http://thumbandhammer.com/blog/2009/02/385/ Our life in a Money Pit Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:48:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://thumbandhammer.com/blog/2009/02/385/#comment-72310 Thumb & Hammer Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:29:14 +0000 http://thumbandhammer.com/blog/?p=385#comment-72310 The one possible issue I see with the "time and materials not to exceed $..." clause is that some contractors may take advantage of that and run the bill up to the maximum. The way around that of course is to set the threshold lower than it really is and prepare to go over if necessary. For example, just because I can afford $10,000 doesn't mean I want to pay 10,000. I obviously want to pay as little as possible while getting a quality job. The advantage to having an architect / project manager is that he will be auditing the bills and we can make adjustment along the way to either stay within budget or make upgrades if we can afford to. As far as things popping up, we are budgeting for a complete gut and remodel. I don't think there will be any more surprises than what I've already uncovered. Stay tuned. The one possible issue I see with the “time and materials not to exceed $…” clause is that some contractors may take advantage of that and run the bill up to the maximum. The way around that of course is to set the threshold lower than it really is and prepare to go over if necessary. For example, just because I can afford $10,000 doesn’t mean I want to pay 10,000. I obviously want to pay as little as possible while getting a quality job. The advantage to having an architect / project manager is that he will be auditing the bills and we can make adjustment along the way to either stay within budget or make upgrades if we can afford to. As far as things popping up, we are budgeting for a complete gut and remodel. I don’t think there will be any more surprises than what I’ve already uncovered. Stay tuned.

]]> http://thumbandhammer.com/blog/2009/02/385/#comment-72309 David Kleine Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:41:23 +0000 http://thumbandhammer.com/blog/?p=385#comment-72309 I agree with the architect 100%. That would be a first for me. Working on a time and materials terms is usually in the favor of the homeowner, but gives the contractor less risk. It is very hard to bid a remodel because there are too many things that pop up or you can't see until you get into it. Therefore I would have to bid it high enough to cover the unexpected. With a bid you pay for things that might not come up. Time and materials you only pay for the things that do come up. Still if you can get the contractor to agree to a "time and materials not to exceed $0.00" contract, that is always a good idea. I do this for my customers whether they ask or not. It gives the homeowners a little comfort. I agree with the architect 100%. That would be a first for me. Working on a time and materials terms is usually in the favor of the homeowner, but gives the contractor less risk. It is very hard to bid a remodel because there are too many things that pop up or you can’t see until you get into it. Therefore I would have to bid it high enough to cover the unexpected. With a bid you pay for things that might not come up. Time and materials you only pay for the things that do come up. Still if you can get the contractor to agree to a “time and materials not to exceed $0.00″ contract, that is always a good idea. I do this for my customers whether they ask or not. It gives the homeowners a little comfort.

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