Philadelphia contractor advice: Bathroom renovation

[Account Closed]

Hey BP,

I am renovating a small bathroom (typical Philly row) and I'm thinking of leaving the tub and wall tile (needs a good cleaning) and replacing the vanity, sink, floor (install tile) and toilet. The more I look at the bathroom I may just do tile and toilet. My friend hooked me up with his contractor who has done outstanding work at my friends personal residence. The contractor wants to charge me $200 a day for labor and I'm required to pay for all supplies. The contractor stated he is unable to determine the exact amount of time it will take to finish the job because he's unsure of what he will uncover when removing tile etc. I've heard this a lot lately from contractors and feel as if it's code for... "I have five days off from work and therefore I need to stretch this job out for 5 days to make $1000." Now I will admit, this is something that I am not proficient at and maybe over time I will be apologizing for this post... but as of now I'm just not good at knowing how long a project will take and if a contractor is just stretching the job out. Add the fact that I work full time, so the contractor can work 4 hours or 12 hours and I will never know. I also hate not knowing how hard the contractor is working when I'm not there. One day I was at the property and just talking to one of my other contractors as he worked. I was amazed at how hard he was working and knew that if I was not there to see him working that I would not have realized the great work and effort he put towards his work. 

Any advice BP? 

$200 a day labor expensive for rental property? 

Unknown finish date for small bathroom project reasonable?

[Joe White]

That is commonplace and it does make sense...he's right - in that type of job, he has no idea what he will find. A bathroom project I was involved, not long ago, we found the predecessor had cut the floor joists to more easily fit the tub pipes. Obviously, you'r going to want some floor joists under a tub full of water - especially if you're in it. One approach might be to get a "not to exceed price"; but clearly define what its should cost and clearly define what it could cost. Otherwise, should becomes could.