Builder Quotes

[Barquentine]

Does anyone know a good way to persuade builders to lower their quotes?

[joggerjayne]

Ask them to speak in a deeper voice.

[joggerjayne]

Only quote I've ever had from a builder was ..

... "Awright, darlin' ... show us yer tis".

[The Builder]

..............."tis".......................can I quote you on that JJ....

[buildersmate]

Reduce the specification of what you are asking for.

[jon1968]

Well, they�ll quote down to a price which makes it worth their while doing it depending on how they value their time and expertise? That�s why people use quotes. You can pay a bit more for an artisan who takes pride in their work and relies on word of mouth for repeat business or get the job done cheaper by a bodger from the yellow pages.

As Buildersmate says, depending what you�re having done you can sometimes do some of the preparatory or finishing work yourself to save a few quid. For example, there�s no point in paying a decorator half a days pay to move furniture and strip wallpaper or paying a builder to spend a couple of days digging footings if you can do it yourself.

[joggerjayne]

LOL The Builder.

It was the thought of lots of burly builders with their shirts off. I lost control of my fingers.

[buildersmate]

Jon has articulated very nicely what I was feeling.
This is nearly as daft as saying 'Please tell me how to get Tescos to sell me bread at 69p when they charge 79p currently".
Builder want work (or not, depending on how busy they currently are, and whether they think the customer is going to be trouble) - they don't deliberably quote high, or they don't get enough work.
Building work pricing operates by competition - not solely by the fixed costs incurred by the builder (materials plus labour).
The way you maximise the competition is by getting three good builders to quote against the same specification. If you ask six builders to quote you are wasting the time of five of them and they won't thank you for it.
If you ask one builder to quote (and he knows it), then there's no competition - so you are likely to get a higher price quoted (though not guaranteed).
To some extent, you can trade quality, cost and time. Try and strive for two out of three of these, but don't expect a high quality job in double-quick time at low cost.

[landscaper2]

I like the bit ".............and whether they think the customer is going to be trouble", buildersmate! I also go out 'to interview a potential customer' while estimating! Reasons for failing the 'interview' , include one or other partners stomping off because they haven't discussed what they want and thats happened a few times! Being told how to do my job - because they've been watching too much Tommy Walsh etc..

[Twenty20]

I'd approach it the same way as anybody offering a service, if you would like them to do the work tell them but ask them if they can do it for �xxxx. Maybe theyre so busy that they dont need to drop their prices to get enough work but no harm in asking.