How to word pricing convo

[spicysalmonroll]

This is probably painfully obvious to some, but my H and I are a little stumped as to wording.

We are going to have our deck redone (wood to Trex plastic). At my neighbor's bbq this past weekend we got to talking with his uncle, who's always over there, about how he is the one who did their deck. He did an amazing job on theirs, looks gorgeous. He walked over to our house and looked at ours and was super enthusiastic about wanting to do ours and had all these great ideas and suggestions. He even stopped by for a quick minute the following night to drop off a sample leftover from my neighbor's. We are so confident in his abilities and want to go with him, but have no idea what he will charge us or how to ask, since it's just him not through a company. We have a realistic budget in mind that we *assume* he would be within but clearly it's always best to have these things agreed upon first. We got his phone number from neighbor and just not sure exactly what to say because we want to keep a good relationship with him and neighbor, we don't want him to think we're trying to squeeze a deal out of him or that we're trying to do this as cheap as possible. That's not what we want, we want to pay him fairly...but want to make sure we can afford him first.

[sweptaway]

Ask him for an estimate.

[hawkward]

If you have a good relationship with him, I would just go straight forward with it. "We love what you did with the neighbor's deck, and we'd like to hire you to do ours if you're available (gives him an out to say no). This is the budget we had in mind, but we want to make sure that would cover supplies and also pay you fairly for your time and skill."

He can either say no, that's not enough, or yes, it'll cover it. If he says it's not adequate, ask him if there is anything you can do to get within budget (change the design or supplies).

[jessila]

I'd get multiple quotes anyhow to get an idea on pricing. Call him, ask for a written quote, and let him know you're getting other quotes too. Then go with the best price. If he does this regularly he must know how the business works.

Also, is he licensed? Because I don't want to shell out thousands of dollars to have an issue and not have some kind of guarantee on the work.

[Deleted]

“We’re really interested in having you do our deck but want to make sure we’re all on the same page when it comes to cost. Can you give us a quote/bid?”

[tipsyturvy]

Two things...
From personal experience family/friend pricing has always been higher!
Get an estimate from someone else first
Tell him how much you are prepared to spend and what your expectations are
Get the work to be performed in WRITING

This is still business and a lot of money

[microworm]

Jun 5, 2018 7:16:06 GMT -6 sweptaway said:

Ask him for an estimate.

This. And go from there.

[spicysalmonroll]

Jun 5, 2018 7:17:09 GMT -6 jessila said:

I'd get multiple quotes anyhow to get an idea on pricing. Call him, ask for a written quote, and let him know you're getting other quotes too. Then go with the best price. If he does this regularly he must know how the business works.

Also, is he licensed? Because I don't want to shell out thousands of dollars to have an issue and not have some kind of guarantee on the work.

See we did get another quote but we really want to go with him so my H doesn't want to make mention of any other quotes or competition. This guy is so super nice, and does such a great job, MH doesn't want him to think we are only choosing him because of cost or that we would go with someone else just because of cost. You know what I mean? We don't want him insulted, thinking like well geez we had this whole conversation about it and I'm ready and willing to do it, and now they're trying to nickel and dime me against this other dude to save a few hundred bucks. We don't want it come off like that.

[rvasc]

Jun 5, 2018 7:25:40 GMT -6 spicysalmonroll said:

Jun 5, 2018 7:17:09 GMT -6 jessila said:

I'd get multiple quotes anyhow to get an idea on pricing. Call him, ask for a written quote, and let him know you're getting other quotes too. Then go with the best price. If he does this regularly he must know how the business works.

Also, is he licensed? Because I don't want to shell out thousands of dollars to have an issue and not have some kind of guarantee on the work.

See we did get another quote but we really want to go with him so my H doesn't want to make mention of any other quotes or competition. This guy is so super nice, and does such a great job, MH doesn't want him to think we are only choosing him because of cost or that we would go with someone else just because of cost. You know what I mean? We don't want him insulted, thinking like well geez we had this whole conversation about it and I'm ready and willing to do it, and now they're trying to nickel and dime me against this other dude to save a few hundred bucks. We don't want it come off like that.

This is just how life works. He’s not going to be offended, and if he is, he’s not a professional.

[Lormor]

You're overthinking it. Ask for a quote.

It doesn't mean you're trying to get the cheapest work done, or mate rates or whatever. Very few people in the world can just get contractors in without knowing how much it's going to cost upfront. Just ask.

[rvasc]

Also if you already have one quote, just say, “we really want to go with you. Can you give me an estimate, so we can figure out if it fits in our budget?” And if he’s way off the other quote, then figure it out.

[gimmeaQ]

I really think you're over thinking this.

In this profession he deals with this stuff all the time. If you have another quote than you have at least a ball park of what it might cost. Ask him for an estimate and go from there. If it's high, talk to him about the other quote you got and have a conversation about why his might be higher (recommended materials, smaller company, etc.).

And just... have a conversation. You're making it much more awkward than it needs to be.

[vino]

You can go to to Home Depot and do a deck deisgn, take in all your measurements and they’ll give you a price on the materials, since they carry the Trex brand it’d be close to an exact amount. Then when you get his quote you’ll know aprox what he is charging for labour and can decide if you can/want to negotiate.

[spicysalmonroll]

We already know we're going to go with an individual as a side job situation, and not a company. The job is super easy, all the supports for our deck are already there, he's literally only taking up the planks we walk on and replacing those. My H could even do it himself, but he doesn't have the time. Just wanted to throw that in there because this entire project with labor is going to be under 5k so we're not concerned with warrantees or anything else offered by a big company. Another friend of a friend quoted us 4k but we like this guy's work better and are even willing to pay him up to $1,000 more.

[rvasc]

Jun 5, 2018 7:34:33 GMT -6 spicysalmonroll said:

We already know we're going to go with an individual as a side job situation, and not a company. The job is super easy, all the supports for our deck are already there, he's literally only taking up the planks we walk on and replacing those. My H could even do it himself, but he doesn't have the time. Just wanted to throw that in there because this entire project with labor is going to be under 5k so we're not concerned with warrantees or anything else offered by a big company. Another friend of a friend quoted us 4k but we like this guy's work better and are even willing to pay him up to $1,000 more.

I hope he doesn’t get hurt at your house. Even if he doesn’t want to, his medical insurance company could sue you. It’s just... not a great idea to use someone who isn’t insured. And 5k is a lot of money.

[spicysalmonroll]

gimmeaQ,I know, we are awkward people!!!!! hahahah
vino, exactly, we already know what the materials cost and will buy those on our own

[piratecat]

Am I correct in assuming that he doesn't do this for a living? I would simply ask him for an estimate on materials and time. Tell him that you want to compensate him fairly for his time but would like to know what it will cost so that you can budget for it. I would not mention your budget or what you think it should cost at all, unless he comes back with a number that is much higher than what you were thinking. I don't think that you would offend him by asking for an estimate, I think that is to be expected.

[lizblue]

Ask him for a quote. Compare to other quotes and pick best one. Make sure whoever does the work has liability insurance.

These are three simple steps to getting your deck finished, with no overthinking required.

[allthekristys]

Plain and simple - money is part of this equation - he knows this - it shouldn't surprise him that you ask for a quote. In fact, he is likely expecting this conversation. It's just part of the equation. Don't make it weird. Don't try and justify your request for a quote that you want to pay him fairly, blah blah blah. Just ask for a quote! Plain and simple. Then let the conversation flow from there.

[vino]

It sounds like you have your number and known it’s fair, so starting a conversation is the next step. Good luck! It’s so nice to have a project done, especially with zero maintenance materials.

[spicysalmonroll]

Jun 5, 2018 7:37:31 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Am I correct in assuming that he doesn't do this for a living? I would simply ask him for an estimate on materials and time. Tell him that you want to compensate him fairly for his time but would like to know what it will cost so that you can budget for it. I would not mention your budget or what you think it should cost at all, unless he comes back with a number that is much higher than what you were thinking. I don't think that you would offend him by asking for an estimate, I think that is to be expected.

Yea, he is retired and does it as a side job

[spicysalmonroll]

Jun 5, 2018 7:36:42 GMT -6 rvasc said:

Jun 5, 2018 7:34:33 GMT -6 spicysalmonroll said:

We already know we're going to go with an individual as a side job situation, and not a company. The job is super easy, all the supports for our deck are already there, he's literally only taking up the planks we walk on and replacing those. My H could even do it himself, but he doesn't have the time. Just wanted to throw that in there because this entire project with labor is going to be under 5k so we're not concerned with warrantees or anything else offered by a big company. Another friend of a friend quoted us 4k but we like this guy's work better and are even willing to pay him up to $1,000 more.

I hope he doesn’t get hurt at your house. Even if he doesn’t want to, his medical insurance company could sue you. It’s just... not a great idea to use someone who isn’t insured. And 5k is a lot of money.

Oh yea, I agree! I didn't mean it like it wasn't a lot of money. But the materials alone are 3k so we wouldn't be spending that much more than if my H just did it is what I meant. (as opposed to an actual construction company who charges upwards of 8k)

[spicysalmonroll]

Thanks! I don't know why H & I are socially awkward and thought this would be tough to bring up, it is pretty simple and I need to just straight up ask him for his hours and price estimate! lol

[Cher]

“Send me a proposal and we will go from there.”


Fin.

[sheilathetank]

I have no advice, but I wanted to know if you decided what to do with the space under the deck.

[spicysalmonroll]

Jun 5, 2018 8:48:54 GMT -6 sheilathetank said:

I have no advice, but I wanted to know if you decided what to do with the space under the deck.

We ended up doing concrete. It was just done by my childhood friend this past weekend so we still need to spruce it up with a mulch border and all that to finish off the rough edges!

[spicysalmonroll]

And I'm definitely fixing to hang a porch swing like suggested by I think Joy.