Trusting a Contractor

9 years ago

Hey all,
Noob here so bear with me. My wife and I are doing a reno on our Manhattan apartment kitchen. It is a 12'X7' gut job with half a wall being removed, moving a doorway and adding a pocket door.

My wife had a contractor come in to give us a bid (same one she used to reno her bathroom 6 years ago). It was for $30K.

We then posted something on our building website and a woman from our complex emails my wife, telling us about her contractor who did a great job. We bring him in. He is super nice, telling her how he can get a deal with custom cabinet makers. He also knows a guy that can get good quartz countertops. HeÃ¯Â¿Â½ll even take us to the cabinet showroom in Yonkers. He also has worked in the building and says our maintainence office knows him. He also mentioned that he will not nickel and dime us.

So he texts us a cost of 14K. We were so excited. But later in the day, when we he sends a formal bid, he did not include any prices. He said in the text that since we were talking cash, he wouldnÃ¯Â¿Â½t put dollar figures on the bid. (Shady). So I looked him up on AngieÃ¯Â¿Â½s list, not listed. I looked up with the business online and it shows his business but established in 2010 (not the 17 years he has been in business). It also states only 1 employee and estimated 20K of revenue. We emailed the woman that recommend the contractor and she has not responded.

Now, I called our management office and asked if they have worked with him before. She said that we should be wary and that in her professional opinion, we should be error on the side of caution. She also said if a bid comes in really low, that we should expect change orders and higher charges during the reno. She also recalls that the job this contractor did was "not seamless."

What should we do? We plan to ask him for more references, with names and numbers so we can contact the owners and ask about quality of work. Is there anything else we can do to ensure the quality of the work? We do plan to get more bids.

Joe

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Comments (11)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
No money down and progress payments. This always keeps you in the driver's seat. As a contractor, I did this for a beachfront remodel last year and it came out flawlessly.

I'd try www.homeadvisor.com for more contractors.
jewelisfabulous
9 years ago
You're already seeing numerous red flags. Why would you buy trouble?
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sjhockeyfan325
9 years ago
Couldn't agree more. Run. Fast.
greg_2010
9 years ago
A formal bid without prices?!? Was it just a blank sheet of paper? :)

The lowest bid is usually the lowest for a reason. If you proceed with him, expect headaches and hold on to your wallet.
PRO
Cabot & Rowe
9 years ago
Stay away from this guy. The lowball price and the lack of stated prices on a contract would give you nothing to fall back on if anything went wrong, even if it wasn't either of your faults.

How many red flags do you need ?
Vertise
9 years ago
"What should we do? "

Run like he// !!!
Fori
9 years ago
I can think of reasons for a low price (for example, in my last kitchen, we paid the custom cabinet guy ourselves and he did the installation so it wasn't in the GC's bid).

But...the rest of it is sure sketchy. Cash doesn't mean "under the table" does it?
Circus Peanut
9 years ago
I'd be afraid cash and nothing written means "no permits" which would be a really major mistake in a complex in Manhattan. From your description, you already don't trust the guy completely, so I'd go with your gut feeling and keep looking.
cruzinpattis
9 years ago
Joe
Any bid without details is a dangerous game to play.
Especially when you're forking over thousands of dollars.
As a NY'er would say "Forgetaboutit"
plumberry
9 years ago
Get everything spec'd and detailed and determine who is buying what (contractor or homeowner). If we didn't have it in writing our contractor could lie like crazy and he did. Checking a contractors references were useless in our case, too.
A good contractor would want to protect you and him integrity and make sure the details/prices are clear. It usually costs more money for this type of company but it's probably worth it. We figured out it would probably cost an extra 10%. Also, unless you have a very close friend making the recommendation, don't trust it.

a friend of mine trusted a work "acquaintance" who recommended a loan officer to use for refinance and they go totally shammed and it cost them an arm and leg.
gothaml
9 years ago
Another NYer here! STAY away!!! Get a legit contractor with permits. Use the person you trust.