I finally asked my contractor why our quote kept climbing

We were redoing our basement in the west end near West Edmonton Mall. The initial quote back in March was $18,500 for framing, electrical, and drywall. By week three I noticed a bunch of small charges showing up for things like "material transport" and "site cleanup." I asked my guy Dave about it while he was packing up his truck on a Tuesday evening. He just shrugged and said "that's how we keep the base price low, you gotta expect the extras." It added up to almost $2,300 more by the end. Has anyone else had a contractor do this where the real cost only shows up in the add-ons?

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the_kelly4mo ago

@palmer.henry's right about written approvals making all the difference.

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palmer.henry4mo ago

Yeah, you got hit with the classic lowball quote then tack on extras game. Had the same thing with a deck build last summer where the base price was $6k but suddenly there were charges for “concrete disposal” and “tool rental” that they’d never mentioned before. Next time, tell them you want a line item breakdown of everything in writing before you sign, including stuff like cleanup and transport. Dave knew exactly what he was doing, that $2,300 was planned from the start. Always get a fixed price contract with a clause that says no extras without your written okay first, or they’ll keep nickel and diming you.

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