Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

[RC]

We are in the middle of a bathroom remodel that was an unplanned, unbudgeted project. Had a bad water issue with the old shower that forced this on us. Something we would do in a few years just weren't quite ready now. Anyway, found a contractor we liked (still do) and got the job started. This morning he called me up and said he needed to come over and talk about the tile. When he got here we went to the bathroom where the tile guys were working and he told me that the type of tile we are using is a tumbled marble (I knew that) and that his bid was for regular tile. He and the tile guy went on to explain that this type of tile takes much more time and effort to install (I knew that to) and that he needed to charge me an additional $7 per square foot for the tile install. ($980) Obviously I wasn't to happy about that. I didn't say to much at the time as there were a few people around but I'm thinking that either 1) the type of material should be determined at time of bid to determine proper labor price or 2) if type of material wasn't chosen yet the bid should include a price for regular tile and a price for marble/granite...This being an unexpected project I'm not to happy about the extra cash. What do you think, should he meet me half way on this?

 

[cpubud]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

I would think that half way would be more than fair.

 

[phwrd]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

My brother ran into the same deal a while back for a kitchen, counter tops and back splash.

He quoted a price and then the homeowner changed the tile to a glass tile.

Since he had bought the original tile, he took it back and made the homeowner buy the new tile out of their pocket.

He also made them buy the special (?) blade for his tile saw to cut it with.

He ended up spending an extra 6 hours cutting the tile. He did get an extra $300 for his time. All in all, cost him an extra day at the job.

He probably should have asked for more, but he was trying to get the custom cabinet work they wanted done. If not for that, he was just above breaking even.

 

[blairjbyrd]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Im a contractor and I never give a price to do tile unless i know what type and size tile they are using. I (being the contractor) would eat it, I should have never gave you a price without knowing, my fault.

Meeting him half way is fair

 

[halas]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Im a contractor and I never give a price to do tile unless i know what type and size tile they are using. I (being the contractor) would eat it, I should have never gave you a price without knowing, my fault.

Meeting him half way is fair

Right on.
I am a contractor also and I agree.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Well the contractor quoted a price on regular tile and sub contracted or desided to use different tile I would SAY SWALLOW YOUR MISQUOTE esp if he subbed it out 4sure....slippery I think...stand to your guns .....like you buy a toyota and they give and charge for a Bentley and say whoops,,,come on now shaddy

 

[RC]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

I did stand to my guns and he agreed he should have been more careful when he bid the project. He was very stand up about it and said his goal was to do a great job, give us a beautiful bathroom and be able to use us as a referral. (of course he was only stand up when I called him on it) We were happy about that but the whole thing just leaves a bad taste. Rather than be upfront when he recognized his error he just came over Friday morning and said due to the type of tile we owe another $7 per square foot. No apology or a sorry I screwed up. I'm confident we will end up with a job very well done but as for a potential referral, don't know about that.

As always, appreciate your opinions.

Rob

 

[Bondo]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Ayuh,... My question, before an Opinion can be established is,...
Who changed the type of tile,+ When was it changed...

If, by chance, You changed the plan, After the bid was submitted,... You Owe the guy his money...

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Doesn't sound like anything changed "mid-job". The contractor neglected
to ask what kind of tile are we installing.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

So who chose the tile ??? and if it was you did the contractor know this in advance ???

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

I did stand to my guns and he agreed he should have been more careful when he bid the project. He was very stand up about it and said his goal was to do a great job, give us a beautiful bathroom and be able to use us as a referral. (of course he was only stand up when I called him on it) We were happy about that but the whole thing just leaves a bad taste. Rather than be upfront when he recognized his error he just came over Friday morning and said due to the type of tile we owe another $7 per square foot. No apology or a sorry I screwed up. I'm confident we will end up with a job very well done but as for a potential referral, don't know about that.

As always, appreciate your opinions.

Rob

You don't mention how big an operation the guy runs, and what the chronology was of bidding the job, or whether the tile did change at some point as various people have asked.
The guy may be a first class craftsman but a bit chaotic in the admin department. If this was done in a panic, it may have squeezed him getting quotes from his subs and still getting going on a tight timeline.
Bottom line is if the guy made an honest mistake, you are profiting from it.

Your post is also a bit confusing....you say that he agreed that he should have been more careful when he bid the project, and called him "stand-up", and that he was hoping to do a great job and be able to use that quality for future referrals.
Then, you freely admit that you aren't sure you will do that, even before he finishes the job.

Nothing stand-up about that.

If you feel that strongly it might be best all around to get a different contractor, or at least tell him up front that you are soured enough already that there is no way you will be giving him a good reference.

That would be the up-front course.

 

[RC]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Tim, would you give a guy a referral who came in halfway thru the job and said you owed him another $1,000? I never said there was no way I would give him a reference just that the way he handled it makes me think twice. Nothing was done in a hurry during the bid process, he had time to cover his bases. He never asked what type of tile we were installing and when he bid the job and when he came to our home to review the bid with us, we did show him the tile we were going with as we had samples at home the whole time, we never made a change in our choice of tile.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

He never asked what type of tile we were installing and when he bid the job and when he came to our home to review the bid with us, we did show him the tile we were going with as we had samples at home the whole time, we never made a change in our choice of tile.

Then he should eat the extra costs....But, If he is a small outfit and you feel he made a genuine mistake and you also feel a little compassionate then if you met him half way maybe everyone would be content.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

I am also a contractor though I deal in technology/software development not construction. I still see this kind of dispute all the time.

These kind of things happen..is it a cost plus or a fixed price contract? If it's cost plus then you are on the hook; fixed price and he is on the hook. Again, as said before, meeting half way might be fair.

The most important piece of information is when you said you showed him the tile samples at the time of quote... at this point, he quoted you a price. Now he probably quoted you what the sub-contracted tiling company quoted him. It seems this could be an issue between him and the tiling company?

 

[bowman316]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

did the bid include the expensive tile in it, orf the standard tile?

If he gave you a price using the cheap tile, then the price should change for more expensive tile.
Materials are the most expensive part of construction.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Nope not buyin it. I'm a commercial Superintendent and I regularly work with special stone finishes. An additional $7 per sq for MATERIAL over ceramic is certainly not unusual, but just for labor maybe an additional $2 but you'd be hard pressed to get that from me. Did the tile size change radically? Yes different stones require different mortars and methods to cut, but there's a base cost of labor that I don't see him giving you credit for in his upcharge. I'm betting he's got the wrong blade to cut the marble and he wants you to drop the 300.00 for it. He needs to be up front about what the expenses are for the install.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Tim, would you give a guy a referral who came in halfway thru the job and said you owed him another $1,000? I never said there was no way I would give him a reference just that the way he handled it makes me think twice. Nothing was done in a hurry during the bid process, he had time to cover his bases. He never asked what type of tile we were installing and when he bid the job and when he came to our home to review the bid with us, we did show him the tile we were going with as we had samples at home the whole time, we never made a change in our choice of tile.

OK. More info here than in your original post. Job is 1/2 done? Guess changing contractors is not an option...

Sounds like there were a few "loose threads" in the bid document.

From this vantage point I would guess that the guy is not a tile expert and got a quote from his sub who had not seen the actual tile.
Nothing you've said seems to imply any dishonesty. (at least i didn't read it that way....)

My revised opinion would be that your original thought of splitting the overrun would be fair and reasonable...and probably in your best interest overall.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

I am a contractor also,I think what Tim says might be true till the person doing the install sees it he most likely thought it was regular tile and got to the job and said oops,Mr contractor it's going to cost more and Mr contractor came to you,yes contractor should have been educated a little better,now you did make him a better contractor (if he learns from his mistake) and he will pay his sub what he needs to do the job,and if he does good work in a timely manor and knowing you got the good stuff put down right and he stands behind his work why wouldn't you talk to him about the difference knowing that he most likely increased the value of your home.Even if he eats the difference why wouldn't you recommend him? We generally give estimates

 

[aspeck]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

Was it an estimate or a contracted price? A contracted price probably would have included a list of materials.

I would say that the contractor didn't do his homework well enough, and he made the mistake, but if the contracted or estimated price was for normal tiles, then he has a right to come to you to discuss the difference in the final cost.

How I have handled similar situations in the past is to first apologize and explain where the mistake occured. Then to tell the customer the retail value difference of the error, and ask if we can come to an agreement with the customer paying for the cost of the items and labor ... ie, I don't make any money, and he pays no mark-up on the work that is being questioned. Both parties come the closest to winning in a no win situation.

I also try to use that philosophy when others have made legitimate mistakes when dealing with me. However, if I feel it was an intentional lowball, look out for my wrath!

 

[salty87]

Re: Bathroom Remodel Contractor $ Question

from the original post....

...When he got here we went to the bathroom where the tile guys were working and he told me that the type of tile we are using is a tumbled marble (I knew that) and that his bid was for regular tile. He and the tile guy went on to explain that this type of tile takes much more time and effort to install (I knew that to) and that he needed to charge me an additional $7 per square foot for the tile install. ($980)...

did you tell him that you knew you had already decided to use tile more expensive to install when he originally bid the job?

it sounds like you knew it would cost more to install your tiles. if you didn't give him all of the details knowing he needed them, that's not too cool.