[AT] Crazy pricing on construction job

Fri May 14 05:03:13 PDT 2021

When we remodeled,  a small, 10X13 deck was added out the back 10' wide
French slider, between two bedrooms. We went with
https://envisiondecking.com/, back then it was called Evergrain. Like your
area, coastal central California is damp and moldy. It looks as good as the
day it was put down. Worth every penny more than wood. No exposed fasteners
anywhere. All pressure treated framing below.
Brad

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:28 PM Dean VP <deanvp at att.net> wrote:

> I've now had some additional quotes come in I can now say that the
> inflation
> of at least one quote from the lowest I got last year is 320%.The housing
> and remodel market in the Seattle area is soooo hot right now the
> contractors have developed a serious case of GREED.  Apparently there are
> enough suckers out there that will pay these inflated prices that they can
> cherry pick very high margin jobs. Two contractors that have come out of
> the
> Seattle area are the ones with the 300% plus bids. We are 30 miles plus
> from
> the center of Seattle.  I suppose what they are doing is they are willing
> to
> travel for a job if they have found a sucker.  I'm trying very hard to not
> be one of their victims. It's an insane world trying to get something
> related to construction done in a reasonable time at a reasonable price.
> Greed is a very attractive concubine.    As my father said in these kinds
> of
> times:  This too will change!  Oh by the way.... Concrete work is $18 a
> square foot with a $2800 minimum.   If I was a few years younger I'd build
> the damn thing myself. Building a deck is not rocket science.  I get a kick
> out the sales people that throw around that material costs have gone up by
> 300 plus percent.  They get very quiet when I mention, I've been to the
> local lumber yard and was told the price of a 16 foot 2 x 8 has gone up 40%
> in the last year.
>
> I do have one question.  As most of you know it is very wet and damp here
> for at least 7 months a year and where I am installing my deck is in the
> shade all afternoon and evening. The SE corner of the house but is in the
> worst possible place for the weather which we often get  rain from the East
> or SE.  I intend to use composite wood for the flooring. I have developed a
> fear of what a constant moist environment under the deck will do to the
> underside of the composite wood.  So I am looking at composite flooring
> that
> is clad on all four sides so the moisture cannot get in. A intend to use
> clips rather than screw the boards down so I don't penetrate that seal.
> Anyone with experience in this area I sure would appreciate hearing from
> you.  The 4 sided sealed composite flooring board is considerably more
> expensive.   Am I being over cautious?  I know almost anything will last as
> long as we live here which probably will be between 5 and 10 years.   But I
> don't like building crap.
>
>
>
> Dean VP
> Snohomish, WA 98290
> "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and gospel
> of
> envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
> ..Winston Churchill...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Steve W.
> Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2021 8:25 PM
> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Subject: Re: [AT] Crazy pricing on construction job
>
> Stephen Offiler wrote:
> > My rental property is a prefab built in 1989.  I purchased the
> > property in 2015 so obviously I had nothing to do with selecting who made
> it.
> > What I have done is renovation work that has shown me they really,
> > really like their construction adhesive!  No matter who the
> > manufacturer is, they all have to be built to handle the
> > transportation from factory to job site.
> >
> > SO
> >
>
> Transport is part of it but most of it comes from the regulations on them.
> The standards on a prefab are really interesting to see. I worked in the
> cabinet shop at a local plant for a year before getting fed up with it.
> There are different specs for the various parts of the country and even
> different ones when you shipped to Canada. They actually have crash test
> standards for them!
> It was a real blast watching them being built though. We started with a set
> of axles and bulk frame steel and built from there. My boss at the time was
> also my fire chief and he ordered a new place while I was there. He spec'd
> it out as a Canadian unit (that gets you a larger breaker panel with
> breakers for each room instead of the common US designs where the front
> bedroom, bathroom and outdoor lights are all on one breaker style) It also
> has increased snow loading, better insulation and closer spacings on studs
> and joists.
>
> We also had different materials for items, from real solid oak/cherry/maple
> to pressboard with paper facing. His was built with all the top line
> materials. From start to finish it took us one week on the line. That was
> for a double wide 62X32. The weigh them as they go out the door to be sure
> the permits are just legal and his was a bit on the heavy side, roughly an
> extra ton of weight in better materials and insulation over the normal
> version.
>
> --
> Steve W.
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