Determining which estimate to go with.

If you have dealt with the guy before and were satisfied with his work, then get him.
Why take some unknownthat you may have to get someone else to come in after and correct. Double payments are more than 20-25% of the original.

 

Better the devil you know....if the more expensive gadge has done a good job in the past for what you consider a fair price you should go with him. However, at the minute, with money tighter than a shark's ar*e at 50 fathoms, I might be tempted to go the cheap route. But if things weren't so bad, definitely the first option. Just my opinion, but I think trust goes a long way in a working relationship.
It ain't bad that you hope the other gadge ups his price, but ultimately, if you need to make a decision on the basis of getting a good job done, whether he ups his price or not is immaterial. Why not even ask for a discount from the one you know? He might just be feeling the pinch like everyone else. He can only say 'no'.

 

I would go with tried and true rather take a chance on saving a few bucks. It's rare now days to find someone who actually does a good job.

 

Can't stress enough, the job price quoted by both contractors must be "apples to apples". Even if you have to write down the specific items and verify with both. Also, are both bonded and insured equally? Can you get recommendations from previous homeowners that the unknown contractor has done work for. If he is reputable, he will be glad to give you references for previous customers.

 

Working for a contractor, I can tell you that people almost expect to have a price shopped around, and the guy that's been there before probably has something extra in his price hoping you'll just have him back again and again. I'd let him know you have someone else in the price range you were looking for, but you'd rather spend your money with someone you know you can trust to do it right, ask him to look at his quote, see if he can come down some, and go from there. Good luck.

 

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-paint-a-house1.htm

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/how-to-paint-a-house-5.jpg

Get your old clothes out:-D

 

It depends I guess, on how you've spoken with this guy before, if you're friendly or professional with him. I usually call my (Glass) suppliers, we have good relationships with them, and if a project is real close to one of them, but it's a state away from the one with a better price, I'll tell them something like "I see you came in at $4.80 a square foot, and I know this job is in your back yard, so I'd like to go with your price... If you could get it in the $4.50 range, I'd like to not have your competition's trucks in the area." The other company might only be at $4.65, but that gives company 2 a chance to tell me they can't get to $4.50 but they could do $4.60.. I'd usually wait a day and see if they can take some delivery charge off to help, and they will normally.. So I give them the job.

If I was shopping a painter, I'd ask what type of paint they were both going to use, and if they would quote the job with you supplying the paint (You might save some price increase here because they're going to SELL you the paint that they buy, and you're probably not going to get to keep the left-over). I'd tell the guy that you want to deal with that you do want him to do the work, but you have a guy at almost 3/4 his price. You might ask HIM to look over the other guy's quote, and make sure that he's going to use the same quality that the higher price guy is. Or, you might just tell him you have a price that's 3/4 of his, and though you'd like to have him back, it'd probably still be cheaper to risk the 25% and have him come do touch up if needed.

There are lots of angles to play with it, like buying a car. I've watched a car go from $350 a month to $175 a month over the course of a days worth of phone calls.

 

Here's an example of the money he could have to play with. Let's say you have a round table and you want a piece of glass put on it. Say it's 30" in diameter.. 1/4" Thick and it's tempered, so it doesn't kill you if it breaks.. I'm going to buy the glass for $1.80 a square foot. The glass starts square, so it's 6.25 square feet. It's $50 to have it cut round. I'll pay nothing to have it shipped here. I bought the glass for $61.25 but I'm rounding it right off the bat to $62 (money always rounds up) I'm going to make 35% on it (after I tax it) but you're going to pay me to bring it to you (even if you pick it up) and I don't pull a truck out of the garage for less than $50 so for the $62 piece of glass you're going to pay $156.23 ($157 rounded up)

Sounds like you made a great deal. You're going to preserve that table top to infinity and beyond... Click here...

The only real difference is my glass is probably better, and I buy enough of it that if you broke it before you got it home, my supplier would more than likely ship another one out at no charge.

 

Here to help:major:-D

 

Here's an old saying of mine, hope you like it:

Do it once, do it right, because doing it twice costs at least three times as much. :cool

 

If you want quality,you have to pay for it.

 

A) You do get what you pay for. B) If he's doing it himself, he's charging more incase he gets injured because there's no employer to pay for his medical expenses. C) If the guy knows you're going to call him, you might get a discount later when you have an emergency. Don't expect it though.

 

So, have you heard anything back from the contractor?

 

Glad to hear of the positive outcome, Laura.

 

And as I stated, if the other guy scr..s things up, you would have to get someone else to come in to correct it.
All in all, well done and congratulations.

 

I know you already made up your mind (and I would have made the same decision), but I just wanted to add that in addition to the material, a professional painter knows how to get it right the first time, so you're paying hm for knowing how to do it. You're also paying for the convenience of not having to spend all those days and hours painting. You can do other, more fun things.

You paid a little extra for the knowledge that the job will be done right the first time around. Peace of mind and quality of work are both things that are well worth paying a bit extra for, are they not?

 

Wheeeeew.. Now that that's over with, what color did you pick? LOL

I rented a house a few years ago, and the landlord had it painted. It took FOREVER to find someone reliable. One time he had these clowns working there, and one kid came in, the boss had a talk with him, and must have told him what to do for the day and left. About an hour later that kid was outside SLEEPING in my yard. he was blaring loud music, and just... who sleeps in a persons yard when they're supposed to be working? Anyhow he slept for about 2 hours and I took a few pictures of him sleeping out there..

Yeah, so I taped them to every window on my floor that faced outside.. Got the house painted faster, by someone else. LOL

 

My Auntie Agatha had a similar problem a while ago. She hired the cheapest painter she could find in the area. She left to go to work that morning and explained to the guy that she wanted the porch painted.
When she returned that evening, nothing had been done. She found the fella and asked why he hadn't painted the porch.
The painter explained that it wasn't a porch, it was a Ferrari....:-D:duck

 

Of course, you could follow this example: http://madmasquerade.deviantart.com/art/South-Haven-Michigan-3-112024153

Great joke.

 

What a mess. That's awful.

 

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/28/28_1_19.gif

 

If you think that's shocking, I wish I could show you the rest of the house, but I don't have a photo of it.

 

I like that, sort of the flip side of the one i always use (when noting foolishness) "There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over"

Laura, glad you got the outcome you wanted. Definitely go for the guy who does it himself, especially if you've had experience with him. When you use some one who hires others, you end up with :zzz a Paxton situation. :cry

 

:-Dto PFC sherpaprime.
You trying to get Sgt. Paxton007 down on your case? lol