Estimate from Contractors

[Nick Rutkowski]

Hey BP,

How much do you budget when getting an estimate from a contractor? Once again, I’m in a situation where I’m spending more money on my contractor who is over his estimate. (Shocking, not.) I’m sick of being hosed by these guys and I expect every contractor to be wrong with their estimate. I want to be proactive for next time, I thinking of budgeting 20% extra on top of the estimate to cover myself from them. What do you guys think?