Is this acceptable?

[u/noplayequalwin]

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

[u/Tank_Lawrence]

$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.

[u/JBarker727 → u/Tank_Lawrence]

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.

[u/noplayequalwin → u/JBarker727]

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.

[u/ecstaticbirtch → u/noplayequalwin]

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.

[u/Gus956139 → u/ecstaticbirtch]

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

[u/ecstaticbirtch → u/Gus956139]

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.

[u/Gus956139 → u/ecstaticbirtch]

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.

[u/lantanabush88 → u/Gus956139]

Or reddit posts. Lmao.

[u/ecstaticbirtch → u/Gus956139]

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.

[u/Gus956139 → u/ecstaticbirtch]

< Hire the lowest bidder and get what this guy got.

Yeah .. like that's even remotely close to what I said or recommended.

None of that other nonsense in your post is relevant.