass in, the cost of the vanity, etc. Plus it'll vary a lot from one market to another.

-Material cost for the bathroom renovations is easy to calculate. Here is your list: Flooring, baseboard, paint, toilet, vanity, sink, faucet, mirror, light, bathtub, wall tile, shower glass, shower fixture. Price everything out at Home Depot or build.com for a point of reference.

-Some GC's ask for 50% down. So yes it is normal for them to ask, but I would counter with splitting the payments up. Perhaps 33% in the beginning, 33% at a certain milestone, and 33% after job is complete.

Edward P. · Answer

Everyone is going to have there own do's and do nots for deposits. If your are uncomfortable with 50% just say so. Make your GC explain themselves. Unfortunately so many companies in this industry are built upon cash deposits. I usually request 35% and in some cases the client will choose to send 50% instead.

But the most important thing you should do is to verify the License with the DBPR.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I don't know which contractor to tell you to use, either number two or number three, but do not ever pay a contractor 50% in advance. And this is coming from a long time contractor.....

John O'Leary · Answer

I would go the GC that has the best referrals and I wouldn't pay more than 20% upfront.

Kyle Smith · Answer

I recently had a bathroom renovated, ran me about $7,000 but this was a relatively small bathroom. my contractor also asked for 50% up front which I obliged, but I paid him when he was on site ready to get to work. I would look up the contractors online and see if they have reviews and business accounts on social media platforms with pictures of their previous work.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

@Karin Cornils  Go to https://www.cslb.ca.gov/ and enter the Lic # or name of your Contractor. That will give you details on the guy and you can see any past issues. Still, do not give 50% to anyone....

A good rule of thumb is this - The better the Contractor, the less money they will ask for as a down payment.

Karin Cornils · Answer

Thanks @Peyton Millirons for the reality check around remodeling contracts and what reasonable downpayment structure should look like. Good to see the distinction between handyman and contractor wrt full material and labor bids.

And thanks @Edward P. for your recommendations, especially around verifying the license with the DBPR.

Quinton Oake · Answer

I'm in the same boat as Corby, I pay GC 50% with no issues. However, in the contract with a new contractor, I would specify reductions in writing if they can't meet their deadlines. i.e.: they state 2 weeks. anything longer and the remaining 50% to be lowered by a percentage or dollar amount each day over those 14 days. You use that at your discretion. So if for example, the GC hired a painter and it rained for 2 weeks, I wouldn't reduce the amount because no sub-contractor could have done it. Hope that makes sense.

Which contractor do use?

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