All Forum Posts by: James Sloan

Total square feet is 2500. 

Sorry; that was added in later. 

@Bruce Woodruff I certainly do not like being here either. Yes, he is licensed. I am kind of in alignment with David Greene in that I think more value is derived by investing my time elsewhere. Also, I have not come to the point where I can quit my W2, for which I travel continuously. I also do in a sense identify with the guy; he does not have the personal touch, but he does usually deliver, and offer a reasonable price. I could be wrong. Let me know if the following is worth less than 15 K: 

Note: the letters [F] and [G] are visuals not pasted below. 

• Maintenance / Safety
  • Add carbon monoxide and smoke detectors to 1st and 2nd floor (42)
    • Remove old detectors
  • Install gutter downspouts to prevent moisture intrusion (126)
  • Reinstall vapor barrier in crawl space (127)
  • Replace insulation within wall by the bathtub (106)
    • § To be discussed when wall is opened

• Pine Paneling
  1. Install 1x6 T&G Pine Paneling
     1. Everywhere that vertical paneling is currently installed.
        1. Total Square Feet:
     2. Exclude:
        • Bathrooms
     3. Remove / Uninstall the following:
        • · Place colored items in storage shed; the rest can be kept or disposed of.
          • From Closets:
            • Current Shelving
          • From Wall --
            • Old gas heater (living space wall)
              • Facing back door.
            • Gas heater thermostat (lower bedroom)
            • Baseboard heater (lower bedroom)
            • Two baseboard heaters (living room, under stairway)
            • Coat hangar (bedroom)
            • Two thermo sensors (bedroom and hallway)

.

• Replace Folding Roller Doors
  • Laundry closet door >> Sliding Barn Door
    • Like [F]
  • Slides open to right, to preserve walking space while it is opened.
  • All others >> Hardwood doors (knotty pine)
    • Should closely resemble [G]
  • Black handles

Lower Bedroom Closet:

• Install interior wall dividing closet sections.

@Bruce Woodruff You have to consider the location of the property, and the shortage of contractors. I have had a dozen out here, and this contractor is the only one who will come up to do the work. It's on a mountain, and not very accessible. He actually got his service van stuck the other day. To burn the bridge, and cease progress on the renovation, would be a mistake, I would think. 

I am going to take on a bit of faith and trust him; he has done good work for me in the past. 

Please let me know what you think of what he says here: 

@Account Closed What if I already asked him to add a deadline fee? Would that prevent him from running with the initial 50%? I ask because he has run into issues on our last job that set him back, and he may be trying to recoup his losses in the short term. I don't want to burn bridges with any contractor considering how hard they are to come by right now. 

Then again, I am not sure how easy it would be for me to sue in a small claims court in the case that he did run with the $$

Should I be worried if a contractor wants a 50% deposit (initial payment) on a 15 K interior paneling project? 

The material cost for this project is very linear over time. The first 100 square feet of paneling costs the same as the next. So, I cannot imagine why he would need this much up front. 

Thanks in advance for any insight. 

@Greg Scott Thanks. I am guessing at the old standard of asking for itemized bids is outdated? If contractors are unwilling to give this information, I cannot imagine that they will reveal how much they charge for their labor. 

I am in the process of collecting bids for a pine paneling project, and have found only a couple of contractors to do the job. One is ready to start right away, but refuses to tell me the square footage that he calculated for the job. 

With no bids yet to compare his with, I can only go by the average cost per square foot in my area to determine whether his price is reasonable. 

Am I in the wrong for requesting this? I am a bit confused as to why he would outright refuse to share it, unless he is hiding something, or if he did not actually perform the measurements.

Thanks for any feedback.