re: Why is the Home remodeling industry saturated with shady people?

Bonds are not required to carry a license but if you bid a job and agree to provide a bond with acceptance of your price then you are in violation of the contractor law IIRC.

Also, I had no idea but they lowered the remodelers license to $7500 in LA. So it used to $50, went to $15K and is now at $7500. Like I said, they are doing their best to make people comply or get out of the industry. No more "I have a hammer so I am contractor" types.

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Why is the Home remodeling industry saturated with shady people?

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Because all of the good guys are tied up with all the work they can handle, usually from new home builders, and you get left with the scraps.

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you're ignorant to say that it's "full" of shady people. The same as saying all lawyers are scum.

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The building trades ARE full of shady people. Just ask anyone in the trades. There are some great people too. But they seem to have a disproportionate number of crooks among them.

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Just stop, dude. You have no clue about anything. This is enough to tell me why you got high "we'll do it if you're dumb enough to pay for it" bids.

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Dude said his Mom, it wasn't the norm to have 3,000 sqft homes in the 1900-80's, so let's do a 3/2 1,500

wiring -7k
June 5, 2015-You can expect to pay $8,000 to rewire a 1,500 sqft home(Nationwide average, is it cheaper here?)


plumbing 5k
“The price can vary a lot according to the size and type of construction of a particular house, but the average price for repiping is around $5500,” according to James Freeman, of J.W. Freeman Plumbing, in Gainesville, Florida. That’s for repiping a typical 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, including the pipe from the meter to the house


AC-5k
New air conditioners installed in 2014 reported paying an average of $5,230, with a general range of $4,425 to $6,025,


windows 7k
depends on the number of windows, but that's actually more than the quote that I got for $4,200, but I'm going the cheaper route(non-gas filled) so I bumped it up

Insulation-6k (not just the attic, so I bumped it up)
Insulating an Attic:For those who would rather pay for a professional insulation job, the good news is that there are many qualified contractors available who do good work for a relatively low price. Estimates vary depending on the insulation type you choose and the area in which you live. For the most part, however, you'll be looking at paying about $1,300 to $2,000 total for the entire job.



I've found that contractors who need to try to make their work seem more complicated than it is are just doing so to rip you off.

Water heater:"Uh, yeah, we're gonna have to shut power off to the house during the installation. Normally you'd have to have an electrician come out to do it, and those guys are expensive, but luckily I can do for you because I know how, and I wouldn't charge you as nearly as much as they would" To flip the breaker to the house off?

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Takes a lot of tools to complete a construction job correctly.

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labor is nothing with the right tools for the job.

You lucky son of a bitch....


Just to have my licence in good standing I have to have:

a business licence for the state ($300)
Clark county ($300)
each individual city ($250-$300 each)
s-corp filing ($300)
contractor's lic fee ($300)
bond ($2500)
GL ins deductible ($1800-$2400 depending on my previous year's gross income)
W/C deductible ($800-$1500 + 15% of monthly payroll)


People don't realize the costs of running a small business. Most of those costs are small, but add them all together, and it's a nice chunk of change.

The fact that you are googling shite and leaving out variables tells me everything.

I won't spend any more time trying to correct your BS because your mind is made up and my phone is ringing crazy with subcontractors calling today now that the weather has passed but I will do what you do and only focus on one part of your post instead of the whole picture.

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AC-5k
New air conditioners installed in 2014 reported paying an average of $5,230, with a general range of $4,425 to $6,025,

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I can buy a 3 ton Goodman unit with a line set, heat pump, and whip for a under few grand. I can also install it for you for reasonable if it's just a replacement unit. We do it all of the time for banks on repos that have had units stolen or vandalized. Using my average would bring down your cost because I am buying the cheapest A/C I can and the lowest SEER rating allowed.

Using Google to prove your "point" doesn't tell the whole story is my point and leaves out too many variables just like your whole argument has.

And I was telling to stop because it was clear he said a whole house was redone yet you only focused on the few items he listed trying to further prove your point.

Your whole argument has been narrowly focused and not allowing for any other factors or reasoning because you are 100% correct and everyone else is wrong. Why even post a thread where you won't allow discussion unless you were just looking for validation?

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labor is nothing with the right tools for the job.

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Oh man...

Tell you what, I will put a "labor is nothing guy" on a dozer by your house to do some drainage work and you can tell me you're OK with it because he has the right tools for that job.

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Oh man...

Tell you what, I will put a "labor is nothing guy" on a dozer by your house to do some drainage work

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meant one man in a dozer, labor is nothing, compared to 10 guys digging all day with shovels. With the right tool, labor becomes less and less an issue.

Not necessarily. The contractor that I used to use had the same crew working solely for him. They did great work, didn't leave unreasonable messes, and were trustworthy. He would hire out for drywall finishing and tile work, but I had the peace of mind knowing that he was overseeing their work and made sure they were there when they were supposed to. A friend of mine decided to be his own general on his home build. It was total screwup and took way too long because his subs would not show up when they were supposed to because the contractors they normally worked for needed them at that moment.