Hi all Ive got 5 properties now, I usually buy them at 70% of value, renovate and then cash out for the next. I’ve got a handyman I’ve worked with for about a year now, he at times can be a little expensive but normally he’s very prompt and fixes things if they go wrong. Here’s the issue:
I had a bathroom in a current rental I was refinancing for cash out. The tub was not in good shape nor the tub surround. Since it’s a rental - my first thought was to reglaze the tub ($200-$300) and put up a surround - the kind you buy at the box stores for $300 or so.
My handyman talks me into doing a new tub says the cost of a generic tub isn’t much more than reglazing. I ask him how much this will cost - he does this often - he tells me prices of the parts but is vague on labor. He also goes ahead and buys a $600 surround without asking and puts it up.
Now he gets into the removal and says he has to unmount the toilet to get the tub out. Ok. He says there’s some small water damaged wood underneath the tub. Ok. He has to replace one row of bathroom floor tile that was up against the tub. Ok.
He also buys the wrong size tub not once but twice but finally gets it right.
Long story short - end of the madness he charges me a little over $1000 for parts and just under $2000 for labor. I flat out told him a 200% markup for a bathtub and surround seems extremely out of the norm. Unless it was a major remodel - his past labor charges are like 30-40%. I also told him this is why I asked 5x what the bill would be all along but he never would give me a number or estimate except for parts.
So he wants $3200 for a tub and surround in a 5x10 bathroom in a little normal rental property.
When I questioned the bill he got very defensive and said he doesn’t make a lot on the work he does for me. I flat out told him he’s got to give people a legitimate estimate before he does work I never would have agreed to $3,200 for this little bathroom tub.
This has happened before but never at this price point.
Am I out of line here or is he?
