Can I have your opinion on this quote please?

[mam544]

Attached is a quote for renovations to my PPOR in Broadbeach Waters, Queensland.

The builder has quoted on construction of a deck around the back of the house and putting a Colourbond roof over it.

Building a new carport with tile roof and double door and a free standing gatehouse in the front wall. Total $191,400

Can I have your opinions please? Seems a bit expensive to me.

 

[BayView]

Can't you build an entire house for this much?

I realise there is a bit of demo work as well, but this seems high for a carport and a deck and a few cupboards?

Have you had any other quotes using the same plans?

 

[evand]

Nowhere near enough detail for a project that size and way overpriced.
Get a few more quotes.

 

[SuiCid3]

Wow!

That's more than the base cost of a basic house around my area!

 

[willair]

Attached is a quote for renovations to my PPOR in Broadbeach Waters, Queensland.

The builder has quoted on construction of a deck around the back of the house and putting a Colourbond roof over it.

Building a new carport with tile roof and double door and a free standing gatehouse in the front wall. Total $191,400

Can I have your opinions please? Seems a bit expensive to me.

Maybe have a few more builders quote on the job, but by the sounds there seems to be several man hours in something like you intend to build,plus the materials cost woud be high,just have to ask if this PPOR or I-P,and how much value will this add to the property..willair..you could buy a 3 bedroom unit in logan for that price

 

[LynnH]

Sounds way over-priced to me! As others have said, you can build a house for less than that. Would definitely get several other quotes.

Cheers
LynnH

 

[softmonkey]

how flash is the existing house? quotes magically seem to double as soon as a contractor walks into a house with more than 4 bedrooms eg i have seen 35 grand quoted for a new kitchen

also what is site gradient and access like, can easily blow out the cost if they have to shank all the stuff in

 

[Horizon]

We have done something similar recently

Hi mam544,

We went through this process last year...

I am unsure of the scale of your job, but I have attached one of the plan pages of ours. We ended up only keeping 2 bearers of the previous deck. i.e replaced all boards and joists not originally considered.

Without electrics and painting our price was $70,500.

This was done in the second half of 2007 and in Wynnum, Brisbane.

Hope that helps,
Horizon

 

[HandyAndy888]

This person thinks you're stupid...

 

[Sheryn]

Renovations take extra time

Mam

Can you attach a plan of the extension and do you know the square metres of the renovation extension?

Some builders don't like doing renovations e.g they can make money easier and quicker by building new houses etc. So they put a big price on the quote.

Some builders prefer to do renovations because they can do a lot of the work themselves e.g one or two person building team.

A painter friend had a renovation done a few years ago, a lot of the builders he did work for weren't even interested in quoting for his renovation job.

One local builder who has 3 of his sons working for him said to the painter, my sons don't know how to do a renovation and all are qualified carpenters they only build new houses!


Sheryn

 

[Perp]

Tradies' prices can vary enormously; I wouldn't have believed how much until my experiences the past 2 years! One job (bathroom reno) was quoted at just under $19K, and another builder managed it for me for $4,500. One quote for a fairly large air-conditioning job came in at $26K, then the same guy ended up doing it for $14K when I said the price was too high and that I'd buy the air-con units off the internet and pay the electrician to install them instead.

So there are definitely tradies out there who just quote ridiculously high amounts to see if anybody will "bite". It could be that they're not interested in the work, or it could be that they're just seeing if they can get away with it because demand is high. In any case, always get multiple quotes, and do some research yourself (as you're doing) to see if the quotes are reasonable.

And I'm being very careful to talk about "some" tradies, because I've also met a lot of great tradies, worth every single cent and then some. And I also don't think the cheapest quote is necessarily the best. But you should at least have an idea what the range of reasonable prices is, then choose who you think will be best from within that range.

 

[pendo]

Hmmmmm..........thats some gatehouse!....
They obviously dont want the work. For fiddly work, it's normal to double or even triple the quote, in the belief that you will go away. However, the world is full suckers, so occasionally, even tradies can do well. Hope they are gold plated nails!

 

[mam544]

Thank you all for your comments.

Well this has certainly confirmed my suspicions. Thank you for your comments and advice.
This was just the first quote, have not got to the plan(s) stage yet. The house is nothing fantastic, it's an AV Jennings built around 1980, two story, 3 bedrooms and a study, detached garage, half renovated. Insured for $270K replacement.
Obviously more quotes needed. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Sailesh Channan]

It appears that he has pulled out that figure out of thin air.

However, without plans and specifications it would be difficult for a builder to give you an accurate indication.

In order to get the best possible price you will need a detailed plan showing in great detail every feature of the job. This will allow the builder to give you an exact quote.

Without this a builder has to allow for unnecessary contingencies which will blow prices out. These allowances are usually on the high side as the builder does not want to loose money on the job.

 

[evand]

In the building industry quotes are usually inversely proportional to how busy the tradie/builder is.

If he's flat out he'll quote high and if he's lucky enough to jag the job he'll fit it in or subbie some or all of it out.

If works slow, quotes are low as they need the work and competition is high.

You should ring him and ask "If i gave you the go ahead, when can you start the job?"

With no intention of getting it done of course. Just sound him out.

 

[oasis1frog]

Most tradies are honest hardworking people, but I came across a few are just ripoff merchants !

 

[skater]

Hmmmm...........is he building the deck out of gold?