contractors "salesmen" with high pressure tactics

[Red]

i live in an old house thats been in my wifes family since the early 60s. it has really old steel siding with the crazy wind this winter some of the siding has come off the back and its really hard to find this size steel siding. so i decided i would get some estimates to get the back of the house vinyl sided. sears came out today to give me an estimate they were here for 2.5 hrs from 3-530 my kids weregetting grabby they wanted to eat me and my wife couldve killed these sales guys with their high pressure tactics lol.

[Red]

after saying 100x that imnot signing with you tonite your my first estimate im gonna get more he finally got the hint it was time to leave. i told my wife dont worry the next few guys that are comming tomorrow arent gonna get but 3-45 minutes of my time lol. they wanted $6400 to do the back of my 2 story house

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Watch for the "I left my tape measure behind" trick. they'll do anything to get back in your house and haggle some more.

[virgil]

i did my entire house myself. fyi- the cost of materials was about $4500. that estimate sounds really high.

[Doewhacker]

Yea those guys figure if they stay long enough you might break down and say ok..lol

I had a window company come out and after I had enough I had to tell the guy to leave because he wasnt getting the hint, my wife still laughs about that one. And then there was the other company that I cancelled because I decided to do it my self, the sales guy "didn't get the message from the office" and showed up anyway and tried to tell me he drove a long way blah blah blah....I felt so bad I shut the door in his face and turned the porch light out..hehe

They qouted me a price of around 7k and I did the job with my brother for around $2300 with good replacement windows. It may be a pain to do some of the work but it is allways cheaper and most times not that hard.

[ny hunter]

With any salesman you say you well think about it and they keep going and going.Then you get a bit angry and then its like get out and you lost any consideration about getting this job.I know its there job but hey enough.

[Red]

im a person who doesnt mind hights at all bungee jumping jump off of bridges into water tree stand hanging over a cliff but for some reason i hate being on ladders its 24 1/2 feet to the top of my house. the back of my house is 735 square feet after subtracting the 9 windows. im getting a couple estimates today and monday if i dont like what i hear im gonna have to man up and do it myself. hopefully i wont have to throw any salesmen out the door today but im sure atleast one will get tossed. lol

[ny hunter]

Be nice untill its time not to be nice...LOL

[virgil]

rent scaffolding if you can. it's safer than a ladder and will save you hours and hours.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I agree with virgil (shocker, i know lol) rent the scaffolding and buy a case of beer and some steaks for your buddy to help you.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

I agree with virgil (shocker, i know lol) rent the scaffolding and buy a case of beer and some steaks for your buddy to help you.

Me three.

[tughillhunter]

pump jacks and some pic planks work great...... just sold mine this past september too.....

[HectorBuckBuster]

I did my whole house with vinyl. I used 10 square.With everything for my house with Vinyl Siding, J-Channel, undersill then I used fan fold underlayment and nails (you used alot of them and $10 a box I think I have about $200 worth of nails in my house). It was like $3500 total. If you are near a HEP/Main Street Lumber , you can get vinyl siding there for about $120 a box. WHich is a great deal. Pump jacks work great.

Wow that is a big house.You would need almost 4 boxes of siding to do 735 square feet. So you are looking at $500-700 there, then your j channel , plus your corners, and undersill, and nails. And then if you put a fan fold down.

[Red]

i asked the guy for an estimate on the entire house he said 32k but for a winter special we can do it for 24k. lol im 30 yrs old ive been laid off for a year now looking for work and have a 1 and 2 year old i said i guess ill be getting estimate for just the back of the house lol. the entire house is 3048 square feet thats subtracting the 52 windows the house has. i wish the sidng wouldnt have blown off i had some interior projects i wanted to do.

[Doewhacker]

I for one would be glad to get an over inflated price for some jobs so that my wife thinks we cannot afford to do them..lol

"Yes dear it would cost 50K to re-side the house..sorry we cant afford it"

[virgil]

Is anyone on this forum a contractor? That price of $32k or even $24k seems insane. With the proper equipment (scaffolding or whatever), and a crew of just three or four guys, I don't think this should be more than a two or three day job.

[tughillhunter]

It is insane. i cut guy, one hanger. 2 pump jacks, 2 planks. any one can hang vinyl, its easy. Im not a contractor, but i do alot of siding on the side, i usually charge an hrly rate, and the ppl i do the work for buy the material. Cedar impression siding is where the price will go up into the 20's and 30's, that stuff is a pain in the butt.

[tughillhunter]

btw, my bro in law is a contractor, and i know it wouldnt be that much. he has done ungodly huge houses, and garages, for right around 10, 15k.

[HectorBuckBuster]

WOw , that estimate you got is unreal. I bet he is figuring the cost of ripping the old metal siding off. Just one question, is the siding metal or Aluminum ? If it is Aluminum, that may just pay for your vinyl siding as clean aluminum for scrap is running .60 cents per pound as of a few days ago.Wow even at lowes if you went with White or Brown the siding is $170 a box and you would need 16 boxes.That only $2700 , then says $3000 for your j-chanell(you will need alot of these as you have 52 windows) and corners and nails. You can buy pump jacks at lowes that used 2 x 4 nailed together to make your posts. The vinyl siding is easy as can be the most important thing is to get the starter strip nice and straight.

[Red]

the first quote i got was from seasrs i just read a few posts saying that sears is usually close to 50% above the average cost. i had 2 guys come today and look at it and ill have their estimates some time next week and 3 more guys comming monday if i dont like the prices i might end up needing to try this myself. i need some of those contractors from hgtv lol them guys get stuff done at great prices

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Red, I need to know what brand and what lap, texture, etc. You want. Also are you getting colored trim or white.

[Red]

im not sure what brand it seams like each of the companies that have been out so far all use a different brand im gonna go with some thats a mid grade quality seeing that im gonna move in less then 5 years. im gonna go with the basic lap. im going with white trim. i was just talking to the wife about it after i have more contractors here monday tuesday im gonna go to the local siding supply company and see how much all the materials would be for me to do this myself. then see how much a local company will charge to rent the scaffolding.

[NFA-ADK]

I had the same issue with the salemen from Home Depot. I tell him I am not signing anything today, and he says at the end of the conversation,"If you sign today we will take off 10 %..."

I said to him you just lost a sale because you were my 1st estimate... I said if you were up front with me and said that IF I give a estimate today and signed it would be 10% less I might have bitten. I would have gotten the Home depot estimate last... But he even told me I can get it done cheaper by someone other than Home depot, but home depot gives a warrenty and wont disapear was his sales pitch... Pissed off I kicked him out after wasting 1 hour for a bathroom estimate...

[Red]

I had the same issue with the salemen from Home Depot. I tell him I am not signing anything today, and he says at the end of the conversation,"If you sign today we will take off 10 %..."

I said to him you just lost a sale because you were my 1st estimate... I said if you were up front with me and said that IF I give a estimate today and signed it would be 10% less I might have bitten. I would have gotten the Home depot estimate last... But he even told me I can get it done cheaper by someone other than Home depot, but home depot gives a warrenty and wont disapear was his sales pitch... Pissed off I kicked him out after wasting 1 hour for a bathroom estimate...

thats exactly how sears was the same pitch and all then he says if his mother was to get the same siding she would pay the same price this is as low as he can go then an hr later he told me and my wife that he can give us sears friend and family discount wich was still a crazy price and that was around his 100th lie i was done with him.

[max3]

Red , I was a siding contractor in NJ for 25 yrs for myself. Been doing siding since 1976. If you want I would be able to figure you a fair market price. PM me with dimensions of your home & I will shoot a price back to you. I now am semi-retired in the Oneonta area doing all phases of home improvement. I work alone after many yrs of having employee's & a solid siding contracting co.