Basement Wiring Special

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aline

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Would any of you guys wire 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500?

I just got a call from a guy who said he needs 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom wired in his basement. It's a new home and he says he has extra spaces in his panel. The basement is completely open from the rooms to the panel.

He told me he's had 3 electrical contractors out and got 3 bids but now he can't get any of them to come out and do the work. He wanted a ball park price from me.

I told him I would have to look at the job to give him an accurate price but from his description I would say about $1,500.

He then tells me who the contractors were and what their bids were. I know all 3 contractors and they have yellow page ads next to mine.

Contractor A: $1,350
Contractor B: $550
Contractor C: $525

I told him I would think Contractor A would show up and do the work. I can see why Contractor B and C won't show up. I wouldn't show up for $500 either. I can't imagine wiring 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500. You've got a minimum of two trips, one for the rough-in and one for the trim-out. If you count the trip out to look at the job and bid it you've got 3 trips into this job and you're only going to charge $500?

I asked him if he would like me to come and start the job. He said he would have to talk to his wife and let me know. I'm sure he'll call me back. Yeah right.

Contractor A is a flat rate service company and an ESI member.
Contractor B is a small shop with a few electricians.
Contractor C is a one man show as far as I know.

I don't know how B & C are paying for their yellow page ads with those kind of prices.

Now I know why I bid all these basements and never get any. I've found that on some that I bid my price was twice as high as the other bids. I'm pretty sure the last basement I wired I was the only one that he got a bid from. I bid one today at $4,500 and that was after I cut it down to the lowest price I felt I could do it for. From the sound of his voice it doesn't sound like I'll be getting the job.

I think I'm going to have to start telling people I don't do basements.

Would any of you guys wire 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500?
This seems cheap even for a sidejobber.
I can't believe legitimate electrical contractors are so cheap. What is wrong with these guys?
 
Give him your price and if he does not like it let him use contractor A B or C. Oh that's right they are not interested. :rolleyes:

I have priced out a ton of work lately and some of it I was even surprised at how high the numbers were. Some I got some I have not heard back yet, none am I loosing sleep over.
 
You can wire 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500 not counting material, if your one of the guys that keeps NM cable in the open bed of their truck, and has a full time day job, and don't get tied up with any pesty taxes or premits.
 
What would've happened if contractor B & C would have given a price of $1,250 and $1,150?
I'd be willing to bet that one of them would still have gotten the job and would probably actually want to show up and do it.

I'm guessing he already signed a contract with one but he's just having a hard time getting them to show up when they said they would.

I've been bidding small comercial jobs and I'm finding the same thing. The bids are all over the place. Nobody is pulling permits. If you mention the P word you can forget about getting the job. It's aggravating.

I knew I should have become a professional stunt man.
 
"you can do it"

"you can do it"

satcom said:
You can wire 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500 not counting material, if your one of the guys that keeps NM cable in the open bed of their truck, and has a full time day job, and don't get tied up with any pesty taxes or premits.
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Or if you are one of those guys that are here in the country illegaly, are are willing to do just about anything for a buck! "No taxes, no insurance,no permits, no problem"!
 
satcom said:
You can wire 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for $500 not counting material, if your one of the guys that keeps NM cable in the open bed of their truck, and has a full time day job, and don't get tied up with any pesty taxes or premits.
Click to expand...
I agree.
All 3 of these guys have yellow page ads right next to mine and mine costs me $926 per month. They all have contractor licenses and are insured.
I can see the one contractors price of $1,350 but the other two prices I can't understand.

The guy told me they said they would have to put in one of those new arcing breakers.

I guess it would have been $400 if it weren't for that.

For basement jobs like this the homeowner or general contractor pulls a permit for the framing, plumbing, electrical and hvac and it's all covered under this one permit. They seldom get pulled though.
 
When I see price disparities like that among otherwise reputable contractors, I have to think the lower one's were giving a price on exactly what the owner wanted done; not what it would actually take to do a code-compliant job. I run into this quite a bit, where the owner is finishing a basement and think they need "a couple lights and a few plugs". I try to guide them, and explain as best I can what it will take to do the right job, then talk about extra stuff like phone and cable jacks, and maybe a 2nd chime unit in the basement. I might guess those low prices are the "get me in the door" price, and then they might sock it to him. Hard to say.
 
We have the same problem here..there are "contractors" giving prices of $800.00 for 200a service upgrades...Permit costs $94.00 how can you compete with those prices???
 
Why do these people think I'm the crazy one when my price is $1,500 and the other guy's price is $500?

They all asume the guy with the high price must be the crazy one. The guy with the low price is the only sane reasonable one.
 
mdshunk said:
When I see price disparities like that among otherwise reputable contractors, I have to think the lower one's were giving a price on exactly what the owner wanted done; not what it would actually take to do a code-compliant job. I run into this quite a bit, where the owner is finishing a basement and think they need "a couple lights and a few plugs". I try to guide them, and explain as best I can what it will take to do the right job, then talk about extra stuff like phone and cable jacks, and maybe a 2nd chime unit in the basement. I might guess those low prices are the "get me in the door" price, and then they might sock it to him. Hard to say.
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Or maybe some of these low priced guys are just idiots. :)
In this case it sounds like the low price only gets them in the door when they get around to it. I guess some customers don't mind sitting at home waiting all day for someone to not show up so they can save a buck.
 
The lowest price contractor is the honest one.

The lowest price contractor is the honest one.

Homeowners always grant immense credibility to the low ball bidder. The reason for this is the DIY shows on TV have led them to believe that everything can be done in 22 minutes and there are never any problems, after all, the Pros on TV never have problems.

People also have a strong prejudice against people who do "dirty" work. It's well known that construction workers are over paid goons unworthy of being paid over $20 an hour.

People don't consider electrical contracting to be a business and let's just be generous and say it's a business, I mean seriously, how much "overhead" can there possibly be?

The guy with the low price provided the fair price, everybody else is trying to rip off the customer. It's just how people think.

We are fully in the grips of a recession. If the economic indicators were gauges on the dash of an F-16, you'd pull the ejection lever.

T_Bird_6_eject.jpg


People are not spending money, couple that with their passion for getting the lowest price, you can see that a legitimate contractor can no longer compete against the unwashed masses of hacks and imbeciles.

The only way to win is to low ball, define a seriously insufficient scope of work and then leap off the top rope and slam them with extras. It ain't pretty but it is what it is.

End of rant.
 
aline said:
He told me he's had 3 electrical contractors out and got 3 bids but now he can't get any of them to come out and do the work. He wanted a ball park price from me.
Click to expand...

There is only one key word here and that's the word can't. I really don't believe that three different contractors bothered to bid a job for prices so low that none of them wish to actually do the work.

I really think this guy is not being completely honest. I wouldn't trust him. Give that contractor C a call and see if you can get him on the phone and ask him about the situation.

This may be a good chance to do some networking. Compare prices. Electricians need more communication.
 
How can anyone that is legal do that. Maby one of those plumber/electrician/hvac handy man guys. But they don't get permits or have insurance so it would be a deal to them.
 
Well lowball season is upon us. A guy I am doing work for got a phenominal deal on two new Trane systems. The company has alot of trucks on the road and obviously is willing to cut prices to get the work. Also they do quality work (a novel concept these days). What a deal. Sadly though, it starts the downward sprial of lowering profit margins and giving work away and training people to expect "Sale" prices when the economy turns.

c2500
 
If I could hire someone to do a basement for less than $600, material/permits/labor/insurance/etc. included, I would become a basement-wiring EC and just sub all my work out to Contractor C.
 
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