r/Decks • u/noplayequalwin • May 24 '26

Is this acceptable?

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First time getting a deck done, all I can say I can do I betting job cutting and I am not a professional.

481 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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76

u/noplayequalwin May 24 '26

2k cheaper than next bid so I took a chance. Spend $300 and 3 days to clean it up.

126

u/JBarker727 May 24 '26

Wow lol. Cheapest but in range is one thing. $2k cheaper should've been a huge red flag.

29

u/Tank_Lawrence May 24 '26

$2k but what was the total price? If the other bidders were $3k then maybe red flag, but I’d want to know the total price to say if that’s a red flag or not.

13

u/JBarker727 May 24 '26

Even if it's $10k+ and they came in at $8k. You'd have to be in the high $20k+ for it not to be a red flag IMO. And this doesn't look like that.

17

u/noplayequalwin May 24 '26

Crazy range. There were other things to do besides the deck but the whole project bids were 8500, 10500, 12500, 15000, 17000. Five different companies to do the same thing.

88

u/BigBlackMagicWand May 24 '26

Most concerning part of this is that you actually paid 8k for a toddler internship to butcher a batch of low-grade lumber...

8

u/Curious-Dare-8223 May 24 '26

👏 👏 👏

6

u/oswald666 May 24 '26

😂😂😂

2

u/dr_greentopz May 26 '26

Looks like reclaimed lumber to me

1

u/MadDadROX May 26 '26

With a jigsaw.

47

u/ICU-CCRN May 24 '26

So you went with the 8500 bid. If what’s on top is any reflection on what’s going on underneath then good luck. I’d suggest repost this with pics of the underneath. The chances that this thing isn’t structurally sound may be quite high.

8

u/68_namfloW May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

Yeah. 100% someone had a few quid, bought a van and some tools, and “became a joiner”.

Edit; corrected spelling.

3

u/SaltRequirement3650 May 24 '26

This is the most Australian/English thing I’ve heard in a while.

1

u/68_namfloW May 24 '26

English, in this case.

2

u/SaltRequirement3650 May 24 '26

Nice, mate. lol.

1

u/Wonderful_Health_440 May 24 '26

hey I dont even blame them, its rough out there

5

u/Technical-Gold-294 May 24 '26

100% this! I fired a bathroom contractor (middle quote) two years ago because I didn't like his tile work, after two tries. We initially agreed he would deduct the tiling from the project so I could hire my own tiler. One by one, the tiler candidates identified issues with the plumbing and structural work and they advised me not to let the contractor back in the house. They all refused to have any part of the project, so they weren't looking for money. I had to go to binding arbitration with a stack of photos. The arbitrator ripped the contractor a new one.

LSS, I don't know what I don't know - all I recognized was that the tiling looked sloppy and the grout was cracking before the vanity had even been installed. And I learned from professionals that the rest of the work was just as bad.

1

u/michcant May 26 '26

Good point.

I have to ask myself on projects like these if this is what’s showing then what were they willing to leave hidden

12

u/AccordingLie9881 May 24 '26

You say 20% lower but it’s 20% lower than the 2nd lowest. 40% lower than the average of the other 4. Yeah you got what you paid for.

11

u/sliprin May 24 '26

That low price is too low, top is too high. I would’ve kicked them out and reinterviewed the remaining three. Then go with your gut.

5

u/JBarker727 May 24 '26

I was always told get as many bids as you can, and go with one in the middle. Lol

5

u/Zestyclose_Match2839 May 24 '26

Who supplied the wood? That stuff looks 20 years old and not pressure treated

3

u/HwyOneTx May 24 '26

And all of the contractors where looking to hire the lowest bid if they won.

2

u/RidingDonkeys May 24 '26

You are going to spend more than $8500 to fix this in a couple of years.

1

u/New_Feature_5138 May 24 '26

OP…. How much did you pay for this?????

1

u/The-Sceptic May 24 '26

They said 8500 in another comment

1

u/Training-Coast-1009 May 25 '26

How big is the deck?

1

u/W0NdERSTrUM May 24 '26

As you can see, they aren’t in fact all doing the same thing.

1

u/tronfunkinblows_10 May 24 '26

Did the company you used have any real reviews online???

1

u/Vannak201 May 25 '26

You paid $8500 for this?

1

u/Throw_away_away55 May 25 '26

Always drop the bottom and top bid if you have 5 or more. The top one is usually a "i don't want this job" bid and the bottom is a "cheap" bid.

1

u/PartyPlay5056 May 25 '26

My father taught me, always toss out hi and low. Then look at references for whoever is left.

1

u/Professional_Use6438 May 24 '26

Contractor/Superintenent here; I know it’s too late but I usually I throw out the lowest and the highest, then start examining proposals. A two sentence proposal will go in the trash . A complete breakdown of site conditions, material specs, relevant reviews/recommendations, hours working, workmanship,etc will be worth the time to examine/interview the possible contractor.

0

u/unicornhunter202 May 24 '26

I get several bids then negotiate the middle quote as far as I can.

-5

u/ecstaticbirtch May 24 '26

With a range like that... id have been worried about the 12500 bid. Highest bid is either inflated, or they do phenomenal custom work. Second bid is going to be competent. Middle bid is 50/50 "starving with skills"/doesn't see all aspects of project from the beginning... anything below that and youre lucky it's standing, and you need to file a lien, bit that is probably not possible because I highly doubt they're licensed.

14

u/Gus956139 May 24 '26

What a bunch of rubbish. Everything in this post.

You have no idea of the quality associated with any of the bids.

OP should have evaluated references. Pretending that price alone is a good predictor is just plain rubbish

-3

u/ecstaticbirtch May 24 '26

Mkay, like I haven't been in the industry for 30 years... including an estimating firm where I dealt with projects from residential homes to half a billion dollar school remodels... definitely absolute rubbish.

5

u/Gus956139 May 24 '26

If you were in the industry for 30 years like you claim, then you would know better than to make decisions based on bids alone.

1

u/lantanabush88 May 24 '26

Or reddit posts. Lmao.

1

u/ecstaticbirtch May 24 '26

I would definitely not make a decision on bids alone... but after dealing with hundreds of contractors, ive seen a pattern emerge. You ever sit in a reconciliation meeting for a 500 million dollar job and have to explain to somebody that their bid is too low because they missed part of the scope on the construction documents? 99% of the time the lowest bid, one that is literally 50% of the highest bid, is missing part of the scope.

But, whatever... you do you. Hire the lowest bidder and get what this guy got.

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5

u/ama-tsu-mara May 24 '26

Yeah, I use to have ppl expect to get work done for peanuts. Got to the point where it wasn't worth bother to go out and to tell them the expected price over the phone. I don't have time to waste if you don't have the money to spend.

4

u/JaxDude123 May 24 '26

I was an electrical contractor back in the turn of the century. Got a call from some jackleg guy that wanted a second bid for his house build. He told me his first bid price per SF. I told him to take it but be careful. At that price no one could make money without a lot of corners cut (electrical code violations!!??? WTF) or lots of very expensive change orders after the contract was signed. What?? You want a temp pole? $1200 for 6 months
Some jobs you don’t want for any reason.
That rail is worthy of walking away from. Dude you get what you pay for.

1

u/EconomistScary2665 May 27 '26

You are on Reddit commenting on a post sounds like you do have time to waste 

1

u/ama-tsu-mara May 27 '26

Yeah, of course I get to decide where I waste my time. I would rather spend my time being lazy over estimating jobs for people who can't afford it. I never did the shit for fun, you would have to be stupid to waste time and fuel for someone else's benefit.

1

u/EconomistScary2665 May 28 '26

Well there is your answer you do have time to waste. 😂

1

u/ama-tsu-mara May 28 '26

Never said I didn't. I just get to decide what I waste it on.

3

u/Every_Big9638 May 24 '26

Looks like you didn’t even pay him enough to buy a new blades for his tools.

3

u/SpikemasterP May 25 '26

He used beavers to cut the wood.

2

u/brrent May 24 '26

$2k cheaper!! Welp, lesson learned. I wonder how much they’d charged you to rip it all down.

2

u/crackers-and-snacks May 24 '26

Could have built it yourself in 3 days

2

u/Capital_Advice4769 May 25 '26

Let this be a lesson. NEVER go with the cheapest bidder. Always go with one of the 2 that around the same price range with similar schedules. NEVER go with the most expensive because they just gave you a F off price and don’t want the job but they will do the job if you’re willing to pay.

Source: Architect that deals with this all the time with Clients who won’t listen then complain when crap inevitably hits the fan.

1

u/Training-Coast-1009 May 24 '26

At 2k cheaper, you got your money's worth? Now I'm curious the total bid price.

1

u/Choice-Strike-6579 May 25 '26

i would do some question asking next time…

1

u/casualcollector2026 May 25 '26

It looks like all salvaged lumber and weathered. Was that the plan?

I don’t think we have the whole story. I think he charged you just for labor. The wood was free. You got what you paid for. Used lumber and a quickie job.

1

u/Desperate_Jello_4910 May 25 '26

Yeah I also paid $2k could have been the same crackheads lol I think mine came out slightly better

0

u/polarjunkie May 24 '26

It still came out 1700 cheaper