The project: two full bathroom remodels and some miscellaneous house repairs. Selecting a contractor was a difficult process for me. I has three contractors - all three from referrals. I trusted that all three could do a great job.
I have worked with bids in other arenas, but not a contractor's bid. They all varied quite a bit. I tried to be as detailed as possible in my specs, so there would be no budget surprises during the project. Comparing apples to apples meant sitting down and going through the details that would/wouldn't be included. The intent was to make sure, that when I selected a contractor, we were on the same page as far as expectations and time would be spent on the project - not spent resolving conflicts.
I submitted the excel charts I created and noted the materials I had already bought, and also listed any materials I had not yet purchased (toilets, plumbing fixtures, shower doors, shower pans, electrical fixtures). I also incuded the drawings I had done as well as photos of the two bathrooms to be done. Each bid included a walk through with the contractor as well as subsequent walk throughs with plumbers and/or electricians. At this point in the project (the bid), no detail was too small to mention. I wanted to include everything on my wishlist and work back from that budget if need be.
I chose STS Remodeling out of West Seattle. Craig Haveson was referred with hgh marks from a supplier who had done some work for me.
The reasons I selected STS:
1. I felt comfortable communicating with Craig. Every question, every issue I had was treated as an important one. He was patient with my naivety on certain consruction issues, and was very thorough in his explanations (for example: how the showers woud be built with a rigorous 3-step process to prevent any of the intrusive water issues I was currently having).
2. STS has a team of full time employees. That allowed Craig to make decisions on most of the project elements immediately, as opposed to having to connect with subcontractors and then get back to me.
3. I was doing the design and buying some of the bathroom materials myself. STS was very flexible about working with me the way I wanted to work.
4.. The bid was line itemed so I could easily see that everything we discussed was included and the pricing was competitive.
The bid process took me a couple of months juggling between work and schedules. And again, it was the most painful part of the process for me. All said and done, I would have to say finding someone I could communicate well with was key. Once I made a decision, things took off!
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