Hopefully some here can appreciate this.
I had to go to my other house today to do some painting before I get Realtor in to list it.
One of my neighbors came over and asked for a “Second opinion” on something. he knows what I used to do for a living and in the past I’ve fixed a few things for him.
Anyway…………… Their master bath had wallpaper applied over bare drywall ( no primer no anything. Just drywall and wallpaper).
In an effort to be rid of the wallpaper they really tore up the walls. Not much face paper left………..huge tears and rips and cuts everywhere.
They called a painter for an estimate to have it repaired to presentable again.
I looked at it carefully and told them that realistically the only fix was to gut it, rehang and finish it and then paint. I explained the process and the materials and time involved and then gave them a “Ballpark” price of $2800 (it’s small). I figured $60 an hour and roughly 40 hours plus material.
Well, I got some fuzzy eyebrowed looks over that.
Turns out they wanted me to tell them that the two guys they had look at it, one for $2200 complete and one for $45 an hour at an estimated 40 hours, were way way way out of line and that I knew someone who could knock it out for a grand.
Guess it just wasn’t their day.
Replies
<<Turns out they wanted me to tell them that the two guys they had look at it, one for $2200 complete and one for $45 an hour at an estimated 40 hours, were way way way out of line and that I knew someone who could knock it out for a grand.>>
Or better, that you would do it yourself for a grand. I think we all have one or two "friends/neighbors" who stop by once in a while with a big smile, ask us how we're doin', how's the family...yada yada...then get down to why they came over...to ask for a favor.
I've probably been too easy going with one such guy myself. Try to be friendly and he takes that as a sign of submission...so now he can go in for the kill. Of course I back him off, but I do it gently as a friend does.
I've known him now for about thirty years, and did a few favors for him early on...price breaks on jobs when I wasn't busy. But the paybacks were always less than promised so I eventually stopped responding to his requests. Nonetheless, over the last twenty-some years, he's still tried to get over on me, from time to time. Always pretending friendship that he can no longer feel because greed gets in his way.
So what I'm sayin' is...a favor which you and I may view as a willingness to help someone, as a friend, may well be seen by them as an opportunity to take advantage of an unsophisticated businessman.
What we need to remember is that our friendly intention trumps their nefarious purpose...everytime. By offering friendship we win, on every level but the most mundane. So what if they come out a few bucks ahead.
What would it cost to skim coat with durabond? And then give them a list of tools and materials they need to buy so they can do it themselves.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Do it for a grand with D-Mix. EZ money.
Do it for a grand with D-Mix. EZ money.
Damaged WAY beyond that point.
That was my initial suggestion prior to looking at it.
Damaged WAY beyond that point.
that was my thinking, too. Might have worked to skim and texture over the wallpaper, but not with the drywall paper gone now too."I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
i'd think about either D-mix
or applying a fibermesh fabric over the paperless walls.. then doing a skimcoat
either plaster or joint compound or D-mix
Mike - I missed this post earlier. I like the way this solution sounds - I was thinking skim coat would work, if it wasn't for the missing drywall paper. What is fibermesh fabric? Is that the stuff I see you using to hold your insulation in, prior to sheetrock? This sounds better than gut and rehang."I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
we've used the fiber fabric before
i think it is available at paint stores..... looks kind of like a jute screen
comes in about 3'wide rolls.. i think it was self sticking
often useed in old horse-hair plaster repairs that have lot's of cracks and pieces falling out
you apply the fabric and then skim-coat..
the skim coat can be joint compound, imperial/ diamond plaster ...or D-mix
it is NOT the fibermesh we use for insulationMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
robert,
Would it be possible to hang 1/4" rock over the existing and then finish?
Probably not a huge savings, but it would save the need to rip out the old, and it might save some sanding of a skim coat if the surface is really that bad.
Just my $.02
Thats what I was going to suggest too...1/4" rock over the old if possible.
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit." Abbie Hoffman
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I was at my other house yesterday and got cornered into looking at that bathroom again.
As promised, I asked a friend of mine who actually likes Drywall and all it's related tasks to come look at it ( i think I've said before, I HATE drywall).
Anyway, the only two solutions we could come up with was what's been suggested here. gut it and rehang or glue/screw 1/4' over the existing.
unfortunately, size/space/clearance issues make the 1/4" deal questionable at best. it was his opinion that it's beyond a skim coat of any kind.
they're an older couple and if I could knock it out in a day or a couple of weeknights I would be inclined to do it just for the cost of materials. But, I've successfully avoided drywall my entire adult life so.....................................
I just find it amusing that all this effort has been expended on finding out if the first two guys were 'Trying to rip them off" or " gave them outrageous prices" and so far.... Noone else who has looked at it is willing to do it for even what those two prices were.
As it was put to me................they just can't see how this could cost more than $500.
they just can't see how this could cost more than $500.
Sure - they can do it, and Home Depot will help!"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
<<As it was put to me...........they just can't see how this would cost more than $500.>>
I've dealt with this kind of interrogation from clients. It's an attempt to make you reveal how every dollar is spent on their job. With that information they can either attempt to whittle you down, or use it on the next guy who gives them a price. I'd head gracefully for the nearest exit and never look back. If they call again, I'd tell them that I'd made a mistake on that price, should've been $500 more.
I've recently moved into my own business and dealing with friends and acquaintances is already proving awkward - for me, mostly. I spent a few years doing side work on weekends, mainly to practice pricing and estimating, and to finance the tools I knew I'd need when I went on my own. So quite a few of my friends have been customers in the past. Now I'm faced with a different scenario: if I work cheap for friends, I'm denying myself full revenue from someone else (tons and tons of work around here at present, prices high, wait lists long), and the monthly overheads are the same no matter what.
So the first time a friend asked me to come look at a job, I felt apprehensive because I knew I'd have to charge my regular rate, about 40% higher than what he'd paid only 8 months ago. As I started to explain, he cut me off and said, "no problem, I understand, it's your full time business now. I know you won't rip me off and I want you to do the job because you've always done good work for me in the past." Well, if I didn't know who my friends were before, I did now.
Long story short, your neighbours will show their true colours easily enough by what they decide to do. If they snit you off because you're way too high priced, then they've been users all along, trading on your acquaintance for discounts. (Or they're clueless about what things really cost, given the other prices they already have.) If they decide to go with you, consider doing a T&M and charging the materials at cost. You show your thanks for the business by giving them a break that doesn't cost you anything.