What is the name of your state? GA
We had an addition built recently. We never got all of the invoices, but we
do have a breakdown of costs and 4 of the invoices. When I compared his
costs to the invoices, they don't match. Example, french doors cost him
$858, invoice says $800. Then, there's his list of estimates. The
allowance for plumbing fixtures was $25. We had a master bedroom and
bath built. The bathroom has 2 sinks, a tub, and seperate shower. $25
won't even buy one faucet. We bought all the plumbing fixtures and
almost all of the electric fixtures. We were told that we get credit for that,
but that they don't subtract it off the contract price, they just don't include
it in their list of costs. Also, he lists estimate for light fixtures at $113. He
didn't even know which light fixtures he was going to have to buy until
close to the end of the job. He ended up buying 4 fixtures which happen
to add up to app. $113. Why are all of his numbers so far off? I can see
that we really aren't getting any credit for what we bought, but is he trying
to cheat us out of more than that or am I just paranoid? How does a contractor make his profit? Does it come from increasing the cost of materials a certain percentage? Or does it come from things costing less than his estimate? And, how much profit is considered normal? Is there a cap on profit? Thanks for any thoughts.
We had an addition built recently. We never got all of the invoices, but we
do have a breakdown of costs and 4 of the invoices. When I compared his
costs to the invoices, they don't match. Example, french doors cost him
$858, invoice says $800. Then, there's his list of estimates. The
allowance for plumbing fixtures was $25. We had a master bedroom and
bath built. The bathroom has 2 sinks, a tub, and seperate shower. $25
won't even buy one faucet. We bought all the plumbing fixtures and
almost all of the electric fixtures. We were told that we get credit for that,
but that they don't subtract it off the contract price, they just don't include
it in their list of costs. Also, he lists estimate for light fixtures at $113. He
didn't even know which light fixtures he was going to have to buy until
close to the end of the job. He ended up buying 4 fixtures which happen
to add up to app. $113. Why are all of his numbers so far off? I can see
that we really aren't getting any credit for what we bought, but is he trying
to cheat us out of more than that or am I just paranoid? How does a contractor make his profit? Does it come from increasing the cost of materials a certain percentage? Or does it come from things costing less than his estimate? And, how much profit is considered normal? Is there a cap on profit? Thanks for any thoughts.
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