Tall Tales of Two Contractors

I saved $15,000 last week. Woo-hoo!

I went to a home expo with a few projects in mind, but the most pressing issue was my home's foundation. I don't want it to crumble down.

The laundry room is by far the ugliest in my house. The paint on the walls is peeling off and the concrete underneath has white powder flaking off. I took it as a sign of water damage, explained the symptoms to two contractors and set appointments for them to give free inspections and estimates.

The first guy had a faux hawk, but I still tried to give him a fair shake. He walked around making noise like, "ooohhh," "tsk, tsk," and other things to imply he was horrified. He sat down to give us the bad news. He showed diagrams and talked about escavating the basement, tearing out the driveway and porch. He really dragged it out. The cost would be $26,000. "The good news," he said, "is you don't need that. Not yet." All right, buddy, enough with the scare tactics!

He gave another option, the quick fix that the "other guys" would do. At a "cheap" $5,600 it would be tempting, but it won't work and he doesn't recommend it. Option 3 was $15,000, but he would give us a $2,000 break if we were ready to get started today. And, it involved tearing up the house. Uh, no.

Two days later, I had another contractor come out. "How long have you had water in the basement," he asked. "We don't," I said. "I'm starting to think this was blown out of proportion." He took a look at the laundry room and said I was right. He recommended a mold-killing fogger and said I should paint the basement. Spend your money on something else, he said.

How could it be that two contractors have two very different reactions? Could it be one was a liar?

Do you ever feel like you're being taken advantage of? Or maybe you need some tips on how to talk to contractors so you know you're getting the best service.

At the home show, I met a man named Dan Nichols, who put together a DVD-set called "Armed Consumer." He talked to 23 contractors in 17 different industries — such as plumbing, electrical and roofing — about what dishonest contractors don't want you to know. Nichols, who spent three years buying and flipping houses, learned some of these lessons the hard way.

Here, he explains more about it:



Each topic is divided into a chapter, so it is a material that can be referenced any time you need professional work done in your home. The DVD sells for $19.95 at his Web site armedconsumer.com. I haven't purchased it yet, so I can't give a thumbs up or thumbs down, but hey, I just saved $15,000, so I may as well. I'll let you know what I think.

In the meantime, remember, don't be bullied or fall for hard-sell tactics. Get a second opinion, or a third, and sleep on it.