Lowballers!

[TD24]

I've got one for you guys. I bid a church demo at $6000 to tear down, burn and remove what is left. They also wanted sb-2 gravel hauled in to make additional parking, which was not included in bid, just charge some much per load whatever it took. Another guy bid it at $7000, same rules applied for him. They took his price, he then began working, upon finishing he told them it took more time than he thought so it cost em another $1000 and they cut a check no questions asked.

LOL LOL LOL
Probably related to the Chairman of the Board of Deacons. Church folks don't like to "haggle", says it sems "Petty".
A good rule: When doing work for your church (or any church); charge them full boat and collect it, OR do it for FREE.....
Either way there will be comments on your position. Enjoy the one you select.

 

[cheshirecat]

Depending on several variables like distance apart, size and volume of debris, project specs, etc the guys with in the $20K range might be profitable. :beatsme

To tear a house down and haul it off for $5K or less is tough unless it's a shotgun house without any contents.

I am basing my numbers off a 30CY can at $385 with a 6 ton cap, $22 a ton over, which is pretty cheap compared to other parts of the country.

Wow $22 a ton? That is crazy cheap. Here in WA the cheapest dump is around $100 a ton and the cheapest recycling is around $70 a ton.

 

[CM1995]

Wow $22 a ton? That is crazy cheap. Here in WA the cheapest dump is around $100 a ton and the cheapest recycling is around $70 a ton.

Actually getting it a little better than that. I am starting a commercial demo today and my 30 yards are $335 flat rate with a 7 ton cap and $21 a ton over. Should average 9 tons a can on this job.

There is no recycling except for what I scrap and the hardcore materials that are separated to be used as fill elsewhere. With such cheap gate rates recycling isn't feasible in my area.

 

[Const&demoPA]

We run into this all the time around here(nepa). Guys are slow and desperate for work, but they're not helping anyone throwing in these lowball bids. In a lot of cases the bid doesn't cover material or tipping costs, they take the money and pay on some debt from months before just to stay above water...in the end it will catch up with them but it sure can be aggravating when you work hard at making a good name for yourself by giving a good job at a fair price...

 

[Wolf]

Seems like it makes sense just to send it all to the dump, with tipping fees so low.

Are there any legal requirements that you recycle a certain percentage of the C&D where you are, or is it OK just to send it all off to landfill? Just curious.

 

[tuney443]

Any government bid by me reads ''lowest responsible bidder'' to get that job.Yes,there have been lawsuits involving that word--responsible,as to calling that low bidder irresponsible,either because of his ridiculously low price,his past history,or both.Common sense[not something most gov't. workers have] would dictate though that if 3 contractors were say $300-$500 apart on a $2,500 job and contractor #4 bid $400,ummm,don't you maybe think something is wrong here and NOT give it to that lowballer.You should know it won't end up done right.

 

[CM1995]

Seems like it makes sense just to send it all to the dump, with tipping fees so low.

Are there any legal requirements that you recycle a certain percentage of the C&D where you are, or is it OK just to send it all off to landfill? Just curious.

Yes, pretty much everything goes to the landfill. We don't have any legal requirements to recycle on a demo or construction job. I am finishing up a little commercial demo and I stripped the copper, aluminum door frames and a little brass that netted $180 at the scrapper. If there was an easier, less labor intensive way of separating the wood and other materials on-site then I would do it but with demo prices "as low as you can go", it pretty much all goes in the can.

The slab and block are from this demo are going to the City ballpark to fill in a ravine to add extra parking, so that is a beneficial re-use.

 

[Const&demoPA]

No legal requirements here. We sort and scrap what we can to offset costs, and to do our part to keep a little less waste filling up the dump..all concrete and block gets taken out for clean fill elsewhere or buried onsite depending on local requirements. We pay $63 a Ton to dump so it pays to sort what you can without spending to much time doing so...
@Tuney443 I was pretty slow last fall so spent some time bidding county demo and excavating work...it's a joke( at least in our area and current market)...In both cases there were multiple jobs priced out separately and low ball bidder walked off with all..You have your 4-5 guys within 10-15% of each other then one takes them 50-60% lower...no profit being taken just prolonging shutting the doors...No money put in the contractors pocket which in turn means none going back into the local economy and the county gets a crap job...it's a lose lose for everyone but they continue to accept these prices...

 

[tuney443]

No legal requirements here. We sort and scrap what we can to offset costs, and to do our part to keep a little less waste filling up the dump..all concrete and block gets taken out for clean fill elsewhere or buried onsite depending on local requirements. We pay $63 a Ton to dump so it pays to sort what you can without spending to much time doing so...
@Tuney443 I was pretty slow last fall so spent some time bidding county demo and excavating work...it's a joke( at least in our area and current market)...In both cases there were multiple jobs priced out separately and low ball bidder walked off with all..You have your 4-5 guys within 10-15% of each other then one takes them 50-60% lower...no profit being taken just prolonging shutting the doors...No money put in the contractors pocket which in turn means none going back into the local economy and the county gets a crap job...it's a lose lose for everyone but they continue to accept these prices...

Sorry to hear that--just plain stupid.Just thought of something a little off topic--a demo job I had a few months ago of an old body shop--well ,I call Dig Safely NY and the standard stuff is all done but now there's something new[at least new to me] they want--a pre-demo conference.OK,so I ask what this is all about? Basically it's for how the local power company is going to do the disconnect.Fine,makes complete sense, except for the fact that my client,the owner of the property already has the feed lines from the house to the body shop down and I tell the lady this.DOESN'T MATTER I'm told--don't take ANYTHING for granted.So she tells me that I being the contractor decides the time and date.So I tell her tomorrow,7 AM--fine.Nobody shows up except the client and me---gave the power company and Dig Safely a good azz chewing.Nobody seemed to really care,what a joke.

 

[Dualie]

when my father broke out as a project manager in the early 70's for a rather large company the president of the company told him to get atleast 5 bids on most projects and 7 on the larger ones. Take the first two low bids and throw them in the trash.


the only exception was if it was a good company that they had worked with before he was allowed to call them up and tell them that they were a little lower than everyone else and what he thought it should be and to take a look at their bid again.

 

[DEMOLITION.US]

Reminds me of a sayng, "The bitterness of poor quality will be remembered long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotton." Keep your head up. With prices like that, they won't be competition for much longer.