r/Contractor

In my contractor’s original quote for building the deck, the original quote for the material was $800, and then he said he couldn’t get the materials for $800, so I paid $1800 to buy the materials from Home Depot myself. Then he said that he also spent $550 on the smaller pieces like nails. So, the total cost for the materials became $2,350 instead of the original $800.

Here are my questions about how you would deal with the situation for those of you, especially those of you who have experience or contractors yourself:

1. Is this okay and standard practice for general contractors to increase the price so dramatically?

2. Now he has built the deck, but it still needs to be stained. Since pretreated cedar-tone wood is used, according to my research, it should be sanded first, which was also what he said he would do at the beginning. Now he is saying that he does not want to sand it first; instead, he would just stain it without sanding. My research says that is a bad idea. In addition, he wants full payment now, saying that he would come back to stain the deck when the time comes. If I’m afraid of him not coming back to do his work, I can call his insurance company to get him to do the work. What should I do?

3. Finally, he also painted our house. Before he started, he said he would put the frames of the doors and windows in a different color, but then tried to back off. Even now, our front door frame still does not have the same color; in addition, the pipes still have sections that do not have the same color. The frames of the back and side windows are not even painted because he said that he cannot paint the frames due to the material. Is that true?

4. He keeps telling me that he is not making enough money because his bid was too low.

I would appreciate any recommendations on how I should deal with this, especially his request for full payment now. I personally think that it is unreasonable for him to even ask for full payment now.

Thank you so much in advance.

I feel like most of the plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, carpenters, actual roofers, sheetrockers, and brick layers are all trying to be competitive and still get out there and bust a**, yet these fairies are floating around making $1,000's of dollars just riding around in air conditioned vehicles collecting $$$ with a tape measure, a ladder, and a flash light.

Folks, you can measure the square footage of your roof with Ai now. Truth is, most of them use it too. Not entirely accurate, but good enough for a rough estimate. Especially when you consider youre not paying anybody commission. 10/10 one of those "jobs" that will be consumed by Ai. And soon.

Also, a home inspector gets their certification with a 2 week training course, and typically have never used or owned any tools to actually do the work.

As an electrician of 12 years, and licensed: I have completed a LOT of their punch lists. I inevitably always catch something they miss.

They always have to find something to legitimize what they do. So why make 2 phone calls instead of 1?

Most of the aforementioned tradesmen could identify these problems if you would just ask us to take a look. We have so many rules to follow and red tape to cut through just to keep a business going.

Ive been on union jobs, non union jobs, residential, commercial, and industrial. The only common theme is that we are all short staffed. There are too few men in 2026 willing to roll their sleeves up and actually try to learn a trade and bare the elements.

Trouble is on the horizon.

State is PA. Non paying GC, mechanic lien filed, owner forced prime to provide bond for 2x amount.

Payment bond doesn’t have time frame in document. Would it be the length of mechanics lien(2 years) due to owner requiring it once lien was filed?

I am currently doing a big renovation that includes, kitchen (moving plumbing, electrical), breakdown down a wall, adding a powder room in a main floor, changing flooring, painting and building a closet in a primary bedroom.

I've gotten some quotes and have selected a contractor. However during the process of getting quotes I've noticed that they don't breakdown the cost of each sub project.

When I selected my contractor, in the final plan they also don't have a breakdown of each sub project. They will provide it if you ask but it seems very hard.

Wondering if that's been the experience for a big project. Is it because it's hard to price out how much a powder room cost when we are adding plumbing and electrical? I don't think my contractor is being shady in any way but I also don't truly know the person.

Not sure how to ask for that breakdown as we've already started the project and don't want them to spend time on a spreadsheet vs actually working.

Been in the trades for about eight years now, running my own small general contracting operation for the last three. I feel like every other job lately I run into the same situation. Client agrees to the scope, signs the contract, we get started, and then somewhere around week two or three they start pushing back on price. Not because of change orders or anything I did differently, just buyer's remorse I guess.

Had a client last month try to get me to knock off a significant chunk midproject because they said they found someone who would have done it cheaper. Okay, great, that guy is not here and we are halfway through your kitchen remodel.

I stay professional and just point back to the signed agreement, but it gets exhausting. I am not running a charity and my guys need to get paid.

Curious how other contractors handle this. Do you have specific language in your contracts that shuts this down early? Do you require a larger deposit upfront so people have more skin in the game before they start secondguessing everything? Or do you just deal with it case by case?

Would love to hear what has actually worked for people in the field, not just the textbook answer. This community has solid real world experience and I could use some practical input.

“Based on my personal experience, I would not recommend Novcon. I was disappointed with the quality and felt my house project was not given proper attention. Although they appear good on social media, my actual experience was different. I eventually decided to terminate my contract even though I accepted a financial loss because of the stress. I hope others carefully evaluate before deciding.” No to NOVCOn

I’m stuck and hoping someone here has been through this. I have a clear idea for a small renovation, but every time I try to explain it to contractors I get different assumptions, follow‑up questions, or bids that are all over the place. It’s honestly intimidating and makes me second‑guess everything.

Hey Everyone,

I own an appliance repair company. Currently we have 4 techs. Weve been in buisness less than a year as of this post. I have been working with Home warranty companies and it has been pretty solid, but is not a long term solution.

I would like more customers to find us on Google or by other means. We currently have over 200 reviews on Google and only 2 arent 5 star. Like others, I dont want to waste money on stuff that doesnt work.

With that being said, what have you done to get more customers organically? What has worked for you?

How did you boost your Google presence to show up on top? Alot of advertising about this, but ai dont know who to trust.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

We’re about to hire a contractor for a remodel and I’m shocked by how little information is available before you hand over a deposit.

Do people actually run a background check on contractors before hiring them?

Reviews? Licences? Court records? Business history?

Has anyone here been burned by a contractor, or do most people just trust referrals?

Dallas tx

Front door wall, currently has this weird tile thing. I want it ripped out and put in this white fake stone material. Wall is about 13’ long and 7.5’ high. Window in the middle and a door.

I was quoted $9750 for the work, and I supply the door and the wall material. Doesn’t include anything to do with the window.

No idea what pricing should be like for this kind of work.

Hey everyone,

​I wanted to put out a massive warning to any contractors, handymen, or local businesses thinking about using the HomeStars app to find work. Do not sign up for this platform. It's a predatory trap.

​I’m completely new to the app and was shocked to find out how they operate. They charged me $30 bucks per job just for clicking "show interest."

​Charged for Zero Work: I was charged for a job where the client hadn't locked anything in. The client was just trying to negotiate, didn't want to pay, and went with someone else. HomeStars still billed me $30.

​The Multi-Billing Scam: If 10 contractors click "interested" on a single lead, HomeStars collects $30 from all 10 people ($300 total), even if the client hires nobody.

​Holding Accounts Hostage: When I realized this, I contacted support to remove my interest from other jobs and close my account. Support literally told me they cannot remove my interest and refused to close the account while leads were pending.

​Here is the kicker: I actually read their official Privacy Policy. Section 4 and Section 15 explicitly state that users have the right to revoke consent and demand total deletion of their personal information/account at any time. Their standard customer support is actively violating their own legal terms just to keep charging contractors.

​I’ve already been hit with $60 for two non-existent jobs. I have bypassed their useless customer support line and sent a formal legal notice directly to their Privacy Officer (privacyofficer@homestars.com) demanding account deletion under Canadian Privacy Law. If they don't comply, I'm heading straight to small claims and consumer protection boards.

​TL;DR: HomeStars will steal $30+ the second you look at a job, and customer service will refuse to let you close your account to keep billing you. Avoid them at all costs!

I have 3 old box elders, with cracked branches that overhang a house and parking lot where 3 families park. We noticed the branches on June 6, I called around to see about estimates. June 8 a guy came out, gave me a quote and I agreed (no contact, just go home and look at schedule and call me with a date). I waited and had not heard from him in 3 weeks. My son told be about a guy in the next town over so I called him and he came and gave me an estimate on June 29. Said he could do it Wednesday, had some bad weather and called to postpone to Thursday (today) and showed up at 7:30 and got started. 9:00 I get a voicemail from original estimate guy that he can come tomorrow! Is this normal? I feel bad that I went with someone else but he didn’t call me for almost 4 weeks and I have critical branches that one good storm would bring down.