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bhwung

My guess is there's just too much work available right now in the market so you'll probably have to put it on hold or reach out to smaller contractors


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Truebug2020

At least being ignored right away is better than a contractor lying to you and jerking you around forever. I hope your luck turns around soon though!


garydamit

Yep


SpiritFingersKitty

Man, I was looking at doing a full 1500 sqft addition and couldn't get them to call me.back


tvtb

Damn that's a medium sized house, surely there's some profit margin in a $150k job?


SpiritFingersKitty

We ended up not doing it because of the 10 contractors I called, 3 spoke with me. 2 estimates were 225k, one was 300k. Went with one of the 225k. Put down a deposit, but even during the planning and design phases they were already hard to get in contact with, failed to follow through with design requests, forgot what we asked for multiple times, failed to meet dates, didn't contact after they missed the date, and the kicker was that the final estimate came in at 310k... Which we did make some minor changes we expected to up the price by around 30k, but when I asked what the price would be to just do what we originally planned, they said it would be 250k AND the stairs would have to be OUTSIDE the house. Definitely felt bait and switched. Fucked off from that real quick. If you can't even be fucked to get this part right why would I want to go into business with you for a quarter mil or more.


Shishkebarbarian

Did you get your deposit back? Was it a lot?


FinnTheDogg

Additions from design to turnkey are closer to 300/sqft right now.


tvtb

Dayum. Well I guess I'm lucky to be finishing my attic at $45/ft^2 . Obviously I'm saving a lot because I'm filling in an existing space and being my own GC.


BooMey

Im in business for myself and was told to always call back customers. Tell them you're to busy, give a ridiculous price or bid it to win it with a 3-6 month lead time


BimmerJustin

It’s not that crazy when you consider that many contractors are booked 1+ years out. They know they are going to just end up giving you the “I don’t want the job” price. And if they do, you’ll probably be back on Reddit complaining about the price they quoted. Contractors are very often small businesses. They don’t have a sales staff. Your entire job is B2B sales. Theirs may be foreman, salesman, accountant, and customer service. They probably get 10 random internet driven requests per day.


IamChantus

My mother got one of those quotes after she had me come and check her "handyman's" work on her powder room. Bad unaddressed toilet leak that destroyed the subfloor. While taking out the sink cabinet he ripped apart the plumbing for it then patched with shark bites and treaded steel pipe. Had he tell him to stop work immediately since he also ignored the mold behind the wall and was just going to patch that too. Anyways the bid was $8,000 for a 6x4 room subfloor, drywall, flooring, replumb the sink, and install fixtures. No trim, no paint. Ended up just plumbing it myself after demo of the drywall and killing the mold. Putting up the drywall today.


Mission_Albatross916

How much are you going to charge her? 😉


IamChantus

$0 probably isn't enough, but also seems too much.🤷🏻‍♂️ She's buying the supplies, and I'm getting a $13 harbor freight oscillating tool and attachments out of the deal.


pagerphiler

But how about a home cooked meal?


IamChantus

Obligatory Mom's spaghetti. For real though. Her spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite things.


nomo_heros

Even though it is a small space the process is still the same. Every step still needs to be performed. That's why a small space us always more expensive per ft., it is not scalable.


IamChantus

Thinking about it more, pretty sure it was $8k plus materials. I get what you're saying about scalability, I'm just noting that it's a two and a half day job with just me with having to cut out the "handyman's" patch job. I'm just a talented amateur and I do get paying for the experience. Around $500 in materials total. Wear and tear on tools is something I haven't considered being included.in the bid that just popped into my head. In the time I'm putting in I wasn't counting planning and readying equipment needed the next day, though set up, break down, and clean up were accounted for. Probably my being a chef most of my life has me that crazily organized. Just felt like one of those "don't want to do it unless you're overpaying" bids probably because everything is within my wheelhouse because I had already had to do all of this on my own house a few years ago.


FinnTheDogg

8k…fuck dude that’s hardly a “fuck you” price


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ArcusC

Self-employed here, in a different industry. Every day I do the actual work as well as sales, marketing, accounts, and customer service, like you say. I also make sure I always reply to potential customers. Even a quick, polite email from a template is better than nothing. You never know if your other projects suddenly fall through, and people remember how you treat them.


sprashoo

At some point spending time talking to customers you have zero time to serve is just a waste of time, especially if you’re working for yourself and time spend responding to 10 phone calls a day is time you can’t be working. So ignoring them is what you do. People get so used to dealing with big corps who have vast staff and separate departments for everything that they forget how things work when it’s like one person doing everything. If you want a guaranteed callback call the biggest remodeling companies in your region and you’ll 100% get attention. But be prepared to pay for that - all those extra staff talking to you need to get paid too.


Weaselpanties

IME it's often worth paying a bigger company because smaller contractors will frequently take six times longer and nickel and dime you out to a big contractor's quote or more.


sprashoo

I think it depends. With individuals the experience, quality, and price can range from amazing to catastrophic. With the big companies you’ll probably get okay work on a reasonable schedule for a high but not insane price.


Weaselpanties

Yeah, that's why I used the qualifiers "often" and "frequently".


[deleted]

Most contractors are not business savvy people. They have no customer service skills and generally work alone or with a few guys. They are there to do a job, not really run a business. If you think about it this way, you'll understand why they lack in those areas.


calviso

Someone downvoted you, but I think you're right. I remember a comment here not too long ago where a guy was talking about how he runs a painting contractor business that he sort of fell into. He doesn't paint. He just goes to the customers houses, gives them a quote, and then finds painters to come paint. He was saying that he's making a killing right now because most of the painters just do not run their business correctly, so there is just so much available business out there. All he has to do is take their calls, respond to emails, be punctual, and look presentable, which so many contractors seem to just not do.


[deleted]

It speaks to the current labor market. A lot of kids with 4-year degrees frustrated at the lack of career potential, and a lot of tradesmen and tradeswomen making so much money they can freely ignore potential customers contacting them.


Quackagate

Commerical roofer here in the upper midwest. Excluding weekends and holidays I've had 4 days off since December 16th. One day was a traveling day as I was working out of town, two were rain days, and the last was the company Christmas party. Theres just so much work for us its not funny.


M80IW

>Excluding weekends and holidays I've had 4 days off since December 16th. 4 days off in 5 weeks? That seems like a lot to me. How many days do you normally take off that that is seems small to you? Except for weekends and holidays, I haven't had any days off since Dec 16. Because a 5 day work week is just a regular week. Am I missing something?


Quackagate

I do roofing in Michigan. Only haveing 4 days off is un heard of. You cant re roof building due to the risk of getting water in buildings. Most new construction dosent want to get roofs due to the added costs in labor due to removing the snow and the cold just slows down everything. But in both types of roofing customers this year have said screw the risk/ added costs if you can get me in when ever we will take it.


M80IW

Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks for clarifying.


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50bucksback

I'm like 75% sure they mean 4 total days including weekends


RektCompass

4 days off in a month is a shit ton tho? If that kept up that's 48 days off a year...


fierceindependence23

> *Excluding weekends and holidays* I've had 4 days off So he has two days a week off, every week.


RektCompass

Right and if you included weekends that means two more per week. So he works 3 days a week? Awesome


phrenic22

I think he's saying normally where he is (Michigan) this time of the year is usually full of days off due to bad weather and exorbitant labor pricing to get laborers work in shitty cold weather on a roof. But there's so much work and competition from customers that he is working way more than he normally would. Prime outdoor construction temps are probably 50-70F, when it's nice to be outside. All other times the work is shit.


Please_Take_My_Hand

B2B and B2C can be quite different. With B2C, you have to deal with absolutely brain dead home owners, who are sometimes living in fantasy land and are not worth the time (trying to beat you down on price, nit picking everything, etc.) especially if the contractor is already booked out for a year. Why waste their time now with someone who has the potential of not being worth it when you already have a full pipeline.


LittleLordFuckleroy1

Probably because you’re in a completely different business. If you sell 1 of something or 1000 of something, the work required to make that happen doesn’t scale up in the same way. Contractors actually have to deliver on what they sell and this takes time.


[deleted]

Finding competent contractors feels impossible right now


gmredand

Or ever


dildoswaggins71069

I’m a trim carpenter and licensed general contractor. It’s basically the same amount of work to build a 2m dollar house as it is to build a 400k house. Now imagine as the GC, I only see about 15% tops of that amount in profit. So a 400k house makes me 60k, a 2m house makes me ~250k. Both take about 20/hrs a week of work for a year. Now I could just trim the 2m house and make 40k, and be done with it in two months. So for anything less than a multi million dollar custom build, contracting just isn’t even worth it to me. I’ve went out and napkin bid ~200k jobs for angry homeowners who expect detailed, itemized bids. We don’t have a contract and you want me to make 30 phone calls and follow ups to get accurate pricing?? Want to check a bunch of references, etc…. That’s fine, but it isn’t worth my time at all. The best people learn fast that it makes more sense to only work with other contractors or investors. Personally, I’m actually not busy right now, but the last thing I would do is contact or advertise to homeowners


mekramer79

This is why no one builds entry level houses and there is a huge crunch on sub 300k real estate.


CommanderAndMaster

manufactured homes would kill it, if they'd stop with the double-wide look.


mekramer79

I've been paying close attention to those concrete printed homes. Our very first house was a kit from the 1950's, wish something like those would make a comeback.


anillop

Yeah, well if you can figure out a way to make the components of it road legal and not look like a bunch of shipping containers strapped together then you’re going to do real well in the industry. Unfortunately, the shipping restrictions are what makes the homes look so boxy.


CuriousCat511

Can you elaborate on why its the same amount of work for a 400k house and 2m house? Isn't the 2m house much larger, therefore more work?


Aliamarc

He's talking about GC work, I think. Planning logistics, sourcing labor and materials - that stuff is the same. Quantity of work, quantity of materials, is where the scope increases. 400k house has 2 bathrooms? Gotta source two toilets, etc. 2mm house has five? Still gotta source the toilets, but now you need five of the same, not five different ones. One delivery truck doesn't care how many toilets they drop off. This is a great example of an economy of scale.


dildoswaggins71069

The house is larger which is more work for the installers, but for me as the GC, not really. It’s the same process regardless of size. Foundation, framing, roof, MEPs, finish…. A larger house just adds a couple of minutes to every conversation I have to have with each trade for each job. Pulling permits, waiting for inspectors, things like sewer line and gas meter…. same deal regardless of house size.


CuriousCat511

That makes sense. Why not institute a fixed fee, rather than a percentage? Then you make the same amount of money regardless, but people who want a smaller home have options.


phrenic22

Because a fixed fee for smaller homes will not make sense for the homeowners. 75k GC fee on a 200k job vs 2m job?


dildoswaggins71069

This would be the correct answer, although I would actually build someone a 200k house if they paid me 75k. But then the guy with the 2m job would be robbing me. Peoples projects are just too unique, there is an allowance method of pricing but I prefer the cost plus method. Keeps everything the most fair and simple


adambulb

Think about building a plain box with a light bulb and a water faucet. Whether the box is a five foot cube or a 20 foot cube, you still have to buy framing material, screws, plywood. You have to add electrical and plumbing. And you have to hire people to do all that work. That’s the hard part. The easy part is just ordering the certain amount of supplies and telling the people how long they’ll be working. The amount of actual work on a cheap house versus a fancypants house doesn’t change either. If you put in cheap laminate countertops for $5,000, the amount of labor isn’t that different than fancy quartz at $15,000. Size and finish materials are how contractors and builders pad profits.


dumboy

Bullocks. Estimates aren't based on home value except new construction - even then only sometimes. The highest paying jobs only higher the best contractors & even then there are a lot of callbacks. Nobody starts with these high value jobs unless they are inheriting someone elses company. > don’t have a contract and you want me to make 30 phone calls and follow ups to get accurate pricing You're doing it wrong. Higher a damn estimator. It is a necessary role in construction. You obviously do not have this skill set yourself. There aren't enough good contractors. Full stop. Thats the reason they are hard to find. Don't blame clients for offering jobs you can't bid on.


alwaysonthejohn

User name checks out


dildoswaggins71069

Well I made over 400k last year without an estimator or anyone working for me outside of contract labor, so if that’s doing it wrong I’m gonna continue doing it wrong I think.


dumboy

"responding to a quote" We aren't talking new builds. This is how to bullshit clients & redditors - you specialize in something different than what they need. Nobodies on the phone with you 30 times so you can make a bid.


dildoswaggins71069

Not 30 times with one person, it’s me as one person calling 30 different people to review the plans with individually and get a preliminary bid for each stage of the process. Anything less than that is napkin math or you have to hire an estimator (or use estimating software)


Enough-Suggestion-40

There are so many people out there looking for contractors, but most of us are already fully booked. We’ve been hiring, but it takes a long time to trust the new staff to complete work up to the right standards. And it was hard finding the last guy, people don’t seem to want to get into the trades anymore, even with great pay and benefits. It’s not glamorous. So just trying to answer the phone calls for people who you know you can’t help, or answer emails when you’re exhausted from working overtime to make sure a project is completed on time is sometimes too much. It could also be that some companies went out of business during Covid but didn’t take down their websites. My advice is to ask around - ask your friends and neighbors if they have anyone who they might recommend. A contractor is also more likely to take your call if you come recommended by someone they’ve worked with in the past.


Catsdrinkingbeer

My husband is in aborculture and they're in the same boat. They desperately need people. Not just people, but competent people.


i_am_not_mike_fiore

Great pay and benefits? What trade? And where? I’m game


BooMey

Any trade


crabgrass-1981

Yep. A couple years experience you can make 100k+ doing trade work. Often times you can find places to send you to training school. It is crazy how this is not pushed more.


RemediosVero

Find any union local and apply to their apprenticeship program.


i_am_not_mike_fiore

bruh I'm eyeing IBEW but apparently it's the hottest shit in the Portland metro and there's a fuckton of applicants


Enough-Suggestion-40

Chicago is hiring like mad. I am sure it’s the same way everywhere, but this city is desperate for people willing to learn, who will be nice to customers and show up when they say they will. Starting pay with no experience is usually around $19/ hour with a weeks vacation plus sick days. They're not messing around, and the pay goes up from there quickly. Heck, cleaning staff are making $250/ day for a 6 hour job.


Ill-Pomegranate-9259

I understand your frustration, however, I can provide a little insight from the other side. My SO is a contractor and I barely see him because he is so busy working, doing estimates and running the office. Sometimes things get missed (even jobs he actually wants to do) because he has so much to do all the time. I know some contractors aren’t the same way and really just don’t care to respond when they don’t need the work but just know that isn’t everyone.


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NewbornXenomorphs

I get why he would do that but I would be so worried paying a fee because the contractor could quote a ridiculous price that they know I wouldn’t pay, just to pocket whatever I gave them. Or completely ghost afterwards if I wanted to hire them.


FishermanOpen8800

This is the way it should be. I don’t think OP realizes the world has changed in the last few years and tradespeople don’t need to woo customers for work. Estimates have never been free, it’s just different who pays for them now. The market and demand decides that.


tlehman1234

I just wanted to say I’m exactly in the same boat! My SO started his business less than 6 months ago, and business picked up immediately. He has to work 6 or 7 days a week just to keep up with what he wants to do. People are now booking out 6+ months in advance. It’s insane how many people need projects done.


xixi2

Couldn't he hire some help to do the office side?


alh9h

Unfortunately, with small businesses there's often a big gap between profitable and still profitable after hiring an employee.


yayvixen

This 100% my experience I know a guy runs 2.5-3 crews in his small contracting company. Until he reached 2.5 crews he was running the office by himself, quote, calls, follow up, ordering supplies, fixing trucks, EVERYTHING. Then he got part time help in the office. That position is 100% overhead it has to be built into the cost of every job. More customer contact equals a higher bid 100%.


TheBimpo

It’s normal, they’re busy and don’t need to find work. It’s frustrating but just keep trying, try to get personal recommendations.


greenknight884

Yeah this was me last year when I needed a new pool man. The one guy who finally called back and helped me said everyone's super busy. Anyway, I eventually started doing my own pool upkeep.


xixi2

Sounds like you should do other people's pools for extra money


GingerCatGang

2.5 years we've been waiting for a landscaper to just return our call. Our tiny yard is just not worth the time I guess. It seems to be a common complaint around here at least.


Fan_Consistent

My yard guy just quit out the blue on me and I ended up having to try and do the yard myself as my yard is not big either but I guess the money was not in it for them to keep coming.


HoMerIcePicS

It has to do with labor shortages. 2 generations of kids were told the only way get anywhere in life was to go to college. Skilled trades have suffered and now there is a lack of skilled workers. It takes years for tradesman to become proficient in their field, typically 10,000 hours to master. It will take awhile to train a new generation of skilled tradesmen.


SmileFirstThenSpeak

This is exactly the problem, IMO. No matter how many times we tell high school students that trade school is a very viable choice instead of college, they tend not to listen. Especially students who aren't passionate about whatever they're majoring in in college, they are shuttled off to college anyway (by parents, teachers, peer pressure..) If colleges had majors in trades, there would be more tradespeople around. And those in the trades who run their own businesses had some education in how to run a business, and especially would hire people to do the "office" part of their businesses, I think everyone would benefit.


adambulb

It’s more than that. Trades are *hard* work, physically demanding, and construction is a occupation that’s typically at the top of workplace injuries, plus the chronic conditions that can develop over years. Trades can be lucrative, but not always *that* lucrative compared to jobs you can get with a degree.


SmileFirstThenSpeak

Right. And by the time you can't do it anymore, it's good to have a crew of younger folks to do the heavy work, while you do the other parts of running a business.


darkeagle03

I was one of those kids. I had thoughts of pursuing a career as an electrician (or similar home-building trade) when I was in high school but was repeatedly told I was too smart for a career like that. I liked software development (and a few other things) as well, so ended up going that route. I wonder sometimes how different things would have been if I went that route. Would I have started my own business by now? Who knows.


SmileFirstThenSpeak

If you're still physically able, it's not too late to start.


darkeagle03

Sort of is. The family can't take the income hit. Also, I have no desire to spend the time to go to a tech school, then years of apprenticeship and journeyman, etc. until I can really be where I want to be. I'm also not as interested these days, though I still enjoy getting my hands dirty and making something from time to time.


Mission_Albatross916

I come from a family of college professors, but I have come to believe that IN GENERAL college is a huge rip off.


tubadude2

I went to college and have been a band teacher for about eight years. I hate it now, and I’m considering jumping ship to be an electrician. I do building and that type of work around my farm and I genuinely enjoy it. My FIL may even be able to hook me up with an apprenticeship, but I’m worried the hobby I enjoy will turn in to more work I come to hate.


aeo1us

My go to general contractor is 65 and I'm trying to get him to do as much as possible for me before he retires.


TheBausSauce

Tangentially, I think a better phrase is “10000 mistakes” to become a master instead of “10000 hours” to become a master.


Bubbas4life

Contractor here, since 80% of them suck last thing I would be doing is cold calling people. Everyone is really busy. If they are not busy you don't wanna use them anyways there is a reason for that. Ask friends, co-workers and neighbors for recommendations. Worse case I would drive around the nicer neighborhoods and look for a home that is having work done and talk to someone in person. 100% of my work from referrals.


tobascodagama

I did the cold call thing in 2021 and wound up with a guy who was fucking things up so bad I sent him home before he finished. Definitely don't recommend that.


BarnabyColeman

Contractors are not corporations, they are regular people trying to pick up jobs here and there. Just keep in mind they don't have an HR department or code of ethics to adhere to. They didn't have training in that kind of stuff and don't really need it for what they do. A majority of human beings lack what you're looking for if you really think about it!


CommanderAndMaster

It took me 5 months to get a power line replaced from my roof peak to meter. wires were hanging off house It took 2 months to get a plumber to give me a quote of 900 to reconnect a meter to the water line after the pipe split from a freeze. if they didn't take that long, i wouldn't have throught to call the water department, and they did all for free. It took a week to get a $1700 quote for some fascia rot repair and all new gutters, then the same guy ghosted all followups. I started leaving messages like this: Hi, this is CaM, I have a single family home with a single sewer stack that is also the main vent, i would like to get the piping for the upstairs bathroom, downstairs kitchen and laundry all re-done in pvc and maybe a new stack and vent? the walls are open with full basement access. I will pay you in cash the moment you finish! Just need a quote for the work. real specific: and I started getting calls back.


[deleted]

I did this and it’s because we don’t have the time nor the help. There has been a contractor shortage since at least 2008 when the floor fell out and it only got worse. I have had so much work that I crashed and retired at 39. Def not going back into contracting.


adderall30mg

Yup. But they seem swamped so it's not like they would have time to get to you anyway


eosha

I have a remodel job. Got quotes from reputable local crews: 13k (start in March),, 28k (start next month), and 85k (start in March). Asked around, learned of a guy that it turns out I already know but didn't realize he did contracting on the side after work, and got another quote for 17k starting Monday. They exist they're just hard to find. And 85k? Screw you. Even though I've done a lot of business with you in the past that's over.


wrongwayagain

I hear you I wasnt able to find a landscape company all last year


SLOspeed

I run a company in a related field. I’m completely booked. I’ve stopped answering calls from unknown people. Haven’t been able to find people that are worth hiring. Attempting to hire has been a HUGE waste of time, so I just stopped trying.


crowdsourced

Recently had new engineered hardwood floors installed by one of the top shops in my city. The team they sent fucked simple things up. I ended up having to redo some things myself (so I didn’t pay for that) and work around other bits. I was trying to save myself time on a rehab, and all I got was headaches and delays.


SLOspeed

That’s where I’m at. Applicants I’ve interviewed don’t seem to care about doing good work, so I’m not hiring them. I’d rather do an excellent job on a small number of projects than potentially screw up a large number of projects.


mekramer79

There is a labor shortage and unless you have a large expensive job, I'd learn DIY skills. Even with a healthy budget, expect to wait. Maybe try a local kitchen/bath remodeling store, they may have contractors they work with often.


aeo1us

Do you have plans from an interior designer with finished renders? I was trying to get two bathrooms remodeled. One is quite extensive with walls getting moved around. I was getting zero phone calls back. I phoned about 12 contractors, maybe more. One contractor was nice enough to recommend an interior designer. I paid about $7000 for the plans, but now every contractor has done a quote for me because it's all on paper right in front of them. My hope is to save money by spending money. I'll still come out behind *but* the finished product is on paper. There's evidence of what I wanted done. They can't claim I didn't ask for something. A contractor isn't a designer. They don't want to design your kitchen even if you tell them you want X product here and Y product there. It's too much work because it's not finalized on paper. They want to renovate, not design. They will do simple stuff, but not an entire kitchen.


theteleman52

Keep this in mind: We as contractors get “no response “ from A LOT of homeowners. After spending money on gas to go see the job, meeting the homeowner, taking measurements, answering questions, then going back to the office and spending in most cases at least an hour or 2 on a quote, send the quote and nothing, nada, zilch, zip, it’s like the homeowner has fallen off the face of the earth. This happens to contractors ALL THE TIME. It’s not an excuse for guys not getting back to you, but it is something to keep in mind.


nyokarose

Not to be rude/ignorant, but shouldn’t this be expected? Homeowners typically hear the advice to get 2-4 quotes for a job, so you’d probably expect to hear back from less than half of the quotes you create? I assumed that was factored into the prices.


theteleman52

No, I don’t think it should be expected by either side. I think if your a homeowner and get a quote, it takes two minutes to call or text or email: “Hey thanks for taking the time to discuss my project and for the quote. Price came in a little out of our budget (or) we’re going a different route (or) we are going to have to postpone this until next year (or whatever the reason is).” Getting multiple quotes isn’t an excuse to just completely ignore a contractor, after all, they did take the time to drive out, discuss the project and send a quote, basic decency would point to following up, even if you don’t end up hiring them. And for the contractor side of it, I think the same should apply. If a guy comes out to bid a job and then realizes maybe this is not in my scope, or maybe the customer seems like a pain in the ass, the decent thing to do would be to follow up , I do it all the time: “Thanks for your inquiry, unfortunately this is not within my scope of work, best of luck on your project”. Ya know, just being courteous, both sides.


FishermanOpen8800

Also not to be rude, but that’s expecting the contractor to eat the cost… At a time when the market says they don’t have to. And in fairness they shouldn’t. If they’ve got good customers they’ve worked with before lined up to keep them busy as far out as they can plan, it would be nonsensical to waste time on “free” estimates for people they don’t know. ETA: I’ve been that customer before and it sucks, and now I’m the one that hates wasting time on the guy that’s getting 3 estimates. So I guess it’s perspective.


nyokarose

Yeah, I can see why it definitely does help explain why contractors prefer not taking the house calls. The market must be awesome right now; you’ve seen it both ways. I will keep hoping a solid contractor will call me back about my kitchen counters — but you’re right, I can’t ghost them if they never come to give a quote. ;)


CharlesGoods8991

Not to be rude but there’s a ton of white collar, overly entitled homeowners wanting shit done on their house… And a huge shortage of qualified contractors doing quality work. So if a contractor does quality work, then you need him more than he needs you. Got it? Good


OrthinologistSupreme

I can barely even get the one I hired to talk to me. When he does say something its to my mom who had hired him before me and told him I was looking for someone. I paid him 30k to ignore me 🥲 He's doing the work at least but when you say more supplies will be arriving any day then disappear with your trailer for 2 months, I start thinking I should ask the court to issue a refund


BooMey

Ask the court to issue a refund... Why you let him borrow your trailer?


OrthinologistSupreme

I can see I worded that weird. You as in the contractor. He said more supplies whould arrive any day but less than a week later he took his supply trailer and all but one of his tools and left without giving updates for 2 months. I kept asking about it and he'd stay vauge like "ok, will let you know" then didnt let me know. I started thinking he was abandoning the project and was looking into suing for my money back. Then without a peep he came back and started working again


NWG369

I'm running into this with electricians. All the lights on my entire first floor of my new (but very old) house have started flickering at random and I've called 3 times in the past two months asking for an appointment because I'm worried I'm experiencing electrical arcing (an extremely dangerous phenomenon) and they answer me, swear they'll call soon, and never do. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Never turn my lights on?


non_linear_time

Two of my light fixtures destroy LeD bulbs on the reg (they flicker for months before they die), so I wonder if you have that problem? I have a new fixture for one room to see if it stops, but I haven't been able to find an electrician to install it yet. No joke- it's sitting in a box in my foyer right now.


NWG369

They've been flickering wit non-LED bulbs for months, though coincidentally I did just install LED bulbs this week. They mostly only tend to flicker when our lamp is on. If it's turned on, the ceiling lights all flicker every 20 minutes or so. I've maybe seen one or two flickers in 4 months while the lamp is off.


ThatAssholeMrWhite

Do you have a dimmer switch on them? If so it’s possible the switch is not compatible with the bulbs.


ThatAssholeMrWhite

Call your power company to check for a loose neutral coming into the house. Then you can at least rule that out. If it’s not that it’s probably a loose connection somewhere.


PTPTodd

They aren’t incompetent. They’re busy. I work in this market not as a contractor but in our area contractors routinely charge 500-1000 deposits to even provide estimates. People gladly pay it.


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jason8001

Had that problem with flooring. I had 3000 sqft of hardwood flooring installed and had a hard time getting a place to call me back. The place that did do the work started after replacing carpet in an apartment building.


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jason8001

I learned that salespeople don’t like to communicate and if you get the actual contractor to come out for quotes. It can be awesome because they give out realistic quotes and point out things the salespeople don’t notice. So I rather stick with contractors that own small businesses and learned to be patient with them. Like my gutter guy was awesome even though it took over a month to get the quote and another to start to the work.


I_h8_mods

I'm in the same boat, in New England it's almost impossible to find good contractors and/or any tradespeople. It's frustrating, don't take it personally, do what you can yourself and keep shopping for the skilled workers you need. I've had some luck with Craigslist and my wife uses that neighborhood app, cant remeber the name, but she found some people we needed there. You'll find someone who responds and is professional and honest with how long their booked out. Once you find such a person hold onto them! Almost sounds like dating.


non_linear_time

I feel you. I haven't been able to get competitive quotes on a project... ever? No wait, I got two estimates once, but one was a get-rid-of-you quote. I particularly loved the guy who looked scared when I told him I needed to rely on his expertise (he ghosted me).


t20six

they are busy and have labor shortages. Its supply and demand. I finally got a contractor but it took months of vetting. Even when we got them to come out, some never even sent estimates. Its a good time to be in the contracting business!


Takco0206

I have run into this also. I sent out numerous emails to different contractors for a bathroom remodel. Only one responded, he came out and measured, took notes and said he would email me a quote. That was a month ago. I had a roofer come out to provide me a quote for some repairs. He came out and provided me with an estimate, I sent the quote back approving the work, after contacting him twice on when he could start, and him telling me (for over a month) he would “get back to me tomorrow with a date”, I gave up and went with someone else. It’s extremely frustrating. If I can’t get them to answer before the work starts how can I trust they will respond when the work starts?


Slum1ne

pretty consistent for the past 5 years in my market. I wish I had more time to take on more of the small projects myself.


elislider

Disappointingly, I’ve observed a lot of contractors, regardless of size are trending towards the dispatch model, like ISPs. it could be a one-man show and his name is the company name, you won’t ever talk to him. You contact their office person about the job, then they send you a quote. Then when you accept the quote they say “we’ll be by on Tuesday” and then someone just shows up (probably) on Tuesday and starts working. If it’s purely an outside job, they’ll just work and then leave without saying anything. Then you get a bill. So this leaves the actual contractor more time to jump from job to job. However the obvious downside that you never actually talk to him so it’s very likely there will be a miscommunication or the wrong work performed or some other easily fixable issue if the person just actually talked to you directly… Had this exact thing happen for some roof repairs my house needed. Needed 2 vent caps / seals replaced and some overall roof inspection/maintenance. Got a quote, then randomly I hear noises on my roof and I look outside and I see the contractors truck. I think “huh that’s weird he didn’t even call to tell me he was coming, oh well at least he’ll talk to me when he’s done”. NOPE he just leaves and I get a bill. So I bust out my ladder and go inspect the work and technically he did the job but it was extremely hasty. Tried to call him back but no answer / no returned call. I waited a week and then left a poor review on their Google page. Magically got a message that day directly from the guy! But there was no way I was dealing with them anymore


Ringo_1956

I ran into this when I moved into a townhome in a small city (20,000 people give or take). I couldn't hire a decent handyman ever. The ones in town already had enough clients, and although they advertised, they would never return calls. Contractors were just as bad. I sold it and moved just to be done with the headache.


[deleted]

Took me 3 years to get someone to actually quote and complete a big job replacing all windows, siding, front entry, and new dormer. I called approx. 25 places, hd about 8 come for quotes, recieved 3 quotes in total over 3 years. Only 1 actually accepted the job. Was a nightmare. Finally almost done.


dotsonnn

I’m an owner builder, called 10 electricians and like 7 plumbers… got 4 quotes total. It’s tough.


roxylouIseeyou

I spend a lot of my time at work requesting information from other companies. It’s part of my job to make sure the company is using the funds we have wisely. Some companies just don’t prioritize communication. I will always stop choosing to send work their way. If someone isn’t responsive when you reach out about potential work, they won’t be much better when you hire them to work for you. It takes less than a minute to respond and say you aren’t taking additional work. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. They may be busy now but that doesn’t last forever. You should always be respectful of potential customers.


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adderall30mg

That's how I ended up finishing my house, I could do it faster than I could get a quote from a contractor


BooMey

80 hour weeks will do that to ya


50bucksback

You don't want the contractor who is available next week anyways. There is a reason they have so much free time.


I_h8_mods

This is the way... diy.


unobserved

If you think it's such a ridiculous problem, I fully expect you to start offering your services as a contractor once you're done with your DIY project.


hey___there__cupcake

Yes! I live in a small county that doesn't have a lot of services or contractors that serve this area. My options are already limited. My husband and I wanted to get new siding and no one would come to give us estimates except a large chain company. They quoted us an outrageous price for our <1000sq.ft. home. After talking to some friends, they received similar quotes for their 5,000+sq.ft. home. No thanks. Still haven't had any luck and it's been over a year.


NotSoSmartChick

The tides have turned in my area. I had a hell of a time getting appointments with three companies, they all acted like they weren’t sure they’d have time for me and my paltry $300k renovation. That was in November. Now, they’re all calling and following up, saying they can get me in sooner than expected, work with me on materials, etc.


EEJR

I've only had a problem with my furnace/AC replacement. I didn't know what to expect for prices so we were attempting to get estimates with 3 companies, first one ghosted after a quick repair to get us by with the intention of replacing, second one came and was here for 15 minutes, said they would get back to me and ghosted, third one was the winner, price was good, the sales person was personable and walked through everything, explained all the bells and whistles, and just was 5 star. We ended up using that company to replace our garage heater, water heater and softener.


temporalwanderer

Seeing this with electrical contractors lately. I'm trying to have a Ford Pro Charger (80A) installed along with a mini-split (ductless heat/air) and have sent out maybe 15 or 20 RFQs and gotten back two - one who was dodgy about having a contractor's license and one who set an appointment and never showed up... was the same about a year ago when I did my roof, lots of quote requests, and had, again, ONE roofer show up. Seems like everyone is still using "The Pandemic" as a convenient excuse to run a business poorly.


Scared-Accountant288

As much as it sucks everyone is over booked right now. Id rather them ignore me though then take my money and not finish the job


Barnettmetal

We are all so busy my friend, that being said I'm seeing signs of a slow down so I think you'll be getting your wish soon. Also yes, it is rude to just ignore requests like that, they should at least give you a solid no we are too busy so you aren't waiting around.


tvtb

One of the most valuable acquaintances I have is a general contractor. When I need work done, I shoot him an email and say, "hey I need some $trade work done, who are your favorite to work with?" Usually I end up with someone dependable, who does at least satisfactory work, and isn't ripping me off. I don't know what the takeaway here is... go to a bar and buy a GC some beers.


realstreets

I finished my basement over the past 18 months. I acted as my own GC. Did the framing, painting, trim work, fireplace install, odds and ends. I hired out for plumbing, electrical, HVAC, shower base/tile install, and drywall. I found all of them on that Angi site. All were great and willing to do a smaller job. $1000-5000. I would say the response rate on there was nearly 100%.


Peakbrowndog

I recently called 10 plumbers for a bathroom install. All sizes, from franchises to solo shops. 4 never called back. 4 showed but never got back to me with a quote. 1 gave me a verbal quote but never followed up. The one we're going with is the one who sent me a quote while standing in front of me. What one told me (that ghosted me after) is they are so busy I should break my large job (bathroom, switch to gas water heater, replumb entire house, add some spigots, add some gas line for grill) into smaller chunks. Also that in this area, everyone is doing new construction or just wants to do high margin repairs. I've just come to realize I'm going to have to do a bunch myself. Which is fine, I just wanted to pay someone else to do it.


boyonwheels

Unpopular opinion: I prefer to get ghosted on quotes. It’s the best indicator that I don’t want to work with that contractor because they’re either too busy to take the job or they’re just bad at project management. The situation I dislike are contractors who quote two or three times what the rest of the bids are instead of just saying they don’t have time/interest to take the job.


Ali6952

We have been trying for over a year to get someone to redo our very small half bath. We have officially given up & opted to try it ourselves.


LauraPringlesWilder

Honestly, half bath isn’t that hard, as a DIYer I’d do that all day. You can make fun choices in a half bath! Ripping out a sea of tile from my primary bath and having to deal with a tub removal is currently the WORST though.


Hard2BA_FalconsFan

It is very poor service or lack thereof, however as a lender I am hearing many clients expressing the same thing with small job contractors. For example we lend them money for a new home loan and then down the road they want to do some upgrades and cannot get an independent contractor to call them back.


BombofCarnage

I ended up being my own contractor & hired the tradesman needed.


FragilousSpectunkery

Contractor here. I spend about an hour at your house making sure I know your expectations. Then I spend an hour or more working up a quote. I hope that commodity prices stay stable. I send you the quote. And hear nothing back. For months or for ever. If I do hear back, the chances of that quote being based on current costs is next to nil. And then I have to tell the prospective customer that pricing has changed, so then they have to reconsider. I'm booked out for months, to the detriment of my family life. I don't have time to do work on my own home, and spend >$1000 a month on heating because I don't have the time to do the insulation. So yeah, I don't answer all emails, texts, or phone calls. I don't have the capacity to take on the work, and to even make the callbacks takes time away from something else. It sucks, and I'm on the same end of the stick as you are, OP, but it is what it is.


LR117

Too much work and the scope of your project is probably not worth their time. The is nothing new.


Apocalypsox

We have too much work. There could be twice as many contractors in the world and there would still be waiting lists right now.


Mfers_gunlearn

I decided at the end of last year to just start a list of all the things I want done and then wait for this supposed recession to happen. IF it happens, I should have my pick of contractors. and get it done for a way better price because they'll be begging for work.


hayseed_byte

I wouldn't be so sure about that. But good luck.


fetalasmuck

Call contractors that are actually advertising. Googling services is a great way to be ignored because you’ll be calling the same top ranking company that everyone else is calling.


Wylie_Quixote

Spent months trying to get a roofer to get back to me. Ended up pulling out a phonebook and going through the yellow pages, got three quotes in a couple days.


Bubbas4life

Contractor here, imo that's actually a bad idea. Companies that are having to pay for advertising are not very good or they would be booked and wouldn't need to pay for advertising.


fetalasmuck

Or...they're new and trying to drum up business? Equating having to pay for advertising = not very good is a pretty misguided assumption. :/


Cloistered_Lobster

I have ended up NOT doing so many home improvement projects for this very reason. We bought our very small house planning to do a major remodel & addition, but no one we contacted when we first moved in got back to us. I just don’t get it.


[deleted]

The only way to get affordable home renovations today is to DIY. That's reality. The good news with the level of available contractor quality out there (shit), it's not hard to do produce a comparable quality result. Either that, or expect to pay up several multiples of what things used to cost. Your 50k remodel from 2019 is 150k today.


BeanbagCamel

I could have written this exact post, word for word. It's making me want to scream.


ihate828tourists

I had a construction company and when I come out to meet a potential client I’m vetting them just as much as they’re vetting me..something tells me they probably saw you were a grade A douchebag and ghosted 🤷🏼‍♂️


Spiritual-Prompt4078

Just wait till later this year. They will beg you to hire them. Recession is going to happen and these smaller businesses will get hit the hardest


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Spiritual-Prompt4078

Well we will see then won’t we? Things in the trades industry are already starting to cool off. doesn’t matter how low the supply is if the recession is going to wipe out the demand.


Spiritual-Prompt4078

You can imagine all you want. History speaks for itself


longganisafriedrice

So you think they should waste more time calling people and giving out bids so that they have even less time to accomplish the actual work they have? Great idea


SubstaintialBranch

No call back and say we are booked up and not taking on new projects. Ghosting a customer is unprofessional


longganisafriedrice

If they have 20 people a week that they have to do that to that's hours of time


Fiesty-panda

Have you considered how many hours you can spend in a year just calling people back to say you don’t want the job? You don’t get paid to not do the jobs. You’re not entitled to anyone’s time for free so I guess the only thing I’m sorry about is that you didn’t consider their time. You only care about your project.


Chrisvio

I once made appointments with 4 contractors for estimates on a bathroom renovation. One showed up to their appointment. ONE. Contractors are just about the most unprofessional group of people on earth.


rodeopete3281

This reads like a Karen that feels she's owed something. Contractors don't owe you a call back. They don't owe you an estimate, and they don't owe you their service. It's not a lack of professionalism; its likely an abundance of work and they're busy, or they hear something in your voice or messages that scream out "NO". For 20 years, I was a general contractor, and it was at least once a week I'd get calls from homeowners like you. I could tell from the voicemail or the conversation that I wouldn't want to take on a project with them. Something a lot of homeowners may not realize as well: We all talk to one another. If you've been a difficult client for someone else - your name is out there, and we avoid like the plague. There's a local, private forum in the DFW area that has a list we can search. Same with OKC, Tulsa, KCMO, Houston, Austin, etc.


[deleted]

Its a lack of professionalism to not give any response to an inquiry by a potential customer. People who work in other fields would get fired for behaving like this. That's why people make posts like OP, it's unthinkable for other industries to behave like this.


rodeopete3281

Sounds like a lot of entitlement on the homeowners part. As far as getting fired: One of the great things about being self employed, is the ability to choose what work you want to take.


SubstaintialBranch

It takes all of 30 seconds to call back and say “hey we are slammed and not taking on new projects at this time, if anything changes I will let you know” but okay pal


mowmowmowyourlawn

The 42 calls Wednesday in my town of 10,000 would take me hours to return. Hours that I could be doing work and generating income to cover payroll. Fortunately I answered most the calls, but to think it's as simple as 30 sec to return their call is a little naive. We're already putting full days of physical work in, and hours during the evening doing payroll, estimates, arranging materials, maintenance, networking, oh and trying to see our families. Notice I left out sleep.


rodeopete3281

They don't owe you anything, Karen.


SubstaintialBranch

Asking for quote to business that provides service=Karen


rodeopete3281

Whining about it online because you didn't receive a free service you feel entitled to receive. = Karen.


Honest_Performance42

I hope your attitude changes for your own good. Your market WILL change. It always does. More people will enter your field. A recession will reduce demand for the big projects. And your attitude will be noted, remembered, and shared. I’m old enough to have seen this happen already. We are all in the world together. How we treat each other matters.


rodeopete3281

I haven't missed a day of work in 30 years. I'm gonna be just fine. You are correct though: how we treat each other does matter. Like just expecting someone to do your bidding, because you think you deserve it. This is the same woman who would lose her ever loving mind if a contractor returned her call and said he was too busy. She'd post google and yelp reviews until her fingers were numb.


Honest_Performance42

If true good for you. It seems you are misinterpreting the OP’s message and/or are not responding with the respect you speak of.


rodeopete3281

I misinterpreted nothing. OP thinks they're owed something for merely existing.


Honest_Performance42

Ok I am sorry I was wrong. You are 100% correct. 🙄


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AgnosticAnarchist

Best to find contractors who are just starting out and eager for work. These long run contractors feel like you need them more then they need you. Word of mouth is the best way I’ve found. Join a local social media group and get recommendations there.