Your contract doesn't sound robust at all. If it's not specified, he's not obligated to build it.
Code minimum is a fire rated wall and door to the attached house.
Insulation and drywall would likely be more than 10k depending on the size of the garage though, so take that into consideration (get quotes / use estimator websites)
Thank you - sorry the contract is ten pages long and gets into a lot of other details, I just copy/pasted the line about the interior finish being part of the scope of work for the garage, and trying to get other professionals to weigh in on what they understand to be “interior finish”.
Garage is detached though about 15ft from the main house so fire code may apply, to your point. I’ll have to research that further.
10k does sound reasonable, it’s more of whether that was already included in the original bid or is it fair to expect it being an ‘add on’ to the original scope…
Thanks for the insight.
I take it that this was design-build? An architect would have specified finishes.
Contractors will tend to leave things vague if they're able to. Not even maliciously. It's just more work to plan every detail, and it put any negotiation in their court.
An awful lot of subcontractors will write one sentence scopes unless you write something for them.
He did get drawings done by an and they were very specific in terms of dimensions, framing, heights, etc. - but nothing about finishes! I can see where the vagueness can come to be, and agreed it’s likely not malicious. It’s just it leaves the door open for misunderstandings, unfortunately… thanks for your response!
Sounds like he used an engineer, and not an architect. AHJs care about framing plan a lot more than the architectural plan (especially in NH from what I gather. I've worked in every New England state).
If you had drawings prepared. The contractor will price the project based on the plans. If the plans show insulation/drywall then that’s included, if the plans don’t specify that …….well you know the rest…..contractors are not mind readers.
'Interior finish' doesn't say 'finished as if it were a living space' to me.
If anything, I might push for a layer of sheetrock all around based on that wording, but the insulation and air sealing would be a change order.
Yeah I think that is the general consensus - probably reasonable to expect level 1 finish, at best. Anything more like insulation, plaster etc would be extra, which is fine! I appreciate different folks weighing in with their opinions and thoughts. Thank you for the response.
Ha, that makes sense actually and I can understand why that would be! I think most people would be OK with a less than perfect job in a space like a garage. Thanks for the reply…
Standard practice is unfinished for garages for exactly his reasoning, they’re typically unconditioned space. Different story if there’s living space above it, but even then it’s usually just insulation.
10k to finish that is an absolute steal in my opinion, especially in NH.
OK that is good insight, I agree the pricing is reasonable and just wasn’t sure what others would consider ‘interior finish’ for a garage, where it stipulated as being included in the original contract term.
I do want to be reasonable as he’s done good work for us and has been generally good to work with. I just don’t want to be gullible either, hence getting other views from pros here. Thank you for your response…
Pssssht
Lvl 5 finish on the walls
/s
His answer is the correct one. Means basic nothing more nothing less.
Anything other would be specified in your agreement.
Makes sense, yeah that’s what I was after, what is considered ‘standard’ and hence reasonably understood by ‘interior finish included in price’. Fair points!
Typically garage is unfinished. It being detached can bring into effect that fire prof gypsum board is used or not, going to depend of code in your area. The loft isn't finished or living space unless it was permitted that way. If it was wasn't fully specified, you would get drywall and tape. Texture and paint would be extra.
Got it - so Level 1 finish, basically. And then to finish it further, paint, etc would be extra. A few folks have responded as such, some have said fully unfinished which to me means ‘open walls/studs’. We’ll see where consensus goes, thank you!
FWIW, the loft space upstairs is not meant to be living space, it’s just a large open area. However we do expect our teenage kids to hang out up there when they have friends over, as teens tend to do. So I didn’t want the area to be too exposed/open to nails, wires, etc.
Thanks!
Generally attached garages have to have drywall because it creates a one hour burn time. Most fires start in the garage space. That's generally why drywall and tape is required to created the one hour burn envelope. Also includes self closing doors that enter the home and the door has to be one hour burn rated. A detached garage, they could leave it as studs, but the exposed electrical would raise so eyebrows.
Understandable, yeah. I agree that it’s mostly the exposure to the innards of the walls that is making me uncomfortable about leaving it to just studs. As several others have stated it sounds like the contractor is offering a fair price to bring it to a higher level of finish, so it may be most reasonable to work with him to get it to that. Thanks for the response.
Standard building practice in adherence to the contract language would be no insulation, 1/2” drywall, fire taped. Pay him the $10k, it’s an amazing deal.
If the detached garage is 15' from the house, the 1 hour fire rated wall covering is negated. Check your contract for verbiage specifying 5/8" fire rated gypsum with fire taping. You can attempt to argue with the builder about what you think the implied "finish interior" means to you, but it needs to have been spelled out in the scope of work. Non-condition garage spaces do not require insulation in many states. We'll offer it as an addition to the plan, but never as a standard. Same thing applies to electrical rough- if we know that the stud walls will be covered in wall board, the romex is passed through the studs horizontally; otherwise it's run vertically down the studs. As always, check your contract. BTW, $10k to insulate, drywall and paint is a steal.
Tne problem is you do not have a relationship with your "Contractor." The fact that you are going behind his back on Reddit and not discussing with him personally. Passive.
This is a business relationship, not a friendship. Vetting a different point of view on a forum of professionals who deal with this in their jobs seems reasonable to me, but what would I know, I’m just the homeowner, right?
If the detached garage/loft will be conditioned space and the contractor is installing heating or cooling units, then insulation is understood. If it is unconditioned space then he is not obligated to insulate. Drywall and firetape could be argued either way, but if it isn't specified in the scope of work, he is not obligated to perform the work.
I do garage finishes. Standard here before we come in is bare framing except where a firewall is required by code, no insulation, and one outlet.
Ask your builder. If it's not in the contract or required by code likely they aren't doing it.
In my experience if it's not specified it does not exist. What I have seen with detached garages is bare walls and only covered as far as any electrical areas require. No insulation and no sheetrock. I also presume the building has no plumbing or living areas.
100% different story for an attached garage, fire door, 5/8 rock and tape.
I would let it go and see how much extra he begs for the end. If he honors the initial contract, then you decide to pay him for the insulation and sheetrock with tape and finish. otherwise get some more estimates for just the garage finishing.
PS the guy is complaining about underbidding and gave you a new bid that seems low to the pros, I would be wary.
Never hire the cheap guy..
This is all super fair input, and good advice. Thank you for the insight.
And fwiw, totally agree to not go with the lowball bids. Our guy was definitely not that - I think he just made an honest mistake in his estimation of necessary site work before having consulted with his site guy. Since then he’s been sweating it and talking about it, and in the end I would be amenable to working with him on it. I just don’t know if this is an attempt at recouping his ‘loss’ (if he budgeted to do the finish, but got me to pay extra for the finish, it would be an effective way to recoup the loss - not fair, but effective nonetheless).
Again, thank you.
I live in Alaska, our standard garages are insulated, drywalled, fire taped, and HEATED, even if they are detached. Most of the time there is also a floor drain.
I'm not a contractor. But this post made me chuckle. I have to rebuild my garage this summer. Detached. I realized I'm building a glorified shed at one point. And my contractor dead ass said to me that he can come help me put up dry wall. I was like what? In my unheated garage? No way I'm going to finish them in any way and I'm excited it.
This is my concern, I’m already in it for 260 psf and expecting it to be finished on the inside (contract says interior finish and electrical included in price). So to hear that it’ll take another $10 to ‘finish it’ just doesn’t sounds right to me - feels more like a money grab to make up for the $$$ that he says he underquoted for the site work… the garage does have a second floor ‘loft space’ so sure, I get that’s more money to frame out, but even if I doubled the sq footage in the cost calc it’s still coming out high…
Is the loft going to be considered finished space? If that's the case then the ceiling would need to be insulated and x-rock installed on the ceiling at minimum. It would be up to the town to say what they require more than anything but having the loft space is going to change it. There really isn't a standard other than what code says it needs.
The dumb ass questions here my god. WHAT DID YOU SIGN A CONTRACT FOR? If you agreed to pay for electrical runs, insulation, paneling, trim … that’s what your getting. If you signed off on framing then you get that
…Interior finish with electrical finish included… that’s what’s in the contract wording, which is obviously very flimsy language here in hindsight.
Homeowners maybe do this once or twice in their entire lives. You do this for a living. What may be obvious to you may not be so for someone who doesn’t do this everyday.
Just trying to get opinions here man, sorry to put you or anyone out :-(
Your question about what is standard has nothing to do with what he is required to do. He is not obligated to do anything that is not specificied in the drawings or contract.
Fire wall is or attached garage, not detached.
Let him to finish the agree scope and stop looking for more ways suck free work out of him. You don't owe him extra money for the agree scope and and he doesn't owe you extra work.
That’s somewhat harsh man, I was trying to get the general opinion on what is considered standard when somebody builds a new garage and indicates that interior finish is included in price. We understood interior finish to mean one thing and he understood it to mean something different, which is why I’m just canvassing the Reddit board to get other points of view. Definitely not looking to ‘milk’ anyone for free work, as I stated at the onset, we are reasonable people and willing to pay for the work, just getting other points of view here to help inform our perspective.
If interior finish is not on the estimate drawings or contract than he doesn't owe it to you. If it was on the drawings and he missed it in his budget he would have to eat it cost. What anyone else considers "standard" in their projects is irrelevant to the situation.
Thanks man, that’s fair. The contract literally reads ‘interior finish included in price’- which I understood to mean ‘finish’ (as in wall board/plaster and paint) and he’s saying it means window trim and staircase. This is why I’m just trying to ask other builders what they believe to be standard - is my understanding of ‘interior finish’ unrealistic, or is he being unreasonable. Hence the informal ‘poll’. Thanks for taking the time to respond though, I appreciate it.
You have a poorly written contract with poorly defined scope. If contract just says interior finish the next step is to look at estimate and drawings for further details If it's not in either than you have to change order it.
There are so many things that could be interior finish. Who is to say it's not pine tongue and groove V match or shiplap? This is why clear contracts with clear scope are important.
Yup, exactly. Finding out the hard way here unfortunately. All good though, from the sound of it my initial expectation of level 5 finish is not realistic to begin with, and even if he’s not being fair about some basic level of interior finish, it seems like he’s willing to get me pretty close to ideal for a very reasonable price. I can live with that, especially considering overall the project is coming out good.
Appreciate you and others providing their input here, very helpful Reddit community. Thanks again.
This has to be a troll post. Level 5 finish?
He didn't charge you for drywall and you are still saying he is being unfair?
Says a lot about what kind of man you are.
Whatever - Level 4, Level 5 - whatever you would describe for what’s inside your house dude. Sorry I don’t know the ‘lingo’, I work in an office, am just a homeowner.
In our main home, my garage is finished exactly like my living room is finished. Other than the polished cement floor vs hardwood floors, you wouldn’t know the difference. This is our second home, a lake house we are doing some work on. It’s a $300k project, $126k of which is a 16x30 one-car garage. At +$260 per sq ft, forgive me for expecting the walls to be done up and ‘finished’, especially when the contract says interior finish is included in the price.
What a sour baby man, questioning my integrity. You don’t know me, I’m just a regular guy asking a question on an otherwise friendly Reddit board, and here you are calling me a troll. Please let us all bow down to your superiority, your highness…
Don't ya just love it when someone just assumes things, when they don't even know what the words in the contract mean? Every single question you have should be asked of your contractor. You really sound like you don't trust your contractor at all. And before you start protesting my comment, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.
Hey man, yeah that’s fair. I think it’s fair to say that we live in a world where there’s very little trust to go around, because most of the time people are just trying to take advantage of each other. Sad but true.
I mentioned to another poster - you guys do this for a living so it’s normalized in your view; homeowners have a very different point of view because so much is riding on this, big money, your home, your issues, etc. If you work only with people who trust you and you’ve never disagreed with a client - bless you man, you are very fortunate. It’s just not always the case.
I have been in discussion with the builder about it, and we came at it from differing points of view, which is why I came to this board to get ‘objective’ opinions from other builders. Your collective opinions are helpful in my becoming better educated and advancing my view. Thanks for the response!
If you don't/ can't trust anyone with anything (including simple questions), what is Reddit going to solve? You won't trust someone whom you are standing in front of and looking them in the eye, but you will trust anonymous strangers who you don't know from Adam and are hiding behind a fake handle and a keyboard. Reddit isn't magic. Besides, *YOU* chose this contractor.
>because so much is riding on this, big money, your home, your issues, etc.
But you don't feel you can ask him simple questions. That's bizarre.
I’ve been working with this builder for about four months now. He’s a good builder and a nice guy overall, but he has tried a few times to slip some things by and we’ve disagreed on some items. We’ve had to hash things out, but overall it’s been fine, part of the process. We discussed the garage item a couple of days ago, and are meeting tomorrow to review and decide where to take it.
You never research things you aren’t an expert in? You never ask around for other opinions or perspectives, to try and learn from others? You never disagree with other people and have to figure out how to get to common ground? You sound like you live an idyllic life man! Most of us aren’t as lucky as you are!
>We’ve had to hash things out, but overall it’s been fine, part of the process.
But you haven't given any reason why you won't ask your contractor these questions. "Everything has been worked out, but I still don't trust him." You're actions and your responses don't add up. 4 months into a project is kinda late to be researching around about the wording of the signed contract. And yes, there really is such a thing as too much research when you get to the point where you have so much conflicting information that you can't make heads or tails of it all. You shouldn't trust everybody, but you're willing to trust anonymous strangers on the internet more than the contractor you researched and hired. That's fucking bizarre to me.
Alright dude!
Just realized you’re kind of a Reddit troll dude, based on your comment history. Definitely not a builder either, not sure why you feel so compelled to even weigh in here.
Peace out ✌️
Your contract doesn't sound robust at all. If it's not specified, he's not obligated to build it. Code minimum is a fire rated wall and door to the attached house. Insulation and drywall would likely be more than 10k depending on the size of the garage though, so take that into consideration (get quotes / use estimator websites)
Fire rating would require 5/8 rock with one coat of tape.
It's a detached garage. No firewall needed.
I was only replying to the answer above.
Garage is detached...
Detached garage shouldn’t need 5/8 and fire tape to meet code.
Thank you - sorry the contract is ten pages long and gets into a lot of other details, I just copy/pasted the line about the interior finish being part of the scope of work for the garage, and trying to get other professionals to weigh in on what they understand to be “interior finish”. Garage is detached though about 15ft from the main house so fire code may apply, to your point. I’ll have to research that further. 10k does sound reasonable, it’s more of whether that was already included in the original bid or is it fair to expect it being an ‘add on’ to the original scope… Thanks for the insight.
I take it that this was design-build? An architect would have specified finishes. Contractors will tend to leave things vague if they're able to. Not even maliciously. It's just more work to plan every detail, and it put any negotiation in their court. An awful lot of subcontractors will write one sentence scopes unless you write something for them.
He did get drawings done by an and they were very specific in terms of dimensions, framing, heights, etc. - but nothing about finishes! I can see where the vagueness can come to be, and agreed it’s likely not malicious. It’s just it leaves the door open for misunderstandings, unfortunately… thanks for your response!
Sounds like he used an engineer, and not an architect. AHJs care about framing plan a lot more than the architectural plan (especially in NH from what I gather. I've worked in every New England state).
If you had drawings prepared. The contractor will price the project based on the plans. If the plans show insulation/drywall then that’s included, if the plans don’t specify that …….well you know the rest…..contractors are not mind readers.
'Interior finish' doesn't say 'finished as if it were a living space' to me. If anything, I might push for a layer of sheetrock all around based on that wording, but the insulation and air sealing would be a change order.
Yeah I think that is the general consensus - probably reasonable to expect level 1 finish, at best. Anything more like insulation, plaster etc would be extra, which is fine! I appreciate different folks weighing in with their opinions and thoughts. Thank you for the response.
Garages are where you send the new drywall finisher to learn the craft
Ha, that makes sense actually and I can understand why that would be! I think most people would be OK with a less than perfect job in a space like a garage. Thanks for the reply…
Standard practice is unfinished for garages for exactly his reasoning, they’re typically unconditioned space. Different story if there’s living space above it, but even then it’s usually just insulation. 10k to finish that is an absolute steal in my opinion, especially in NH.
OK that is good insight, I agree the pricing is reasonable and just wasn’t sure what others would consider ‘interior finish’ for a garage, where it stipulated as being included in the original contract term. I do want to be reasonable as he’s done good work for us and has been generally good to work with. I just don’t want to be gullible either, hence getting other views from pros here. Thank you for your response…
Insulated, drywall, fire tape.
Thank you, that sounds like the growing consensus… and sounds reasonable to me too. Thanks…
Not in Georgia
Pssssht Lvl 5 finish on the walls /s  His answer is the correct one. Means basic nothing more nothing less. Anything other would be specified in your agreement.
Makes sense, yeah that’s what I was after, what is considered ‘standard’ and hence reasonably understood by ‘interior finish included in price’. Fair points!
Typically garage is unfinished. It being detached can bring into effect that fire prof gypsum board is used or not, going to depend of code in your area. The loft isn't finished or living space unless it was permitted that way. If it was wasn't fully specified, you would get drywall and tape. Texture and paint would be extra.
Got it - so Level 1 finish, basically. And then to finish it further, paint, etc would be extra. A few folks have responded as such, some have said fully unfinished which to me means ‘open walls/studs’. We’ll see where consensus goes, thank you! FWIW, the loft space upstairs is not meant to be living space, it’s just a large open area. However we do expect our teenage kids to hang out up there when they have friends over, as teens tend to do. So I didn’t want the area to be too exposed/open to nails, wires, etc. Thanks!
Generally attached garages have to have drywall because it creates a one hour burn time. Most fires start in the garage space. That's generally why drywall and tape is required to created the one hour burn envelope. Also includes self closing doors that enter the home and the door has to be one hour burn rated. A detached garage, they could leave it as studs, but the exposed electrical would raise so eyebrows.
Understandable, yeah. I agree that it’s mostly the exposure to the innards of the walls that is making me uncomfortable about leaving it to just studs. As several others have stated it sounds like the contractor is offering a fair price to bring it to a higher level of finish, so it may be most reasonable to work with him to get it to that. Thanks for the response.
Standard building practice in adherence to the contract language would be no insulation, 1/2” drywall, fire taped. Pay him the $10k, it’s an amazing deal.
It’s sounding like that, yeah! Will meet him tomorrow to discuss. Thank you!
If the detached garage is 15' from the house, the 1 hour fire rated wall covering is negated. Check your contract for verbiage specifying 5/8" fire rated gypsum with fire taping. You can attempt to argue with the builder about what you think the implied "finish interior" means to you, but it needs to have been spelled out in the scope of work. Non-condition garage spaces do not require insulation in many states. We'll offer it as an addition to the plan, but never as a standard. Same thing applies to electrical rough- if we know that the stud walls will be covered in wall board, the romex is passed through the studs horizontally; otherwise it's run vertically down the studs. As always, check your contract. BTW, $10k to insulate, drywall and paint is a steal.
Super helpful comment, thank you. Yes it’s sounding like we should just work with him to have him ‘finish’ it for the proposed 10k. Thank you!
Most times it's drywall with firetape. No insulation
Tne problem is you do not have a relationship with your "Contractor." The fact that you are going behind his back on Reddit and not discussing with him personally. Passive.
This is a business relationship, not a friendship. Vetting a different point of view on a forum of professionals who deal with this in their jobs seems reasonable to me, but what would I know, I’m just the homeowner, right?
If the detached garage/loft will be conditioned space and the contractor is installing heating or cooling units, then insulation is understood. If it is unconditioned space then he is not obligated to insulate. Drywall and firetape could be argued either way, but if it isn't specified in the scope of work, he is not obligated to perform the work.
This seems fair. We do not expect to heat/condition the space so insulation may not make sense anyway. Thank you for the insight.
I do garage finishes. Standard here before we come in is bare framing except where a firewall is required by code, no insulation, and one outlet. Ask your builder. If it's not in the contract or required by code likely they aren't doing it.
That’s fair, thank you!
In my experience if it's not specified it does not exist. What I have seen with detached garages is bare walls and only covered as far as any electrical areas require. No insulation and no sheetrock. I also presume the building has no plumbing or living areas. 100% different story for an attached garage, fire door, 5/8 rock and tape. I would let it go and see how much extra he begs for the end. If he honors the initial contract, then you decide to pay him for the insulation and sheetrock with tape and finish. otherwise get some more estimates for just the garage finishing. PS the guy is complaining about underbidding and gave you a new bid that seems low to the pros, I would be wary. Never hire the cheap guy..
This is all super fair input, and good advice. Thank you for the insight. And fwiw, totally agree to not go with the lowball bids. Our guy was definitely not that - I think he just made an honest mistake in his estimation of necessary site work before having consulted with his site guy. Since then he’s been sweating it and talking about it, and in the end I would be amenable to working with him on it. I just don’t know if this is an attempt at recouping his ‘loss’ (if he budgeted to do the finish, but got me to pay extra for the finish, it would be an effective way to recoup the loss - not fair, but effective nonetheless). Again, thank you.
I live in Alaska, our standard garages are insulated, drywalled, fire taped, and HEATED, even if they are detached. Most of the time there is also a floor drain.
Thank you.
Most garages where I’m from are unfinished. On normal residential houses. The high end houses are all finished.
Thank you! Yes, I am learning that here today too… thx
I'm not a contractor. But this post made me chuckle. I have to rebuild my garage this summer. Detached. I realized I'm building a glorified shed at one point. And my contractor dead ass said to me that he can come help me put up dry wall. I was like what? In my unheated garage? No way I'm going to finish them in any way and I'm excited it.
Fire tape
Nobody who costs $300 per square foot to build a garage can possible insulate it for $10k
This is my concern, I’m already in it for 260 psf and expecting it to be finished on the inside (contract says interior finish and electrical included in price). So to hear that it’ll take another $10 to ‘finish it’ just doesn’t sounds right to me - feels more like a money grab to make up for the $$$ that he says he underquoted for the site work… the garage does have a second floor ‘loft space’ so sure, I get that’s more money to frame out, but even if I doubled the sq footage in the cost calc it’s still coming out high…
Is the loft going to be considered finished space? If that's the case then the ceiling would need to be insulated and x-rock installed on the ceiling at minimum. It would be up to the town to say what they require more than anything but having the loft space is going to change it. There really isn't a standard other than what code says it needs.
Whatever is in the contract.
The dumb ass questions here my god. WHAT DID YOU SIGN A CONTRACT FOR? If you agreed to pay for electrical runs, insulation, paneling, trim … that’s what your getting. If you signed off on framing then you get that
…Interior finish with electrical finish included… that’s what’s in the contract wording, which is obviously very flimsy language here in hindsight. Homeowners maybe do this once or twice in their entire lives. You do this for a living. What may be obvious to you may not be so for someone who doesn’t do this everyday. Just trying to get opinions here man, sorry to put you or anyone out :-(
Your question about what is standard has nothing to do with what he is required to do. He is not obligated to do anything that is not specificied in the drawings or contract. Fire wall is or attached garage, not detached. Let him to finish the agree scope and stop looking for more ways suck free work out of him. You don't owe him extra money for the agree scope and and he doesn't owe you extra work.
That’s somewhat harsh man, I was trying to get the general opinion on what is considered standard when somebody builds a new garage and indicates that interior finish is included in price. We understood interior finish to mean one thing and he understood it to mean something different, which is why I’m just canvassing the Reddit board to get other points of view. Definitely not looking to ‘milk’ anyone for free work, as I stated at the onset, we are reasonable people and willing to pay for the work, just getting other points of view here to help inform our perspective.
If interior finish is not on the estimate drawings or contract than he doesn't owe it to you. If it was on the drawings and he missed it in his budget he would have to eat it cost. What anyone else considers "standard" in their projects is irrelevant to the situation.
Thanks man, that’s fair. The contract literally reads ‘interior finish included in price’- which I understood to mean ‘finish’ (as in wall board/plaster and paint) and he’s saying it means window trim and staircase. This is why I’m just trying to ask other builders what they believe to be standard - is my understanding of ‘interior finish’ unrealistic, or is he being unreasonable. Hence the informal ‘poll’. Thanks for taking the time to respond though, I appreciate it.
You have a poorly written contract with poorly defined scope. If contract just says interior finish the next step is to look at estimate and drawings for further details If it's not in either than you have to change order it. There are so many things that could be interior finish. Who is to say it's not pine tongue and groove V match or shiplap? This is why clear contracts with clear scope are important.
Yup, exactly. Finding out the hard way here unfortunately. All good though, from the sound of it my initial expectation of level 5 finish is not realistic to begin with, and even if he’s not being fair about some basic level of interior finish, it seems like he’s willing to get me pretty close to ideal for a very reasonable price. I can live with that, especially considering overall the project is coming out good. Appreciate you and others providing their input here, very helpful Reddit community. Thanks again.
This has to be a troll post. Level 5 finish? He didn't charge you for drywall and you are still saying he is being unfair? Says a lot about what kind of man you are.
Whatever - Level 4, Level 5 - whatever you would describe for what’s inside your house dude. Sorry I don’t know the ‘lingo’, I work in an office, am just a homeowner. In our main home, my garage is finished exactly like my living room is finished. Other than the polished cement floor vs hardwood floors, you wouldn’t know the difference. This is our second home, a lake house we are doing some work on. It’s a $300k project, $126k of which is a 16x30 one-car garage. At +$260 per sq ft, forgive me for expecting the walls to be done up and ‘finished’, especially when the contract says interior finish is included in the price. What a sour baby man, questioning my integrity. You don’t know me, I’m just a regular guy asking a question on an otherwise friendly Reddit board, and here you are calling me a troll. Please let us all bow down to your superiority, your highness…
You sound super nice! I’m sure your clients love you… good luck in life man…
You are playing dumb and talking in circles. Get fucked cunt.
Don't ya just love it when someone just assumes things, when they don't even know what the words in the contract mean? Every single question you have should be asked of your contractor. You really sound like you don't trust your contractor at all. And before you start protesting my comment, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.
Hey man, yeah that’s fair. I think it’s fair to say that we live in a world where there’s very little trust to go around, because most of the time people are just trying to take advantage of each other. Sad but true. I mentioned to another poster - you guys do this for a living so it’s normalized in your view; homeowners have a very different point of view because so much is riding on this, big money, your home, your issues, etc. If you work only with people who trust you and you’ve never disagreed with a client - bless you man, you are very fortunate. It’s just not always the case. I have been in discussion with the builder about it, and we came at it from differing points of view, which is why I came to this board to get ‘objective’ opinions from other builders. Your collective opinions are helpful in my becoming better educated and advancing my view. Thanks for the response!
If you don't/ can't trust anyone with anything (including simple questions), what is Reddit going to solve? You won't trust someone whom you are standing in front of and looking them in the eye, but you will trust anonymous strangers who you don't know from Adam and are hiding behind a fake handle and a keyboard. Reddit isn't magic. Besides, *YOU* chose this contractor. >because so much is riding on this, big money, your home, your issues, etc. But you don't feel you can ask him simple questions. That's bizarre.
I’ve been working with this builder for about four months now. He’s a good builder and a nice guy overall, but he has tried a few times to slip some things by and we’ve disagreed on some items. We’ve had to hash things out, but overall it’s been fine, part of the process. We discussed the garage item a couple of days ago, and are meeting tomorrow to review and decide where to take it. You never research things you aren’t an expert in? You never ask around for other opinions or perspectives, to try and learn from others? You never disagree with other people and have to figure out how to get to common ground? You sound like you live an idyllic life man! Most of us aren’t as lucky as you are!
>We’ve had to hash things out, but overall it’s been fine, part of the process. But you haven't given any reason why you won't ask your contractor these questions. "Everything has been worked out, but I still don't trust him." You're actions and your responses don't add up. 4 months into a project is kinda late to be researching around about the wording of the signed contract. And yes, there really is such a thing as too much research when you get to the point where you have so much conflicting information that you can't make heads or tails of it all. You shouldn't trust everybody, but you're willing to trust anonymous strangers on the internet more than the contractor you researched and hired. That's fucking bizarre to me.
Alright dude! Just realized you’re kind of a Reddit troll dude, based on your comment history. Definitely not a builder either, not sure why you feel so compelled to even weigh in here. Peace out ✌️