Estimates
What a site visit and an estimate involve.
This is the part of hiring a contractor where the surprises usually start. So here is how ours works, including what it costs and when you pay it.
Why a visit comes first.
- Nobody can price what is behind an existing finish from a photograph.
- The estimate is built from measurements taken on site, not from an estimate of the measurements.
- Access, parking and the hours we can work all change what the job takes.
- Some problems turn out to belong to a different trade, and it is cheaper for everyone to find that out early.
What a site visit costs.
$50 · invoiced after 30 daysA site visit normally comes before a final estimate. Nothing is charged up front. If you accept the estimate electronically, the visit is free. If you do not, we invoice $50 for the visit 30 days after we send the estimate. You are told this before anything is scheduled, which is the point of it being on this page.
What the estimate contains.
An estimate that is only a number is not an estimate. These are the parts that make it checkable.
- Itemized scope
- What is included, line by line, in the language of the actual work.
- Stated exclusions
- We list what the price does not cover. You should not have to work it out from what is missing.
- Assumptions
- What we have assumed about conditions we could not see, and what happens if those turn out to be wrong.
- Materials responsibility
- Who is supplying what. We agree this for each job.
- Price presentation
- A total, a breakdown by stage, or a breakdown by area. Tell us which you want.
Agreeing to it.
You accept an estimate electronically. The confirmation records which version you agreed to and when, and it is what the finished work is checked against.
A change to the scope after work starts is priced and agreed in writing before it is carried out. That is the same mechanism as the estimate, applied again — not a separate process that appears when something goes wrong.