[AT] Crazy pricing on construction job

Fri May 14 06:11:52 PDT 2021

Last year I redid our deck using Trex and clips. Has a 25 year warranty. It’s not the one that’s fully clad, only top and sides. I believe they do have the four sided clad but we were looking for a mid range product so I can’t say anything about cost. Keep in mind that the ends of a board clad on all four sides will still have exposed ends on each board. I have a few long scrap pieces that I cut lengthwise and they do develop a bend from moisture over night, however when they dry out in the sun for an hour of so, they’re perfectly flat.

Carl

----- Original Message -----
From: Dean VP <deanvp at att.net>
To: 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group' <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Fri, 14 May 2021 00:27:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [AT] Crazy pricing on construction job

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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