On 2021-03-16 2:48 p.m., Michael Trew wrote:
> On 3/16/2021 2:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

>> For goodness sake don't do what my wife did when we had a plastered
>> estimate a job for us. We wanted to get the upstairs walls refinished
>> with interior stucco. It was hard to find someone who does that kind of
>> work but this company was recommended by a friend in the construction
>> business. When the guy was here my wife said that we didn't want to
>> spend more than $4000 on it. Son of a gun. The estimate came to a little
>> more than $3900.
>
> Oh that's awful.Â* Lesson learned; however - always get a quote first.
> Let them throw out the first number.

We were kind of stuck with that guy anyway because he was the only one
who was recommended and capable of doing what we wanted. Considering how
much work was done and the amount of stucco used, that could well have
been a good deal. They had to first prime the walls and ceilings in the
stairway and upstairs hallway and the three bedrooms. They had two or
three guys to prime the walls and then there was a crew of 5 plasterers
and they put in a good 12 hours on the day they applied the stucco.
Given the time and materials, it could well have been better than if she
had not said that.

However.... I told her later that went getting a bid not to let them knw
how much you are willing to spend. Better to have a disappointed look
and tell them you will have to think about it.