Yesterday was our 33rd wedding anniversary. DH had some flowers delivered, very pretty. I only had to work a half day. We decided not to go out and eat for dinner. Roads would have been icy by evening and that dark highway often has deer and elk that like to get hit with cars. So, we saved some money and I made a nice dinner of salad, bbq ribs, rolls and some watermelon. Later for dessert we had root beer floats. Just watched his Friday evening shows and I sat there and read some while he was watching. Finished up one book and another I've been waiting on via e-library became available.
I had this whole long post written up about our house building issues. We met with him on Monday. To shorten it up: he gave us a bid/cost breakdown 18 months ago. The only two things we changed/added (compared to first number) was granite countertops (a $5,000 increase) and changed the two big beams on the front and back covered porches to be curved beams ($12,000 per builder). The front beam had to bec changed to curved, so we wanted back one to match. His new quote was over $85,000 more than 18 months ago!! He's totally jacked up everything. Plus, we have told him from DAY 1, and in email and it's on the plans, we want cultured stone around bottom of house. He never had that included in his "lumber/siding" package number. Now we are about $13,000 over what we qualify for without having to sell this house first. But, we still need his "final" numbers after our meeting on Monday so we can try and figure out where to cut (at least) $13,000....and that doesn't include the paved driveway we wanted to add....and we're giving up the shop. We've changed nothing on the masterbath tiled shower......he upped it from $4500 to $7500. I can't imagine installing some wood look porcelain tile planks would cost that much. It's not like we're using some expensive tile with a fancy design. Still waiting on him..........SO frustrating!!
I went to the town store yesterday and only bought 2 things. Gallon of milk and 1/2 gallon of ice cream. My goal is not to go to store again or order anything online for the next 10 days.
I had some money left on an Amazon gift card, so I ordered a pair of hair cutting scissors, that arrived yesterday. Boy, they are nice and sharp. I tried them on my bangs. Can't wait to try on the ends of my hair to shorten up a bit. They were only $11.
Not sure what we are doing this weekend. Probably not much of anything. I'm heading to the shower and then will do my Saturday morning housecleaning chores.
Maybe you should get another estimate. I think granite counters are way over-rated...just my opinion that you did not ask for...lol. I think I would write an email telling how perplexed you are over certain prices he quoted. I need hair cutting scissors. Can you give me which you ordered. I have a bit of money on Amazon, too.
ReplyDeleteThese are the scissors I got:
Deletehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CWXLY5/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
That is ridiculous for the bathroom tile. I had floor to ceiling (10ft ceilings) wood plank tile with specialty rock flooring and saltillo tiles that take a specialized tiler just in my master! I had that saltillo tile in all 3 bathrooms, a porcelain tile in the other 2 bathrooms, the saltillo in the kitchen and laundry rooms, then engineered hardwood in the rest of the house for $16,400 TOTAL! I did not have it broken down per room, but 1/2 of my budget for 1 bathroom is insane.
ReplyDeleteOh and Happy Anniversary! That is so wonderful 33 years - AMAZING! It sounded like a wonderful evening.
Deletethat $7500 is just to tile the master shower! not the flooring!
DeleteHappy Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI would take both bids and have him give you an item by item reason for the increase.
thank you! yes, we have told him we'd like to go line by line through it
DeleteHappy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHoping for the best with the building issues. That's just crazy & disappointing to say the least. Good luck there.
Thank you:)
DeleteHappy anniversary! Holy smokes. That is a huge increase. I would not accept it for what it is and would definitely get another bid.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the reason is over the past 2 years construction has been booming (in the city area, not in our rural area) and now he (and other contractors) have more work then they need so they've upped their prices.
DeleteHappy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteAnd yikes for those tiles! They should not be so expensive. My counter top was expensive too when I renovated the kitchen. Mine is Quartz. The brand name is Silestone. I do not know if that brand is available in the US but I am sure Quartz is. It has a 25 year warranty. You may want to check it out and compare it with Granite. It may be less expensive.
Here is the link. It is available in the US.
Deletehttps://www.silestoneusa.com/what-is-silestone/
we glanced at the quartz when we were at the granite store, but liked the look of granite better, so I didn't really price the quartz. Those wood look porcelain tiles are like $2 sqft....material for our shower tile would be like $600....not sure why it would cost almost $7000 to install it!
Delete