Electrical Shakedown & Plumbing Gone Wrong

by Alison Moore Smith on February 8, 2010 · 3 comments

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electrical wires Electrical Shakedown & Plumbing Gone WrongWhen we were getting bids on the house, the electrical bid seemed unusually high. We were told the plan had too many can lights and we needed to remove “some.”

Truth: we had too many cans and needed to remove some. We have this thing about living in homes that resemble caves and we crave light. But we had 150 drawn in and “some” weren’t necessary.

We got a reasonable bid and moved on. Until this week. Without speaking to us further, the electrician says the bid he provided was for 50 cans. In other words, he claims his bid covers only 33% of the cans included on the plans. And he wants to charge us $55 per can that we install over his bid.

I’ll have to check my dictionary, but generally speaking, I wouldn’t use the term “some” to describe removing 66% of something. I’d call it “most” or “a huge portion” or “you’ll need Obama to bail you out on this one.”

More reasons the construction industry stinks.

Anyone interested in an electrical install?

But wait! That’s not all! If you look now you’ll learn that the plumbing on both of the kids’ bathrooms in the basement was installed 6 inches off and is now sitting in a bedroom! Read that: someone’s going to chipping out some cement in the near future.

My building advice for today: read plans; follow plans.

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Todd - Home Construction & Improvement February 11, 2010 at 11:43 am

That was a pretty slimy move on the electrician’s part. However, the $55 is a damn good price per can…..most electricians around here get $125 per can.

That plumber is sure gonna wish he had laid out all the walls with string lines first!!
.-= Todd – Home Construction & Improvement´s last blog ..Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector Review =-.

matt from denver electrical contractors August 19, 2011 at 5:28 pm

I hear your pain. Shady electricians give the good ones a bad name. I say as a homeowner get everything in writing upfront. If plans change, then change what you have in writing. You’ll have more protection and less heartache this way.
matt @ denver electrical contractors hopes you will read Incentives for Lighting System Upgrades

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