Not sure what a written estimate is, or whether you need one for your next remodeling job? Here to explain is Chris Fuller, the owner of Kitchen Bath & Glass Center in Brevard County, Florida, who has been helping clients with their remodeling needs for more than 20 years.
Getting a written estimate from a contractor before moving forward with a project is really crucial for consumers. For one, these estimates are probably going to be your best way to understand how much the project might truly cost. And on top of that, depending on what type of estimate is presented, this might be the first time a homeowner really understands the entire scope of the project he is planning on undertaking.
Estimates can help a consumer learn a lot about the contractor he or she is considering hiring, too, since estimates are essentially like little quizzes used to judge the contractor’s level of knowledge. When you read an estimate, it easy to tell the difference between a contractor who is professional and knows what he is talking about and someone who is not.
As far as the various types of estimates go, there are two main types of written estimates — allowance estimates and design or selection estimates.
The first type of estimate that most people get during the early stages of a construction project is an allowance estimate. What an allowance estimate is, is when a company like my own — which already knows the general prices of everything involved in remodeling and reconstruction projects — comes out to a person’s home, has a conversion about what the person wants, and tells him the average cost of the type of project he wants to do.
These initial meetings for the allowance estimates can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour’s time tops. But during that short time we can get a sense for what this homeowner is looking for, and we can tell him the average cost of everything involved in the total plan.
So included in an allowance estimate for a bathroom, for example, would be what the contractor says is the average cost of replacing a toilet, the average cost for new tile, the average cost for the installation and removal of tile, and all that type of stuff.
The allowance estimate is one type of estimate, and it is the type that is usually done first and usually done quickly — with most estimate appointments taking only an hour or less to complete.
After that, the next step in the construction project for the homeowner is to get a design estimate. This estimate is where the homeowner will sit down with the contractor and actually pick out the specific products he’s planning to use on the job.
Typically, the design estimate does not happen until after the homeowner has given over a deposit to whomever is handling the construction. And it is at that time when they will sit down together and go through the entire selection process.
The contractor should be letting the client say at that time, “I want this toilet, and I want that sink, and those are the tiles I want to use.” So ideally the contractor should be letting the client choose the specific fixtures and products he wants to use.
When I say specific products, I mean very specific. This is the point when the clients should be telling the contractor the exact tile pattern they want, or pointing to the exact bathtub they want and confirming the size and other details. And like I said, that is typically the second stage of the estimating process — that is the selection or the design estimate.
Most people don’t have to choose which type of estimate is right for them, because they end up getting both types of estimates when they embark on a new project, starting with the initial allowance estimate and then moving on to the selection estimate once the construction gets a little closer.
Within these two varieties of estimates, however, there are even more differences that people should watch out for. One thing that is helpful to people is something called a fixed-cost estimate.
When a contractor tells you he is giving you a fixed-cost estimate, that means that he is telling you that he is going to be able to do the project for the estimated price, and no matter happens along the way, he is not going to go over that estimated cost.
The other type of estimate is called a time and material estimate. With a time and material estimate, a contractor says, “I am going to charge you a certain amount for my time.” So he sets a set price for so much each hour, and then sets a price for material at a 30% mark up, as well.
Personally, I prefer the fixed cost estimate for the projects I work on. In fact, that is the only type of estimate we do. And the reason for that is because with a fixed-cost estimate, the customer is guaranteed that the scope of the project is going to cost within a certain amount.
