I am really depressed/shocked at the cost of having renovation work done. It’s been a little over 10 years since we have worked with getting estimates from contractors, etc. Has anyone recently had a new garage door put in? We want a new, smaller garage door with a separate door to enter without opening the garage door with the remote. The bid we got from a very reputable and recommended contractor is nearly six figures. Does that sound reasonable these days? I am in a cold climate so we asked for an insulated garage door as well as a custom door to enter the house. My head is spinning but we have to make a decision or else the work can’t be done before winter hits us hard.
5 Likes
I can’t speak to your specific question, but I wanted to commiserate with you about the sticker shock of trying to do, well, anything these days. So many of my home updates/repairs have had to be tabled over the past few years because of pesky neeeeeeds like groceries and mortgage payments taking all the income.
I hope you get some local advice about your bids so that you feel confident that they are appropriate, even if they sting a little in the check writing. Good luck!
2 Likes
Agree to get more quotes. I’ve heard some contractors also inflate their prices if they don’t want to do the job for whatever reason (scope of the project, they’re already too busy, etc).
2 Likes
I know he wants the job as he would be working closely with one of the best hardscape businesses in our area to do our front yard makeover in the spring.
I think I will feel better, though, if I got at least two more estimates.
4 Likes
I’ve gotten a ‘go away’ price before on a small project. Definitely get another person to quote it. Did he break down the costs for you in the quote?
3 Likes
Go ahead & get more quotes, but both materials and contractor prices have gone up in the last 4 years. 
3 Likes
Because of the housing market here, there is an extreme shortage of trades people and the wait times can be as long as a year. They all know it, so there really is no bargaining power for the consumer. He did break down the costs…half is cost of what we want in materials and the other half is labor.
The best I could do is tell him that we are going over the bid to see if we have any questions, but we have to decide in about ten days to get scheduled in before winter.
5 Likes
Having recently survived a kitchen makeover I feel your pain. We had trouble even getting contractors to answer our calls and yes it was stupid expensive. I gotta say those renovation budgets you see on HGTV shows are completely unrealistic.
6 Likes
I sold building materials in the mid-90s and even though I totally know better I almost always expect prices to be about what I remember them to be or, like, 20% more. I am always disappointed-to-gobsmacked. As much as I have not enjoyed more than a few tiny moments of working on my big deck project, I know I am saving us up to 10s of 1000s of dollars. That savings and the fact that we have this great (as yet, un-railed) deck is making it worth it even in the short run.
6 Likes
I am willing to do smaller projects like painting or changing out light fixtures, etc., but I just don’t have the skills or tools to install a garage door, opener, etc. The good news is that I was able to find a contractor I had used years ago and asked him to give me a bid as well. He did a great job at a fair price. If he comes in pretty close, it will be a hard decision to pick as I also know that I need someone who is close by and will work with my main landscaping guy. I know it will be worth it just for the convenience of not having to open the garage door each time we go grocery shopping. My husband is not a front door person and the back door is too steep a walk for him…the garage pretty much goes right into the kitchen and his space, so it would be worth it for sure!
5 Likes
I didn’t mean to suggest you should be installing a garage door! I wouldn’t do that either, most likely. We’re hoping to replace our roof next year and you can bet your sweet bippy that I won’t be doing any of that. Same for replacing our woodstove with a pellet stove in about a month.
6 Likes
It helps me to remember that I am paying skilled trades people. They had to do a lot of jobs to get to their level to be highly rated and recommended and in demand. Also, I have to factor in my time…I don’t want to spend it doing stuff that I don’t really enjoy. I am fortunate to be able to pay others to do that, but I am still going to bemoan the costs and bitch about the high cost! 
3 Likes
For sure. I comforted myself with the cost of the deck framing being done by a contractor and the cost of the materials with the knowledge of the several people down the chain earning part of a living wage, supporting at least 2 local/small businesses, etc. Same with the cost of having this new pellet stove installed. My doing this other deck labor just means that the new stove could come this year and we could have a bigger deck and a nicer railing all w/o loans which saves money in the form of interest and fees. But boy I am glad I am not any older while doing this!
3 Likes
I have a great handyman who started doing all sorts of tasks that he just felt was too dangerous for elderly people to do. Part of his mission is to keep older people off ladders and making sure their homes are safe so they can stay in them. He installed double handrails on our stairs, shower bars, and arthritis-friendly light switches, etc. He hangs curtain rods and makes all sorts of suggestions to make life easier and safer. I hate to admit that I can’t do a lot of the things I did when I was younger, but I also have to be realistic and not get hurt!
7 Likes
I wish I could find a guy like that here! It’s almost impossible to find people for smaller jobs here, which is one of the reasons we chose to do one big job. Even for a six-figure job, it’s not like contractors were lining up for it. We invited about ten for quotes, three showed up, and two sent quotes that were fairly similar.
We had a few small jobs that we couldn’t afford to do last year and still need to be done, including building a custom stairs to the loft (no standard size fits there). I’ve been approaching people but it’s a challenge, the job simply isn’t big enough, it’s just a simple stairs. We use a ladder now but it’s less safe. One company suggested I could easily adapt a standard size, but I’m not @TheMistressT and I don’t have a workshop, I’m just an amateur with a jigsaw and a drill.
I talked to a guy who installs solar panels and they said their standard rate for labour is now €100 per person per hour, plus materials etc. I understand supply/demand but that’s a lot. And it’s not just for luxury upgrades, basic maintenance is also becoming less and less affordable.
Fingers crossed we get to make a start on my craft room tomorrow!!
5 Likes
Inflation is definitely hurting everyone. I doubt these businesses like having to raise their prices. I’m just grateful to know people who can and will do the work, and do it right. Putting it off just isn’t an option.
We’ve been chipping away at the clutter and packing up non-essentials in preparation for our remodel. I just want to get a dumpster and go nuts at this point. They’ll be starting with the bedrooms and our hallway bathroom. Next week, we’re picking out cabinet styles for the kitchen and baths so they can start making those.
5 Likes
@Immaculata And stairs are a specialty! I wouldn’t want to tackle more than a run of two or so! I did them for the woodshed I built a few years ago, but that’s it. The ones the last owners did to the front deck were not great. Sometimes I think they thought, “I’ve seen stairs. Been using them my whole life! Of course, I’ll just do these.” It’s like it never occurred to them that there are some guidelines and even actual rules about them which really do make them safer.
@AIMR Ooo, he sounds awesome! I hope he stays around and in business for a long time.
I was worried we would have a hard time finding someone to do just our deck framing for us, because it was a pretty small job, but we got lucky. TheMisterT was doing a trail run out in the National Forest behind our house along a “trail” that is a line that the Forest Service cut a few years ago between where they planned a prescribed burn and the private properties. One day he notes that a neighbor at the bottom of the hill is fencing their property where it abuts the Forest. Another day he sees the contractor and stops to say hello and chat. I ask TheMisterT to ask this guy if he does decks, etc. and he got the number saying “my wife, Tara will text you.” Well, TheMisterT got the number wrong by one number, so I didn’t hear back. Dang it. So I call the neighbor he was working for to verify the number and also hear what they thought. We automatically trusted their choice, because they are former contractors and also particular. So I got the number, etc. Is the project flaw free? No. Is that partly on me? Yes. But the work is for sure solid, he and his workers were all polite and tidy, and he acted completely comfortable dealing with a woman customer which is not always the case.
4 Likes
We used to get a student to mow our yard with a power mower for $20. It took him 2 hours, so $10 and hour. Now, our mower uses a huge industrial mower, and it takes him 15 minutes. He charges $40, so that comes out to $160 an hour. I am sure it costs him to pay for that machine and gas, but it is really getting out of hand. My plumber gets about $165 an hour. Their rates have surpassed my accounting hourly rate. Supply and demand at work for sure!
3 Likes
@TheMistressT my grandfather was a carpenter / furniture maker and his education was disrupted due to WWII, the school was closed and turned into a military barracks so he started as an apprentice carpenter instead. He was a smart guy but no formal education beyond the age of 10 or 11. In his 30s, he took evening classes to get his GED specifically to learn enough maths so he could design stairs! I’ve inherited his old book about staircase design and there’s a lot of maths in it. What I need is a skilled craftperson like him, who likes the challenge of a finding a safe way to put a staircase in a small space. I don’t mind paying for that skill, I wish I could just find someone to pay!
5 Likes
The prep work for the stairs DeWitt (Mr. Road) made for our loft was a lot! He drew (and redrew) everything in autocad first to make sure it all fit/worked. It took him a long time.
I looked at loft ladder options like these that you can buy and install, but i honestly have no idea how difficult or easy they it is! Maybe worth looking into though to see if there’s something similar available near you?
4 Likes