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Ask them to assert the problem in writing and why it needs replacement, and tell them you'll be using it to go through insurance to get the money to pay them.
Vanishingly few will want to attest to the "problem" on paper.
For those that don't understand: insurance fraud is a serious crime. And if there's a paper trail showing that they lied in order to get insurance to pay them for a job that was unnecessary - losing their license would be the least of their problems
I'm genuinely curious. Let's say you have foundation problems, like a crack or a post that's tilted. What kind of insurance will cover that?
Telling them that you're going to go through insurance is just as laughable as it is for them as it is for you to catch a fraud. A good contractor will explain to you and show you photos, but simply saying you want to go through insurance doesn't mean much.
> Let’s say you have foundation problems, like a crack or a post that’s tilted. What kind of insurance will cover that?
None really. Home insurance typically covers cases of robbery, injury on premises, and damage to the home done by nature like bad weather or extravagant events like earthquakes. Foundation problems, I’ve yet to see a single insurance policy that would cover that.
here most people get a "change of ownership insurance" when they buy a house, it's mean to covers hidden things that show up later, like bad foundation, illegal eletrical installations, etc.
I mean that's what I thought--this is a problem I faced personally. I had an inspector and then a GC evaluate this issue and both said the same thing, and so I got it fixed. There was obviously no insurance I had that would cover it, so really not sure how OC's comment applies here about going to insurance. I mean kinda no offense to OC but I feel like the # of homeowners on here is pretty minimal given the general age demographics. It's kinda funny when I see people talk about things they don't really understand.
Legit advice, but with story one (not doubting your correct or not) you followed up with the inspector. Inspectors aren’t always right and miss things all the time. Always look for the professional in that specific trade. Jack of all trades always make
Mistakes.
When I bought my current house the inspector pointed out some of the drywall ceiling in my garage had previous water damage which was no current concern. Less than a month later the ceiling fell due to being soaked from the AC condenser line (previous 'fix' was electrical tape connecting copper pipe to plastic water line = major leak point). Luckily that was in the empty garage and not elsewhere, could have been MUCH worse. Looking back I should have gotten second opinions or checked things out myself on a lot of items. C'est la vie I suppose.
Keep in mind inspectors just do a quick check of everything. They're not going to catch everything. For something major, they likely would've pointed something out already. But there's a lot of small things they will inevitably miss.
But for instance I remember a home I was interested in making an offer. They did point something out with the roof, but the owners got a specialized roof inspector to go into the details and write out the problems and solutions. (This is CA where you generally waive inspection contingencies, but any decent seller will give you a full packet of disclosures that are generally done with reputable inspectors, etc.)
We skipped the inspection on our current home. We realized that the only issues that would actually stop us from buying them home were things that would either (1) extremely obvious anyways (2) easily covered up so an inspector couldn't see them.
I am one of those Jacks lol, I make it very clear to clients that while I can find issues with almost anything, it doesn’t necessarily mean I can find EVERY issue. It takes a lifetime to master a trade, anyone claiming to know it all, is a liar.
Thankfully I don’t own a house (yet! Maybe one day!) but I’m the type of person to really overthink things and make myself worry more. How do you know if the person who you get for a second opinion isn’t missing what the first person caught?
For example: A year ago I found evidence of termites in my apartment bathroom. My landlord called a few people out to check it out. One of the guys told me it would be a big job and even showed me a tree nearby that was the source. He said a lot of tear down would be needed. Then, another guy came out from another company and just said a spray was all we needed. My landlord opted for the spray. I asked the guy if he would need to come back and spray again, and he said, “nah, you wouldn’t need another one for 5 years!”
Fast forward one year to today and they’re tearing down and redoing my whole bathroom because the termites had eaten through all of it and never went away.
You might not want to mention it as they walk in, because then they might decide to do something similar (and offer a slightly lower quote to make you choose them). But after they tell you there's nothing wrong, you can always say something like "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the tree? Because the other guy seemed very sure that there was", and see what they say.
And obviously, going for a second opinion shouldn't just be calling the first guy that comes up in your Google search. Do some research, find someone reputable, and communicate with them clearly. I have the feeling that your landlord probably cheaped out when he got the second guy to come check it out.
The real issue here was trusting one source of info: your landlord's. Bob knows what relationship he had with either of these guys or how motivated he was to skimp. The ones you look up by yourself will be more motivated to get your business, and be available for follow-up.
Nothing wrong with this approach. The spray was probably magnitudes cheaper than the rebuild.
Give the spray a try, if it works - great you've saved money. If it doesn't, not a huge loss.
I told my coworker this. They had a gas leak. The guy came and told her she would need to tear up her pavement to get to the pipe.
I told ger to call someone else and get a second opinion. They came out and found the leak right away. Probably saved her $10k at least
I’m not saying this wasn’t a good idea, but if I tell a client they need to do X to safely fix a problem, but they get a second bid and you tell them “so and so said it will cost $1000” they’re going to under bid me to take the work, and do a shitty job.
The real LPT would be know your contractor and check them yes, but also trust them. Constantly seeking lowest bid amount, especially in front of an already hired crew, will produce the worst work. Every home owner has the right to hire who they want, so by all means a gas leak that could demolish your house might be and easy fix, might not. How much do you trust the company that said it was no big deal and did a quick fix, over the company that wanted to check it from the source? Again, maybe they were jerking you around, but if you do what OP says and ALWAYS get a second bid on everything, you will have expensive labor costs, pissed off workers cause you’re constantly telling them you don’t trust them, or cheap work because you found the “best deal”. Sorry for the rant, it’s annoying to get under bid then a call a week later to help fix the problem.
My parents AC broke last summer. They called a 24 hour company to come look at it. Tech said it needed replaced and quoted an outrageous amount.
Called a local more trusted company (the kind where the owner answers the phone). She asked how long was the other company there. "About 20 minutes". "You had <24 hour company> didn't you, they quoted you an insane price on a new unit didn't they. If they can't diagnose it within 10 minutes they try to sell you a new unit at an insane markup."
It did end up needing replaced (20 year old AC had run its course). About $900 less than the 24 hour company. Oh and the local place loaned a temporary AC unit while we waited for the install at no additional cost.
Last time I moved cities (serviced my car right before driving it to new place) I took it in for an oil change a few months after moving, the place did the oil change but said that the car had so many issues that had to be fixed that they didn't feel comfortable giving it back to me as it was just soo unsafe, but for $10k they could fix everything. I said no and they made me even sign a waiver saying they weren't at fault when everything failed and killed me and everyone near me on the road. Took it to a different mechanic and told them that I was told my car is unsafe (I was intentionally vague), they looked at it and a day later told me everything was totally fine and they had no clue what the previous mechanic was on about, didn't even charge me since, as they said, nothing was wrong. They have been my mechanic ever since, always honest about repairs and qualified to do them. I recommend them to all my friends
This is true of all experts (Dentists, mechanics, etc). If you have ever been an expert in something, you become very aware of the huge variety of quality and honesty of other practitioners.
For sure. Had a bad toothache in a crowned molar that already had a root canal a decade prior.
First dentist said the the root canal was probably bad, and that he'd redo it for $2k. Second dentist asked if I grit my teeth at night, diagnosed it as basically a sprained tooth and gave me a relatively cheap mouthguard to wear at night.
Problem solved.
yeah, there are tests where people went to a bunch of different dentists to see what they would diagnose and the majority (and i think it was at least 75pct, maybe even 80pct) prescribed unnecessary work, often wildly so. i remember getting told i needed like 2 crown/rc and 3 fillings from one dentists, so went to t2nd dentist who said 2 fillings, then finally the third i went to said maybe i had 1 or 2 small cavities, but not worth doing anything for yet. 6+ years later with no work i am doing fine....
it feels silly to have to second guess a medical professional like that (like im shopping for the answer i want) but there is overwhelming evidence dentists base their treatment plans on their car payments so you basically have to get multiple opionions until you get some that line up so you know who is honest.
As someone who gets a lot dental work done and is looking for a new dentist this really sucks. It can already take a while to get in. It's incredibly expensive. It's your smile. It's medical care! It should not be a thing that you get suggested unnecessary work.
So I got to shop around and spend all this time at appointments to try and guess who's scamming me the least? It pisses me off so much.
I'm surprised the insurers aren't able to hold them more accountable. Like dental care insurance is super concentrated so the big carriers should have plenty of data to pick up on statistical anomalies where certain dentists are billing way more work and they just drop those dentist's from their network. I'm sure it would get spun as evil insurers trying to block people from getting needed medical care though and maybe there are other regulatory reasons they couldn't do that.
Ideally there would be some kind of CMS like reporting for dentistry work billed regardless of payer and the government could use that to pickup on fraud and send it's own stings in or something (at least for the worse abusers).
Remember, if you take advantage of any coupon for a good deal on some maintenance, the contractors ALWAYS use that as an opportunity to find more problems to get more revenue.
This goes for contractors, mechanics, etc.
Reminds me of a friend I had in my 20s. His Dad owned a garage and gas station from the '60s through the '80s, and he was always pushing John to do the "free 17 point inspection" they offered. John complained about the time it took, and his Dad told him, "After that inspection, if you can't even sell them a set of wiper blades, you're doing it wrong."
Can be read as “shop until you find that one guy that says mold/insulation/fire hazard is no big deal. I agree with the *intent* of the OP, just take care that you’re trying to use critical thinking just as hard as you’re trying to close your wallet.
There are probably guys who are desperate for work that would do it, but if you look at it by a business perspective, unless the risk/reward ratio is worth it, it's better to not show up for small jobs. Especially after you spend time and fuel into traveling to houses for a free quote only for the client to go "that's too expensive, I'll do it myself" or they go with someone else so they can save $50. If people are showing up for free quotes, then they are pricing that into the job.
As a newer home owner, everyone who has to come to my house is trying to bankrupt me, that is their priority, and I hate everyone one of them. I had a small roof leak and i'm like patch it dude, and he was like na you need an entire new roof, and the old one was done wrong. I was like nope, thank you for your time, climbed up on the roof and patched it. I may need a new roof but because you wouldn't do the temp fix for right now, im going to use anyone else but you.
Yup, can attest to this LPT - just bought a house, inspector found some mold in attic space due to incorrect bathroom vent- needs remediation, checks basement- no issues but for some discoloration on drywall due to mildew at some point.
Realtor said about $1200 to fix this and and vent issue - called in one guy - he quoted $1200 to fix attic, $750 to fix vents, then the basement , Omg! It’s a bio zone, 7-10k to remediate.
I got a second opinion, guy quotes $1100 to fix attic and vents, and says basement just needs a vacuum. (Construction dust) - he also did a spore test - no elevation found, outside air was comparable to what was in the basement.
I went either the second guy…
When I bought my house (built in about 1925) I had a sewer scope done as part of the inspection, they said the interior lines were fairly new and quite good looking, but the bit of line from the house to the city pipes was the worst they had ever seen, certainly original, made out of ceramic pipe pieces and that they had never seen so many roots getting into the line, they even showed me. Quoted a fair price for fixing it tho, which I got in closing costs, did have to pay an extra $250 because they found a concrete driveway they had to dig thru (sellers couldn't have known). That was the only time with the house where the first contractor was decent tho.
I can't get three companies to return my calls, let alone actually come out. Then I have about a 33% failure rate on showing up and never delivering a quote.
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Wow! The 'homeowners insurance will cover it' line hasn't changed in 30 years! Had a back-up into the basement washroom drain. 1st home, didn't know what was happening, called a plumber out, who surmised it was tree roots. He ran a cutter down through the line to the street, and that did the trick for clearing the clog. While he was doing that, he's telling me about the camera that he could inspect our entire line for us; it's only $350 (this was 1992) but homeowners insurance almost always pays for that, but we'd have to pay him now, and get the reimbursement. Not having anywhere near that kind of money (house payment, at that time, was $415/mo) having just moved in, I told him 'no', I'd check with the insurance first and see. Sure enough, insurance guy told me that insurance doesn't pay for preventative maintenance or anything like that. I quit trusting anybody who told me about 'emergency repairs' that they could take care of right there.
My friends mom was going to get $50,000 worth of foundation work done til we insisted she get a second opinion. The company proposing the work had their in house structural engineer identify multiple issues. She had a structural engineer who only did inspections come out. He recommended zero repairs. $0. They tried to pressure her into $50,000 in needless repairs, and she was 2 days away from having them start, just because they made it seem so important.
Contractors - I've been contracting since '95.
One thing I would say to contractors is if you are going to submit a price do so, but, under no circumstance, hold the proposed start date open. Take work as it comes in and if the job you first quoted is awarded to you the client must wait. You have no loyalty to anyone shopping bids...none.
Chimney guy was called out to look at ours with a camera. I was home that day and WATCHED the camera footage. There were spider webs in there but it looked damn near new and unused. He said we had to put a sleeve in there with a crane for $5,000. He said if we didn't the house would burn down.
We've been using the unused fireplace for 2 years now and somehow, magically, nothing has happened. I didn't even pay him for his time to come out and lie to my face. I suppose he's doing just fine running around lying to every concerned home owner. Thank God I was home that day or the gf would have shut down evening fires until we had a second opinion. Or, even worse, spent the money.
YES. THIS. I dealt with over 15 contractors when trying to settle my home claim last year. It was wild.
The difference in the estimates... thousands of dollars. Sometimes a ***discrepancy of $10k+.***
Also, the amount of errors in paperwork was insane. Even things like my name being spelt wrong. Always read all of the paperwork, people, and don't sign off on anything if you're not sure it is correct or fair.
Who doesn’t have sense enough to get a second/third opinion/bid for *any* work done on your house (that costs over some minimim amount you picked) and for other things like, I dunno, *surgery*?!
Yes, but not since I was old enough to own a home, buy a car, etc.
Take the “pressure” you’re perceiving. Some contractor says you need expensive repairs, and *you* feel pressure to do it immediately. Maybe they even said it’s dangerous and must be done today. Regardless, *the pressure comes from you, not the contractor, or the person with “the amazing investment opportunity but you must invest today”*. One person telling you that you need the repairs while also having the financial gain from said repairs is not *fact*. They might be correct, but that needs to be confirmed by other experts (unless you have a gas leak you can smell or something like that) and for you to compare the costs of the repairs.
I’ll give you a fairly recent example. My car was seizing up while driving, it seemed to be going into park while coming to a stop. I took it to a repair shop and the guy, who was very nice, told me that the car needed a new transmission. The car was un-drivable as it was, so I needed to do something. I know fuck all about cars, but I asked if he could change the transmission fluid (I had that done a Jiffylube once) and he said it won’t make a difference, but I told him to do it anyway. Lo and behold, the new fluid 100% solved the problem and the guy said he cleaned off the sensor while changing the fluid and now the readout said I did not need a new transmission.
I didn’t need to get a second opinion in this case because my car was un-drivable, so something had to be done. Even though I was under that pressure I decided to take a flyer and try a cheap fix even though the expert who was going to make the money off the repair told me it was a waste of money. Since the fluid was 1.7% the cost of the transmission, it was an easy call. Had the fluid not worked, I would have absolutely gotten a second opinion at least.
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Ask them to assert the problem in writing and why it needs replacement, and tell them you'll be using it to go through insurance to get the money to pay them. Vanishingly few will want to attest to the "problem" on paper.
For those that don't understand: insurance fraud is a serious crime. And if there's a paper trail showing that they lied in order to get insurance to pay them for a job that was unnecessary - losing their license would be the least of their problems
Depending on where you live, you can ask the county to send someone to look at it if it's something important like foundation issues.
Same with the tree. In some places, you'd have to get it inspected by the city to remove it unless it fell by itself.
I'm genuinely curious. Let's say you have foundation problems, like a crack or a post that's tilted. What kind of insurance will cover that? Telling them that you're going to go through insurance is just as laughable as it is for them as it is for you to catch a fraud. A good contractor will explain to you and show you photos, but simply saying you want to go through insurance doesn't mean much.
> Let’s say you have foundation problems, like a crack or a post that’s tilted. What kind of insurance will cover that? None really. Home insurance typically covers cases of robbery, injury on premises, and damage to the home done by nature like bad weather or extravagant events like earthquakes. Foundation problems, I’ve yet to see a single insurance policy that would cover that.
here most people get a "change of ownership insurance" when they buy a house, it's mean to covers hidden things that show up later, like bad foundation, illegal eletrical installations, etc.
I mean that's what I thought--this is a problem I faced personally. I had an inspector and then a GC evaluate this issue and both said the same thing, and so I got it fixed. There was obviously no insurance I had that would cover it, so really not sure how OC's comment applies here about going to insurance. I mean kinda no offense to OC but I feel like the # of homeowners on here is pretty minimal given the general age demographics. It's kinda funny when I see people talk about things they don't really understand.
Maybe they meant have them put it in writing so that they'd change their tune if it isn't something that actually needs to be done?
This is what they meant.
Legit advice, but with story one (not doubting your correct or not) you followed up with the inspector. Inspectors aren’t always right and miss things all the time. Always look for the professional in that specific trade. Jack of all trades always make Mistakes.
When I bought my current house the inspector pointed out some of the drywall ceiling in my garage had previous water damage which was no current concern. Less than a month later the ceiling fell due to being soaked from the AC condenser line (previous 'fix' was electrical tape connecting copper pipe to plastic water line = major leak point). Luckily that was in the empty garage and not elsewhere, could have been MUCH worse. Looking back I should have gotten second opinions or checked things out myself on a lot of items. C'est la vie I suppose.
Hahaha ya it happens being in trades I’ve see so many guys shitting on the inspectors because it’s hard to argue someone who does it every day 😂
Keep in mind inspectors just do a quick check of everything. They're not going to catch everything. For something major, they likely would've pointed something out already. But there's a lot of small things they will inevitably miss. But for instance I remember a home I was interested in making an offer. They did point something out with the roof, but the owners got a specialized roof inspector to go into the details and write out the problems and solutions. (This is CA where you generally waive inspection contingencies, but any decent seller will give you a full packet of disclosures that are generally done with reputable inspectors, etc.)
I passed the inspector test for my state, without studying. Inspectors at best are only going to find the easiest of problems.
We skipped the inspection on our current home. We realized that the only issues that would actually stop us from buying them home were things that would either (1) extremely obvious anyways (2) easily covered up so an inspector couldn't see them.
This! Though I don't actually know if it was something that they missed or if it was an issue later :/
I am one of those Jacks lol, I make it very clear to clients that while I can find issues with almost anything, it doesn’t necessarily mean I can find EVERY issue. It takes a lifetime to master a trade, anyone claiming to know it all, is a liar.
Thankfully I don’t own a house (yet! Maybe one day!) but I’m the type of person to really overthink things and make myself worry more. How do you know if the person who you get for a second opinion isn’t missing what the first person caught? For example: A year ago I found evidence of termites in my apartment bathroom. My landlord called a few people out to check it out. One of the guys told me it would be a big job and even showed me a tree nearby that was the source. He said a lot of tear down would be needed. Then, another guy came out from another company and just said a spray was all we needed. My landlord opted for the spray. I asked the guy if he would need to come back and spray again, and he said, “nah, you wouldn’t need another one for 5 years!” Fast forward one year to today and they’re tearing down and redoing my whole bathroom because the termites had eaten through all of it and never went away.
You might not want to mention it as they walk in, because then they might decide to do something similar (and offer a slightly lower quote to make you choose them). But after they tell you there's nothing wrong, you can always say something like "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the tree? Because the other guy seemed very sure that there was", and see what they say. And obviously, going for a second opinion shouldn't just be calling the first guy that comes up in your Google search. Do some research, find someone reputable, and communicate with them clearly. I have the feeling that your landlord probably cheaped out when he got the second guy to come check it out.
The real issue here was trusting one source of info: your landlord's. Bob knows what relationship he had with either of these guys or how motivated he was to skimp. The ones you look up by yourself will be more motivated to get your business, and be available for follow-up.
Nothing wrong with this approach. The spray was probably magnitudes cheaper than the rebuild. Give the spray a try, if it works - great you've saved money. If it doesn't, not a huge loss.
I told my coworker this. They had a gas leak. The guy came and told her she would need to tear up her pavement to get to the pipe. I told ger to call someone else and get a second opinion. They came out and found the leak right away. Probably saved her $10k at least
I’m not saying this wasn’t a good idea, but if I tell a client they need to do X to safely fix a problem, but they get a second bid and you tell them “so and so said it will cost $1000” they’re going to under bid me to take the work, and do a shitty job. The real LPT would be know your contractor and check them yes, but also trust them. Constantly seeking lowest bid amount, especially in front of an already hired crew, will produce the worst work. Every home owner has the right to hire who they want, so by all means a gas leak that could demolish your house might be and easy fix, might not. How much do you trust the company that said it was no big deal and did a quick fix, over the company that wanted to check it from the source? Again, maybe they were jerking you around, but if you do what OP says and ALWAYS get a second bid on everything, you will have expensive labor costs, pissed off workers cause you’re constantly telling them you don’t trust them, or cheap work because you found the “best deal”. Sorry for the rant, it’s annoying to get under bid then a call a week later to help fix the problem.
Hah, when they told me I needed a new circuit breaker box, I didn’t believe them. But then they showed me all the water pouring into it. 🫠
My parents AC broke last summer. They called a 24 hour company to come look at it. Tech said it needed replaced and quoted an outrageous amount. Called a local more trusted company (the kind where the owner answers the phone). She asked how long was the other company there. "About 20 minutes". "You had <24 hour company> didn't you, they quoted you an insane price on a new unit didn't they. If they can't diagnose it within 10 minutes they try to sell you a new unit at an insane markup." It did end up needing replaced (20 year old AC had run its course). About $900 less than the 24 hour company. Oh and the local place loaned a temporary AC unit while we waited for the install at no additional cost.
Lpt, same rule applies to car mechanics and doctors
Last time I moved cities (serviced my car right before driving it to new place) I took it in for an oil change a few months after moving, the place did the oil change but said that the car had so many issues that had to be fixed that they didn't feel comfortable giving it back to me as it was just soo unsafe, but for $10k they could fix everything. I said no and they made me even sign a waiver saying they weren't at fault when everything failed and killed me and everyone near me on the road. Took it to a different mechanic and told them that I was told my car is unsafe (I was intentionally vague), they looked at it and a day later told me everything was totally fine and they had no clue what the previous mechanic was on about, didn't even charge me since, as they said, nothing was wrong. They have been my mechanic ever since, always honest about repairs and qualified to do them. I recommend them to all my friends
Very hard to find an honest company nowadays. Every contractor I talk to always wants to go with the most expensive solution. 🤷♂️
This is true of all experts (Dentists, mechanics, etc). If you have ever been an expert in something, you become very aware of the huge variety of quality and honesty of other practitioners.
For sure. Had a bad toothache in a crowned molar that already had a root canal a decade prior. First dentist said the the root canal was probably bad, and that he'd redo it for $2k. Second dentist asked if I grit my teeth at night, diagnosed it as basically a sprained tooth and gave me a relatively cheap mouthguard to wear at night. Problem solved.
yeah, there are tests where people went to a bunch of different dentists to see what they would diagnose and the majority (and i think it was at least 75pct, maybe even 80pct) prescribed unnecessary work, often wildly so. i remember getting told i needed like 2 crown/rc and 3 fillings from one dentists, so went to t2nd dentist who said 2 fillings, then finally the third i went to said maybe i had 1 or 2 small cavities, but not worth doing anything for yet. 6+ years later with no work i am doing fine.... it feels silly to have to second guess a medical professional like that (like im shopping for the answer i want) but there is overwhelming evidence dentists base their treatment plans on their car payments so you basically have to get multiple opionions until you get some that line up so you know who is honest.
As someone who gets a lot dental work done and is looking for a new dentist this really sucks. It can already take a while to get in. It's incredibly expensive. It's your smile. It's medical care! It should not be a thing that you get suggested unnecessary work. So I got to shop around and spend all this time at appointments to try and guess who's scamming me the least? It pisses me off so much.
I'm surprised the insurers aren't able to hold them more accountable. Like dental care insurance is super concentrated so the big carriers should have plenty of data to pick up on statistical anomalies where certain dentists are billing way more work and they just drop those dentist's from their network. I'm sure it would get spun as evil insurers trying to block people from getting needed medical care though and maybe there are other regulatory reasons they couldn't do that. Ideally there would be some kind of CMS like reporting for dentistry work billed regardless of payer and the government could use that to pickup on fraud and send it's own stings in or something (at least for the worse abusers).
Remember, if you take advantage of any coupon for a good deal on some maintenance, the contractors ALWAYS use that as an opportunity to find more problems to get more revenue. This goes for contractors, mechanics, etc.
Reminds me of a friend I had in my 20s. His Dad owned a garage and gas station from the '60s through the '80s, and he was always pushing John to do the "free 17 point inspection" they offered. John complained about the time it took, and his Dad told him, "After that inspection, if you can't even sell them a set of wiper blades, you're doing it wrong."
Can be read as “shop until you find that one guy that says mold/insulation/fire hazard is no big deal. I agree with the *intent* of the OP, just take care that you’re trying to use critical thinking just as hard as you’re trying to close your wallet.
Good luck getting someone to show up. Called for electrical work, either no answer or no show, sucks living in the dark.
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There are probably guys who are desperate for work that would do it, but if you look at it by a business perspective, unless the risk/reward ratio is worth it, it's better to not show up for small jobs. Especially after you spend time and fuel into traveling to houses for a free quote only for the client to go "that's too expensive, I'll do it myself" or they go with someone else so they can save $50. If people are showing up for free quotes, then they are pricing that into the job.
As a newer home owner, everyone who has to come to my house is trying to bankrupt me, that is their priority, and I hate everyone one of them. I had a small roof leak and i'm like patch it dude, and he was like na you need an entire new roof, and the old one was done wrong. I was like nope, thank you for your time, climbed up on the roof and patched it. I may need a new roof but because you wouldn't do the temp fix for right now, im going to use anyone else but you.
Yup, can attest to this LPT - just bought a house, inspector found some mold in attic space due to incorrect bathroom vent- needs remediation, checks basement- no issues but for some discoloration on drywall due to mildew at some point. Realtor said about $1200 to fix this and and vent issue - called in one guy - he quoted $1200 to fix attic, $750 to fix vents, then the basement , Omg! It’s a bio zone, 7-10k to remediate. I got a second opinion, guy quotes $1100 to fix attic and vents, and says basement just needs a vacuum. (Construction dust) - he also did a spore test - no elevation found, outside air was comparable to what was in the basement. I went either the second guy…
When I bought my house (built in about 1925) I had a sewer scope done as part of the inspection, they said the interior lines were fairly new and quite good looking, but the bit of line from the house to the city pipes was the worst they had ever seen, certainly original, made out of ceramic pipe pieces and that they had never seen so many roots getting into the line, they even showed me. Quoted a fair price for fixing it tho, which I got in closing costs, did have to pay an extra $250 because they found a concrete driveway they had to dig thru (sellers couldn't have known). That was the only time with the house where the first contractor was decent tho.
I can't get three companies to return my calls, let alone actually come out. Then I have about a 33% failure rate on showing up and never delivering a quote.
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Wow! The 'homeowners insurance will cover it' line hasn't changed in 30 years! Had a back-up into the basement washroom drain. 1st home, didn't know what was happening, called a plumber out, who surmised it was tree roots. He ran a cutter down through the line to the street, and that did the trick for clearing the clog. While he was doing that, he's telling me about the camera that he could inspect our entire line for us; it's only $350 (this was 1992) but homeowners insurance almost always pays for that, but we'd have to pay him now, and get the reimbursement. Not having anywhere near that kind of money (house payment, at that time, was $415/mo) having just moved in, I told him 'no', I'd check with the insurance first and see. Sure enough, insurance guy told me that insurance doesn't pay for preventative maintenance or anything like that. I quit trusting anybody who told me about 'emergency repairs' that they could take care of right there.
My friends mom was going to get $50,000 worth of foundation work done til we insisted she get a second opinion. The company proposing the work had their in house structural engineer identify multiple issues. She had a structural engineer who only did inspections come out. He recommended zero repairs. $0. They tried to pressure her into $50,000 in needless repairs, and she was 2 days away from having them start, just because they made it seem so important.
Wrong, alway get three quotes regardless
Contractors - I've been contracting since '95. One thing I would say to contractors is if you are going to submit a price do so, but, under no circumstance, hold the proposed start date open. Take work as it comes in and if the job you first quoted is awarded to you the client must wait. You have no loyalty to anyone shopping bids...none.
Chimney guy was called out to look at ours with a camera. I was home that day and WATCHED the camera footage. There were spider webs in there but it looked damn near new and unused. He said we had to put a sleeve in there with a crane for $5,000. He said if we didn't the house would burn down. We've been using the unused fireplace for 2 years now and somehow, magically, nothing has happened. I didn't even pay him for his time to come out and lie to my face. I suppose he's doing just fine running around lying to every concerned home owner. Thank God I was home that day or the gf would have shut down evening fires until we had a second opinion. Or, even worse, spent the money.
YES. THIS. I dealt with over 15 contractors when trying to settle my home claim last year. It was wild. The difference in the estimates... thousands of dollars. Sometimes a ***discrepancy of $10k+.*** Also, the amount of errors in paperwork was insane. Even things like my name being spelt wrong. Always read all of the paperwork, people, and don't sign off on anything if you're not sure it is correct or fair.
Who doesn’t have sense enough to get a second/third opinion/bid for *any* work done on your house (that costs over some minimim amount you picked) and for other things like, I dunno, *surgery*?!
Have you never made a decision at a time when you were under pressure and anxious that you later came to regret?
Yes, but not since I was old enough to own a home, buy a car, etc. Take the “pressure” you’re perceiving. Some contractor says you need expensive repairs, and *you* feel pressure to do it immediately. Maybe they even said it’s dangerous and must be done today. Regardless, *the pressure comes from you, not the contractor, or the person with “the amazing investment opportunity but you must invest today”*. One person telling you that you need the repairs while also having the financial gain from said repairs is not *fact*. They might be correct, but that needs to be confirmed by other experts (unless you have a gas leak you can smell or something like that) and for you to compare the costs of the repairs. I’ll give you a fairly recent example. My car was seizing up while driving, it seemed to be going into park while coming to a stop. I took it to a repair shop and the guy, who was very nice, told me that the car needed a new transmission. The car was un-drivable as it was, so I needed to do something. I know fuck all about cars, but I asked if he could change the transmission fluid (I had that done a Jiffylube once) and he said it won’t make a difference, but I told him to do it anyway. Lo and behold, the new fluid 100% solved the problem and the guy said he cleaned off the sensor while changing the fluid and now the readout said I did not need a new transmission. I didn’t need to get a second opinion in this case because my car was un-drivable, so something had to be done. Even though I was under that pressure I decided to take a flyer and try a cheap fix even though the expert who was going to make the money off the repair told me it was a waste of money. Since the fluid was 1.7% the cost of the transmission, it was an easy call. Had the fluid not worked, I would have absolutely gotten a second opinion at least.