It’s Spring, and if you’re like most of us, you’re looking around your home for projects to tackle this year. For home improvement projects that require a professional, it can be challenging to determine the best company for the job and what a reasonable budget looks like.
The Concrete Gentlemen know this selection process can be particularly overwhelming for large-scale projects involving the more expensive labor and materials of concrete work, hardscaping, and masonry.
To help you navigate this experience, The Concrete Gentlemen offer you the following guide for choosing a concrete contractor for your home improvement project and ensuring that the cost makes sense to you:
Choose A Licensed, Insured Professional with a Good Reputation
Look for a company with a portfolio of finished work, an established reputation for quality, and demonstrated expertise in the services it offers. Whether the project involves pouring a new driveway, installing a patio, or constructing a foundation, choose a contractor with relevant experience and skills in your specific home improvement project.
A top-tier concrete contractor like The Concrete Gentlemen will have the experience, reputation, customer satisfaction, and necessary licensing to undertake your home improvement project.
Look for High-Quality Customer Service
For large-scale concrete projects, hardscaping, and masonry work, it’s essential to establish good communication with the professionals you’ve hired! Look for a company like The Concrete Gentlemen, which has a reputation for taking care of its clients. They are always available by phone and are on-site to ensure client satisfaction, backing up their work and performance with excellent customer service. A reliable contractor like The Gentlemen should be transparent, honest, and easy to reach throughout the project.
Consider Cost AND Value
It can be challenging to understand what your home improvement project will cost just by performing a quick Google search. Every company prices its services differently, and larger companies will usually have a higher overhead that is built into the project bid. There can be a vast difference between the cost of labor and materials and the overhead cost. Additionally, the numbers you see on the internet may not reflect the cost of materials and labor in your area.
There’s also an element of “value” to consider when assessing the project’s final price tag. There’s always a cheaper way to complete a project, but that doesn’t mean the result will be durable, attractive, or well-constructed. The value of skilled workers, high-quality materials, superior construction techniques, and customer service is part of the value you pay for in the final cost.
Know the Scale of Your Concrete Project
You can sometimes get better prices for materials if you have a large-scale project rather than a smaller one. For concrete projects, the concrete supplier will charge a short load charge if a project doesn’t meet their 500-square-foot ordering minimum. You can usually get a good sense of the amount of concrete required for your concrete slab by taking the area’s square footage and dividing it by 75. For example, a 625-square-foot slab will require 8.3 cubic yards of concrete.
Get a Good Bid
Obtain detailed written estimates from multiple contractors outlining the scope of work, materials, labor costs, and project timeline. Compare the proposals carefully and ensure that all costs and terms are clearly specified in the contract. Beware of unusually low bids, as they may indicate subpar quality or hidden costs.
With The Concrete Gentlemen, you’ll receive an honest, fair project bid that represents the quality of their skilled labor, workmanship, clean-up, and customer service. The representative presenting the bid for the project will also be your point of contact throughout the work to ensure the best result from start to finish.
Understand Your Bid
There are several ways a contractor can present a bid to you for your home improvement project, which is why examining the line items in the proposal is important. Here are the varying types of bids and what they mean for a cost breakdown:
- Lump Sum: The contractor quotes a single price total for the work described. In this style of bid, the contractor takes on the risk of overages, including material or labor, based on the project plans and specifications.
- Unit Pricing: In this type of bid, the contractor calculates the cost of each separate unit (portion) of the work instead of a fixed fee for the whole project. In concrete, cost per square foot or square yard is common. Unit pricing can also be used to develop a lump sum estimate.
- Cost Plus: This is a project management style bid system where a General Contractor bids out reimbursement for the project costs of hiring skilled subcontractors and a markup that covers overhead and profit. The cost of the subcontractors is known to the client, and the markup fee is usually a percentage (average is 15%).
Each type of bid has its benefits and downsides, but Lump Sum can be advantageous to the customer since the client knows the exact cost of the work before it begins. Committing to a price in advance ensures that the contractor is responsible for explaining the project and correcting any mistakes or miscalculations.
Lump Sum is often the higher bid upfront as the contractor will leave an “error” percentage in the projections, but other styles of bids often have “surprise” costs added in as those errors are realized during the work. Having your concrete contractor explain the type of bid can help you understand the price tag you’re looking at in a proposal.
Work with the Best ~ Give The Concrete Gentlemen a Call Today!
Your home improvement project deserves the best professionals. Selecting the right concrete contractor for a large-scale project like concrete, hardscaping, and masonry is essential for your project’s quality, durability, and timely completion.
The Concrete Gentlemen are top-tier concrete contractors in Middle Tennessee capable of completing a wide variety of commercial and residential projects. Your project will be led by gentlemen at the top of their field for concrete services that meet and exceed industry standards. The Gentlemen will treat your home like their own, providing you with the best customer service in the industry.
For honest work by honest men, call The Concrete Gentlemen at 931-563-2187 to discuss your project today! Explore their gallery of finished work for inspiration for your home.
