I've redone cheap contractors' bad work for 27 years.
It has built my business.
Nobody redoes my work.
I've been a handyman long enough to see the same pattern more times than I can count. Someone needs work done around the house. They get a few prices, one comes in a lot cheaper, and saving the money sounds pretty good.
Sometimes it works out.
Sometimes I meet them later.
By then, they have already paid for the job once. Now something is leaking, moving, cracking, coming apart, or just obviously wasn't done right. They need somebody to figure out what happened, take apart whatever needs to come apart, and do the work again.
Now they are paying twice.
My question is simple.
Why not skip that part?
Cheap and Inexpensive Are Not the Same Thing
I am not telling anybody to automatically hire the most expensive contractor.
A higher price does not make somebody better at their job, and a fair price does not have to be an expensive one.
Cheap work is something different.
Cheap work is saving time where the job needed time. It is using the wrong material because it costs less. It is covering something instead of repairing it. It is deciding that something underneath the finished surface does not matter because the homeowner will never see it.
That can make a bid cheaper.
It can also make the job temporary.
If somebody can do the same quality of work for less money, great. If they are cheaper because they are leaving part of the job out, eventually somebody has to deal with what was left behind.
You Usually Pay for Bad Work Twice
The frustrating thing about bad work is that the second job can cost more than doing it correctly would have cost the first time.
Now the finished work may need to be removed.
Materials that could have been installed once may need to be replaced.
A small problem may have caused damage somewhere else.
And before the correct work can even begin, somebody has to figure out exactly what the first person did.
That is why the lowest number on an estimate does not tell you what the job is actually going to cost.
The real price is what you spend before the problem is finished.
If the first contractor costs less but the second contractor has to redo it, you did not get a deal.
You bought the same job twice.
The Stuff Underneath Matters
A lot of bad work looks perfectly good when it is new.
That's what makes it bad work instead of obviously unfinished work.
Fresh paint looks fresh. New flooring looks new. New tile looks new. Trim can hide a gap. Caulk can hide all kinds of things for a while.
The question is what is underneath it.
Was the surface prepared correctly?
Was the damage actually repaired?
Is everything supported properly?
Was the right material used?
Is water being kept where it belongs?
Were things measured, leveled, fastened, sealed, and installed correctly before the finished surface went on?
Those aren't exciting questions.
They're also the reason one job is still there years later and another one needs somebody like me to come tear into it.
Fix What Caused the Problem
If something failed, I want to know why.
Covering the evidence is not the same thing as fixing the problem.
If drywall is damaged by water, replacing the drywall without finding the water does not accomplish much.
If something keeps cracking, filling the crack may not tell you why it keeps moving.
If wood is rotting, putting a new piece over it does not stop whatever caused the rot.
Sometimes the cause is obvious. Sometimes you do not know what is happening until you open things up.
But I would rather find the problem than make it look gone.
Looking fixed and being fixed are two different things.
Experience Teaches You What Comes Back
Twenty-seven years does not just teach you how to build things.
It teaches you what happens afterward.
You see which materials hold up.
You see which shortcuts fail.
You see what water can do when one little detail is wrong.
You see what happens when somebody says, "That's probably good enough."
You also learn that five extra minutes in the right place can save somebody hours of work later.
That's a big part of experience that is hard to put on an estimate.
I am not just thinking about how the job looks when I leave.
I'm thinking about whether somebody is going to have to open it back up.
Sometimes You Have to Start Over
Nobody wants to hear that.
If you recently paid somebody to do the work, you especially don't want to hear it.
But sometimes there isn't a clever repair that makes bad work good.
Sometimes the material underneath is wrong.
Sometimes something was installed incorrectly from the beginning.
Sometimes a shortcut is buried underneath everything else.
If it can be repaired without tearing everything apart, that's what I want to do.
If it can't, I'm going to tell you.
I would rather have an uncomfortable conversation before the work starts than tell somebody something is fixed when I know it isn't.
"Good Enough" Isn't a Standard
There is always a temptation in this business to say something is good enough.
Maybe the homeowner won't notice.
Maybe it'll hold.
Maybe the trim will cover it.
Maybe some caulk will make it disappear.
That's how bad work starts.
My standard has always been pretty simple: if I look at something I've done and think I should redo it better, I redo it.
That isn't perfection. Houses aren't perfect. Materials aren't perfect. Sometimes you are working with something that was built fifty years ago and nothing in the room is square.
The job is to know the difference between working with what the house gives you and using the house as an excuse for sloppy work.
Pay Once
I've spent 27 years seeing what happens when homeowners don't get what they paid for.
I've also spent 27 years fixing things, remodeling homes, solving strange problems, and learning what lasts.
That's why I don't understand doing a job in a way that somebody else will have to redo.
You already have to pay somebody.
You already have to let somebody into your house.
You already have to deal with the noise, dust, materials, scheduling, and inconvenience.
Why volunteer to do it twice?
I've redone cheap contractors' bad work for 27 years.
Nobody redoes mine.
If you need handyman or remodeling work in Puyallup, South Hill, or the surrounding area, contact Confidence Remodel and let's talk about what needs to be done.