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so if a contractor sent an estimate, which includes a new storm door, and the charge listed for the door itself is $1500 do I just run away screaming, or do I actually set myself on fire first? I am curious what is special about the $1500 door. If, for instance, it always opens to a world of whimsey and magical delight, that could be worth it? (edit: note that the estimate included a grand for overhead, so this is not "the price is being inflated to reflect insurance costs" or something) Cabbages and VHS fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Apr 17, 2018 |
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Apr 17, 2018 17:06
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Twerk from Home posted:Even basic external doors are expensive, that doesn't sound unreasonable for a storm door. I'd treat this like any other job: get at least one other quote, and if that's the market price in your area, just bite the bullet and pay it. If one contractor is mysteriously half the cost of the other guys and can't explain why, be suspicious. I will admit that I haven't bought a door in a decade, but looking around at Lowe's and Home Depot, I see lots of doors similar to the one I've got for $2-400, and basically nothing that's more than $500. What am I missing? So far I've spoken to three people; the most promising so far had a similar estimate for the actual work, but suggested that the door would be "a few hundred bucks, I can get one or you can just go pick out whatever you want from the hardware store". So, so far, the difference in quotes is around $1000, which is down to the cost of the door. I am waiting to hear back from the higher estimator about the door charge.
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Apr 17, 2018 17:22
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The Dave posted:Maybe a dumb question, but this isn’t a custom storm door right? I can’t remember what I paid but maybe 1200ish for a custom sized storm door and install. it is not. It's also a door that will basically never be opened outside of a very peculiar home evacuation situation. I would be fine with just having a plate glass window there, with a button next to it that will detonate tiny bombs around it and a sign that says "do not press this button, except in an emergency" but homeowner's insurance claims that's not a reasonable idea.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:22
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Twerk from Home posted:If one contractor is mysteriously half the cost of the other guys and can't explain why, be suspicious. I assume this cuts both ways? I've talked to three different people who said this was a $3000ish deal, and one person who said $7000. So, the high estimate, in this case, is the outlier. peanut posted:Ask to see a catalog. It might be fancy gorgeous with an insulated frame and key-pin lock.
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Apr 18, 2018 01:28
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 This is the result of an improperly flashed deck that caused water damage to the plywood behind it. The house is solid log construction but the first three "logs" are siding over plywood, which is over the foundation / basement. The water damage below the door level was professionally remediated; they removed the old siding, cut out the lovely plywood with recip saws, put new plywood on, then put new siding over it. I asked them to not deal with the lack of deck and stairs, because for better or worse I figured I could do that myself. (We don't care about the deck). I'm going to attach some stairs under this door and also cut out the rotted bit at the bottom of the door trim, cut it so it's even, fill it with wood filler and then nail a small piece of wood there. Probably that whole door should be replaced but that's an issue for later. I am just wanting to attach 3 pre-cut stringers to the siding, for a total width of 48", and I got cedar planks to use as steps. (I'm not doing risers). I am planning on attaching the stringers to the house with these: https://www.amazon.com/Simpson-LSSU210-18-Gauge-10-Inch-Adjustable/dp/B001I3IHDU My question is, is it acceptable to attach these hangers directly to the siding, or do I really need to go to all the effort of removing a ~6x48" section of siding, put a piece of flat wood there, and put the hangers in to that? Obviously the siding is not perfectly flat, so if I attach the hangers directly to the siding there will be some gaps behind the brackets where the siding curves away, but I am not convinced that's a problem, and it's a hell of a lot easier to not gently caress with prybars and having to cut the siding to match -- and I'm also not convinced that it's a problem if the brackets and siding are not completely flush, given that each bracket is going to be attached to the house in 12 places. edit: a friend with experience with this kind of work has convinced me that trying to connect directly to the siding is going to be a great way to get cracks, get water going into the plywood, etc. So I am either going to bolt a piece of PT wood over it to screw into, or, more likely, go to the hassle of removing the siding, cutting it, leaving a 6x48" gap, and bolting a piece of cedar or PT wood on there. Cabbages and VHS fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Aug 2, 2018 |
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Aug 2, 2018 17:14
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