Our contractor is an idiot. After he was off on most of his subwork amounts he had in our cost breakdown for the shop, (and we paid for) we strongly and numerous times told him we need him to be right on for the house costs. We can't afford any more big surprises.
He appears to be off on the insulation costs by 100%! DH has been trying to have him get his insulation sub out to make sure it will cost what contractor says. Same thing with his HVAC guy. We have been asking him to get them out here for 2 months now. In the meantime, last week, we had that friend of friend, who has HVAC company come out. He also used to own an insulation company. He looked around and said, just ballpark, I'm guessing it would be about $35,000 to insulate. Builder put in $16,500 for"R-23 walls and R-50 ceiling blown in up, down, and garage." We then had the guy he sold his insulation company to come out and give us a bid. $39,000. Finally, yesterday, the builder's insulation sub came out. He's working up the bid, but said same thing - it's going to be at least $30,000 to do this. WTF?!! .
We will probably have to consult with an attorney on this to find out what our rights are. In my opinion the builder screwed this up and he needs to eat the cost difference. We have a contract for him to build this house for a specific amount, listed line by line. In the contract, it states if we want to make changes or choose higher cost "allowance" items (like fixtures, appliances, flooring) then we have to pay the difference ourselves. (of course). We have not changed what we want for insulation. He royally screwed up the bid. We were telling the HVAC guy about all this costs being higher on so
many things. He said he's done contractor work/built stuff before and he
said the builder should have to cover the cost on that, if he bid it wrong to us.
The painter lady just showed up to start on some outside trim (she is wife of contractor's finish guy) and she asked "when does it get insulated". DH just kind of laughed and said - maybe not ever....since the cost is more than twice what contractor put in bid. She's like "well, ya, that happens, sometimes costs go up". I said well, I might expect a cost to go up 10, maybe 15%..not over 100%!! Anyway, I was stressing over it yesterday and last night, but woke up this morning with the mindset the contractor can figure it out - it's his problem. (I know in reality it will still be my problem, LOL, but at least today, I'm not worrying about it, haha)
Is there anything in the contract that you had to build in a certain time frame for those prices to be valid or that costs could increase?
ReplyDeleteJust that he is supposed to complete it in 120 days and for a set price, other than if there are changes, they must be approved and overages out of our pocket.
DeleteOh dear. I am so thankful I am not building. It seems like costs change daily with a build.
ReplyDeletethey sure do. It's very frustrating to budget
DeleteWe own our home in part because the builder 30 years ago under bid and then put higher grade items in to try and build a name for himself. Apparently he did this a few too many times and went bankrupt. Our house, built for someone else, was 99% finished, but unable to close. It sat in a legal limbo for over a year when we bought it from the law office that finally took it on. The original people had first option, but by then, they had long moved on to something else. We ended up with a house that we had to do a lot of finishing touches, but nothing major, and bought the house for 20% less than it was appraised at. I guess my story is, yes-he should be on the hook for all the overages and it is not fair to you that he screwed up. while I am sure the legalities are on your side,if he can't finish, you get screwed that way as well like our houses original intended downers did. I hope it works out.
ReplyDeletethat is a very good point!
DeleteOh my. I agree with the others. I'd be calling an attorney. There is no way you should be on the hook for this. Wow. Just wow.
ReplyDeleteI agree, too
DeleteIf he is calling himself a contractor, he should have done his assesment correctly. He is supposed to know his stuff and I am sure he has contingencies built into his costs. I am sure things will be resolved in your favor.
ReplyDeleteHe does call himself a contractor, but he really isn't a very good one. His quality of work is excellent, his managerial skills in being a contractor are awful.
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