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Updated almost 8 years ago, 12/26/2016
Question about bid received from contractor
Hello I have a house that I took a licensed contractor to so that I could receive a bid. The contractor text me later after our visit that his repair estimate is 69K. I thought that was a little high and said I need to be in the 45-50k range. He returned with an estimate of 55k with builder grade materials. I asked him for a written itemized estimate. He stated that it would take weeks because he would have to go back to the house and take measurements of everything to provide an itemized estimate. When he said it, I kind of blew it off because I thought he maybe misunderstood what I was requesting. Then I sent him information from my lender with them requesting cost for each repair such as how much to replace roof, replace windows, renovate kitchen, paint etc. He ended up emailing me an estimate with a written list of repairs and no cost associated with each line item but at the end he had the $55k. In addition, the estimate had misspelled words and formatting errors like he just threw it together fast. Very unprofessional looking. I nicely called it out and he stated "I need to take measurements to provide itemized cost estimate, it will take weeks so I'm just going to pass on this project".
Is what I requested out of the ordinary? Every contractor I've dealt with thus far had no problem providing a written itemized estimate. I'm wondering if he was trying to sabotage the deal, too busy with other projects, trying to hustle someone or just a head case. No contractor I've dealt with has been 100% solid but luckily there haven't been major issues. Can someone let me know what to look out for when dealing contractors or what questions to ask when requesting a bid? Thanks