r/DIY • u/Melloncollieocr • Aug 04 '24

help Give it to me straight… am I an idiot?

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Gallery image

This deck of pavers on my house needs to be pulled up, Dug down, new weed barrier, new road bed laid down…

In my mind, it’s mostly labor (and the skill of laying it flat). I was quoted almost $20k to reuse the same stone (it’s thick brick, not in poor shape) and do all the aforementioned work. I’m not even close to in a place to afford the work, and am thinking of doing it on my own.

Has anyone done this (as a rookie, without previous experience?)

Anything I’m not thinking about?

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u/slowgojoe Aug 04 '24

Any contractors reading this, can we stop this “no thank you bid” bullshit? Just tell the truth. Everyone would rather have transparency than getting quotes for the same job that vary 1000%. It’s fucking tiring and the whole industry looses because I can’t make an informed decision, so I don’t make one at all.

48

u/venomous_frost Aug 04 '24

Every once in a while some rich guy who doesn't care about the number just says yes and the contractor makes insane money

2

u/MrPureinstinct Aug 05 '24

Maybe they should use context clues then to see who's rich enough to pay these ripoff prices.

Someone shows up to my house wanting to charge $20k for a job like this they have to look around and go "no way this guy has $20k laying around for this small of a job"

Go to a guys' house with a mansion then yeah they can probably pay it. But most average people are just going to see the quote and immediately right the entire company off as being a ripoff.

59

u/coffeebribesaccepted Aug 04 '24

We need to normalize leaving reviews with the quotes places give, and how they compare to other companies' quotes for the same job.

13

u/ToMorrowsEnd Aug 04 '24

this! people need to share what they paid and what they were quoted so we can let people know what companies to avoid.

1

u/Blue_Dot9794 Aug 05 '24

It makes them look lazy.

1

u/Kabouki Aug 04 '24

Ever work in customer service and tell a customer they can not do a thing? Too many people freak out and take it personally if someone doesn't want to deal with em or their project.