The Bidding Process

We stick to our prices.

Extras/Change orders
The construction industry is known for prices that increase as the project unfolds. It is true that unforeseeable costs can arise on a remodel project. However we believe that a professional should be able to size up a project accurately. This is why at Portland Tradesmen, on a typical project, extra costs make up less then 5% of the total project cost. Extra charges are often $0.00

We achieve an accurate price from the beginning by performing a detailed assessment of the job. If there is an aspect of the project that that prevents us from giving an accurate bid, we often propose doing some exploratory work before submitting our final bid. If it’s not possible to do any work before the final bid a portion of the work may be proposed on a time-plus-materials basis.

It’s important to us that you be well informed and have realistic expectations before beginning a project.

Price cap
We have developed a fair pricing system for your home remodel. Part of the problem with home remodel pricing is that there are always some unknown aspects to any remodel project. As a general contractor, to get a fair wage for the time spent on a project, it’s necessary to plan for the worst-case scenario. However no one wants to pay for the worst-case scenario if it turns out that all goes smoothly with the remodel. That’s why we structure our bids as a price cap. This way our clients get the security of having a firm price with the added benefit of only being charged for the actual time spent on the project when the remodel goes easier than expected.

Finish materials
The only way to get accurate pricing on finish materials is to make all material selections in advance and price them individually. Some customers like to begin the project before all of the material selections have been made. In this case, we will include an allowance for finishes in our bid. The allowance items will be defined in the bid and the finishes will be billed based on the actual cost of the materials. Our allowance estimate will include the information that we have used to generate your finish material cost estimate. This way you can determine for yourself weather or not our estimate has struck the right balance between design and budget.

Finish materials include such item as: Tile, stone counter tops, hardwood flooring, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, cabinetry, windows and doors, trim work or custom woodwork, faux finishes, Venetian Plaster etc.

Work description
The most important element in arriving at an accurate construction cost is developing a thorough project description. There are many ways to approach each project and available products vary widely in quality. It’s important to us that you know what your your money is buying. This is why our bids include a detailed description of the products and techniques that will be used to complete your remodel project.

Comparing bids
People often compare construction bids from more than one contractor. The difficulty is that each contractor is going to have a different approach and skill set. This makes it very difficult to compare contractor’s bids in a meaningful way. We feel that it is important upon receiving multiple construction bids to follow up with each contractor to clarify the details of the bids and make sure that the work that is being proposed is comparable across each bid.  If the costs vary a lot ask some follow up questions to determine what the difference is that leads to the price discrepancy. Portland Tradesmen provide our clients with a contractor version of our bid. The contractor version of the bid has the full project description without any pricing information. This can be given to the other contractors who are biding on your remodel project to ensure that we are bidding on the same project.