They ask the contractor how much something costs... - Flip or Flop (2013) Discussion

[–] artisticblackman 9 years ago

Very true and it's even gotten to the point where Tarek will guess the cost and they put it on the screen as if he's correct and it's apart of the cost. I just wonder when a contractor does "guess" is he factoring in how much is going into his pocket for the work and how all that works.

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[–] singjohn 9 years ago

It just proves that not one second of this show is spontaneous. Everything is worked out ahead of time.

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[–] misterbfd 9 years ago

My father was a general contractor all of his life. He literally never worked any other kind of job, from teenager to death. When working with people he'd worked with over and over again, he was able to ball park a rough verbal estimate. He would later provide a complete written estimate and scope of work.

When dealing with people or work that he'd never dealt with before, he would never provide a verbal ball park quote. He'd just say that he would have to sit down and run the numbers first.

This is, most likely, because when dealing with people he's worked with in the past, there is a certain amount of trust factor and certain amount of leeway. If he underbid on on job for a particular company, he knows he'd still be getting more work from them in the future, so it wasn't a major crisis.

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[–] singjohn 9 years ago

Exactly! No contractor wants to get stuck paying for extra material if needed or extra time if a job goes longer than expected. If you're dealing with a bathroom or kitchen, you've got to bring in a plumber and an electrician and they ain't cheap! Anyone who's ever done any DIY work on their house knows that no project ever goes as expected.

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[–] robocop-37224 9 years ago

It's just like in auto body work..they need to look it over and put something in the quote in case there's more damage. It's called "unseen damage". And what cracks me up that when the contractor does give a quote, and I myself thought it was low, the flipping guy or girl say WoW that's high. Jesus Christ the contractors have to put food on their table. If it wasn't for them the people flipping the house would be out of business.

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[–] artisticblackman 9 years ago

But Robo the question is is it "high" compared to an average. I get putting food on your table but what we need to see is actual proof of it being high and not just a guess cause they've done it a million times. my kitchen reno will be different from yours due to size, what needed to replace and LABOR charges. Just because you quote me a 100 for a part you gotta get doesnt mean you're gonna pay that much from the dealer. The the amount to put it on then the time I gotta pay you to do it. Personally I'd like the show to be a bit more real and give us a better breakdown. I know it's only 30 minutes but if we can hear 4 to 6 times an episode that Christina is pregnant which we all can see and know (even down to the confessionals of why she shouldnt be there, stay home!) that time could be spent on small details..Not just a house with no kitchen and 2 minutes later stagers finishing up.

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[–] robocop-37224 9 years ago

Oh I agree with you 100%. It is ashame that this show is soD AMN fake. I too would like to see how they come up with those figures. And of course there's a mark-up on every single piece the GC or the Subs. I understand that he,she,you, I need to make a living, however no GC I know that bids low jobs,is hurting for money. And you know that whatever they lose on the front end They make it up on the back end. I stopped watching the show a long time ago so I guess it doesn't matter.

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[–] fran-veal 9 years ago

The cost estimates to gut and redo kitchens and bathrooms are ridiculously low, especially with their high end finishes. I live in Tennessee, and the quotes I got to redo my kitchen were in the &25,000 - &30,000 range with about $15,000 to $20,000 for the master bath. I've never seen the estimate for one of their kitchens- even a big one, go over $15,000 (my kitchen is on the small side). You might be able to get it done for that price if you did most of the work yourself, but we know that's most likely not the case here. I'm with the poster who wanted to see a detailed breakdown of their cost for each room.

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