Bathroom Remodeling Estimate - Is It All-Inclusive?

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Bathroom Remodeling Estimate - Is It All-Inclusive?

Monday, April 28th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

When you elect to hire a building contractor to carry out renovations on your home, the usual practice is for the contractor to present the home owner with a formal written estimate as to the expected cost of the project. Usually the estimate will include both the cost of materials and the labor.

When you get a bathroom remodeling estimate it is important that you take the time to go over it with the contractor so that you are totally sure of what is exactly included in the quoted price. In most instances a bathroom remodeling estimate will include an additional margin to cover unexpected contingencies, but there should also be a section that addresses how much of a price adjustment will be allowed by the homeowner. Also the estimate should include commentary on variations and will spell out if all changes and additional charges will require the customer’s approval and signature.

The vast majority of contractors are professional and trustworthy and greatly depend on referrals from happy customers for much of their work and so they will generally offer an accurate bathroom remodeling estimate for the job. They do this knowing that if they charge significantly more than the job was estimated, their future in the construction business would be extremely limited. There are however, a few builders that will purposely undercut a bathroom remodeling estimate in order to get the job and will then try to increase the price by adding things into the price without consulting the owner.

Permitting the contractor to make adjustments to certain aspects of the project up to a pre-dertermined dollar amount is quite normal in most remodeling contracts. However, it is in your interest to make sure that amount applies to the total cost of the job and not on individual phases. This mistake can considerably increase the cost above the initial bathroom remodeling estimate, with the homeowner having no opportunity to avoid paying the additional costs.

All Contract Specifications Should Be Exact

The bathroom remodeling estimate should always extend to specify the materials to be used. It is not enough for example to stipulate that a granite countertop will be used, the dimensions, especially the thickness should be clearly defined in the estimate. Otherwise it is likely that inferior materials could be used such as a half-inch piece of stone countertop which will not be as durable as you expected.

The specific brand and model of any fixtures should also be included in any bathroom remodeling estimate to ensure only first class quality items are used. It may not be necessary to specify the source of the items, but if there is any prospect that factory seconds or used merchandise will be used then you have to be confident that the estimate clearly indicates that only new materials and fixtures and fittings will be used.

As you can imagine it could take you a while to sort through the paperwork before you actually award the contract but it vis necessary so as to avoid any prospect of a dispute with the contractor during the course of the project.

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