Renovations - Help in Budgeting

Hi, I am renovating my 1000 sq ft apartment. It is very old and needs to be gutted completely. I have hired a designer who is excellent (he understands what I want) and he has gone out to two contractors for quotes.


Problem is, the quotes are much higher than I thought. I've highlighted some of the key items:


Demolition:

Contractor A quoted $26800, Contractor B $19200

Brick and Plaster Work:

Contractor A quoted almost $80000, Contractor B $30000

Electrical and Plumbing:

Contractor A quoted $58660, Contractor B $59670

Flooring

Contractor A quoted $81000, Contractor B $33940


The differences are huge. I therefore was thinking of going with Contractor B. However, another friend says even B is expensive and I should go out for independent quotes.


My designer prefers to work with one of the two because he finds them to be trustworthy and deliver the things they promise.


I am generally of the view you sometimes get what you pay for (especially at the low end of the scale), and if you are too "cheap", you end up with an idiot contractor who ruins everything. It's also better when the designer knows the contractor I guess?


I am however, on a bit of a budget and every penny matters. What's everyone's advice?

Can you pick-and-choose?

the issue is that you are comparing apples with oranges. you have to make at least a try to nail them down to the same apples (and i would think your designer should be good enough to do that).


what we did is a comparison on a unit basis, i.e. for your floor, you would compare the prices on a per sqf basis. we also had the labour split from the material cost. for example, we paid 35$/sqf for labour and 27$/sqf for the wooden floor material.


as a result we were able to hold detailed discussions on the labour price, and separate discussions on the precise materials to be used. we were also able to source our own materials in some cases, rather than relying on the contractor to pick and negotiate with the vendor.

Check out www.grovens-living.com


I am currently getting a quote from them and they seem to be able to provide the design service as well as the contractor service


Hope that helps