Quoted/Contract Price vs Actual/Final Price

[Nursenini]

I'm concerned about the final cost of our (yet to be determined) pool build and would like to hear of other's experiences so I can avoid any unexpected surprises.

Was there a great difference between the price you were quoted and what you actually paid when it was all said and done? I'm not talking about making upgrades along the way. My concern is for unforeseen things. We don't have extra thousands laying around to pay at completion. Just want to be prepared.

Thank you!

Denise

 

[chiefwej]

In my case the total was about 5% more than the original quote. All the up charges were the result of change orders that I had signed off on during the build. I could have held it right to the quote, but we decided to tile the spa benches, add some additional decking, and make a couple other minor changes. Some were actually no cost changes, but others had a cost. In every case we knew exactly how much addition cost we were adding. It was spelled out in every change order.

 

[bdrums]

The way it worked for us was that we signed the contract with the builder. The contract stated the payment schedule. We then took that contact to the bank and finalized the loan. The bank cut us checks for exact amounts on the payment schedule. That is what the builder will get paid.

Any change orders are subject to increase the cost. Things like upgrading the plaster surface, pumps, etc.

Where we found we had to set aside extra was in getting our yard, irrigation and fencing back to normal after the builder leaves. They said they would do all of that for us, but it would be line items in the contact and we would be better off having that done ourselves afterward because he would just be the middle man and probably hire the same contractors we would. So why pay him?

Irrigation repair will probably be the biggest expense for us. Around $2K - $2.5K to rerun the zones and repair the valve system. New sod will be a couple hundred dollars and we can put that down ourselves. We are going to add some additional fencing on the side of the house since we have wrought iron in the front to give us a little more privacy in the back yard.

A buddy of mine had to pay to have a power line that ran through his yard moved. Who pays for moving lines, etc is not real clear everywhere.

You may have to do additional cleanup. Some do. Some don't. Depends on how much gunite and stone work dust get on your windows, siding, brick, fence, etc.

Get references for your builder and ask them if there were any additional charges on the build itself. That will tell you a lot about the builder. The BBB is a great resource. I rejected a builder who had a stellar rating on the BBB and only 1 complaint. Why? His response wasn't very professional and left me with an uneasy feeling. He has a great reputation otherwise, but his response didn't sit well with me.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

EDIT: Forgot - the builder told us up front we would need to upgrade our gas meter. In fact, all of the builders we interviewed told us the same thing. I think that will cost $300 - $400 or so.

 

[Helen203]

I think you'll have a change order to two before its all done -- we have, and we're not finished yet. Examples: extra pool light ($1k), different pool tile, upgraded series ($500, plus $200 to return first tiles).

 

[pooldv]

We didn't make any changes and paid the price quoted.

 

[atttech-2]

We are a couple of weeks from completion and don't foresee any changes in the quoted price. Decking goes in tomorrow, next week stone work equipment set and clean up plaster week after that. When we signed the PB told us the only possible increase on their end would be if the excavator hit some had pan or a large bolder, in one case they ran into a VW Bug. Seems like the majority of the time customer changes are the biggest driver of price increases. I agree with the comment above getting the yard back under control is going to be the largest unknown expense. We have not even started on that and keep finding new more expensive things to do. Putting in a pool is like painting your living room you get it done then notice the carpet is looking a bit sad. So you replace that, now the kitchen doesn’t look so good so you start to work on that seems to never to end.

 

[blbncsu]

Perhaps we were lucky but our entire project came in dead on budget. Granted we did a very extensive upfront review multiple times with the pool builder and concrete company and other subs (grass, fence, etc...) to prevent any un-forseen issues. I feel the more you can do upfront and stick to your plan you'll be fine. I have found and heard the budget can quickly get blown if you don't have a good grasp on the pool deck surface area, its really easy to start adding more sqft once you see those forms go up and visualize the area better.
Granted one can never predict whats under the grass when the dig starts so there are always odd things sure....but do hope this isn't taken the wrong way, if you can't afford a few thousand for those odd things perhaps saving a bit more for a pool is wiser before starting.

 

[bmoreswim]

We did agree to an extra charge from our PB after discussing their overrun on concrete. It related to a slope issue (and other things), which obviously we all knew about, and accounted for but it was a special set of circumstances. In the end, I felt I received more value/product than I was originally expecting so the extra payment was negotiated and agreed to. Other than that, there was also one occasion that I was pleased to have the equipment very well documented with model #'s in the contract because that came in handy at one point. But also our fence and landscaping were outside of contract so those $'s were only as good as I estimated them to be.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Our only variable was the addition of more concrete (a MUST-absolutely don't skimp on this!) and the fill dirt required as my sloped yard had to be dealt with. We didn't know how many dump trucks of fill dirt we'd need beforehand.

 

[Nursenini]

Thanks for the input everyone. That eases my mind...

 

[LongDuck]

Paid not a Penny more than the contracted price.

What it comes down to is how well you planned your pool from the start. If you start making changes halfway through, you can expect to pay thousands more in restocking fees on tile, decking, and equipment changes or additions. In our case, we're both project managers so I told the PB we would be managing the schedule closely with no scope creep as we picked everything out just as we wanted it prior to contract signing. Doing your research on what you want ahead of time saves a lot of expense later on.

ill also add that being on site during construction will make a big difference in quality of the work performed and making sure you're getting what you paid for. For example, one section of planter area would have been oddly shaped had I not been there to see the design laid out with hoses as guides for the travertine edge. A change after the fact would have added cost to redo the decking to my satisfaction. Same for dis-colored or not batch-matching travertine which I culled during setup - before they made it onto the ground.

Be firm with the site supervisor and you may find they'll work with you to include what you want at no extra cost. We got some stone facing tile (bark) on a raised seating area edge done for free because it was use of a material overage from the fire pit - making for a great, free upgrade in appearance. Good luck,

 

[chinatti]

One thing we did during our quote process for our renovation was try to anticipate any possible adders (like, we "might need to redo waterline tile if we have problems when we remove the existing coping" for instance - which ended up happening). For all the things we could think of we asked the PB to add them to the quote as options. If you do that you are in a better position than if you are halfway through your build and something "pops up" - at that point it's not like you're going to go get 3 more quotes to make sure the price is reasonable. So ask the PB what things might pop up during the build, and get them to add them to your quote now so you have a better idea where the cost might end up worst-case. Also, we added a few extras - mainly "oh heck, let's just do this even though it pushes our budget up more than we really wanted" kind of things - so anything you might even remotely consider adding - get the price now before you sign. Hopefully your PB would not jack the price up for late adders, but you basically lose all negotiating power once they start the project.....

 

[Nursenini]

One thing we did during our quote process for our renovation was try to anticipate any possible adders (like, we "might need to redo waterline tile if we have problems when we remove the existing coping" for instance - which ended up happening). For all the things we could think of we asked the PB to add them to the quote as options. If you do that you are in a better position than if you are halfway through your build and something "pops up" - at that point it's not like you're going to go get 3 more quotes to make sure the price is reasonable. So ask the PB what things might pop up during the build, and get them to add them to your quote now so you have a better idea where the cost might end up worst-case. Also, we added a few extras - mainly "oh heck, let's just do this even though it pushes our budget up more than we really wanted" kind of things - so anything you might even remotely consider adding - get the price now before you sign. Hopefully your PB would not jack the price up for late adders, but you basically lose all negotiating power once they start the project.....

Thank you! Great idea!!