After thinking of these estimates and looking at everyone's comments.....thanks for those everyone, it's nice to get some other perspectives on this!......I have decided to just have the Handyman do Jobs 1, 3 & 5.
The sheetrock repair and spackle, install crown molding, fix/rehang the closet door, replace the garage trim, shutters and attic vents.
We'll get either Lowe's or the old handyman guy(if I can wait until Jan.)to do the living/dining room flooring and we'll do the painting of the living/dining room ourselves.
At some point, maybe during the winter, we'll contract to have the hallway upstairs and the stairwell/ceiling done then. This is the painting I can't do because of location. (This part of the painting isn't urgent and can wait until contractors are begging for the work in the bad weather, so we might get a break on the price then too.)
This brings out Grand Total estimate to $3,145 + however much of that $300 disposal of materials fee he is charging us for the debris generated by those 3 jobs.
The painting job will cost us whatever the paint/supplies will be.
And the flooring will run us approx. $700 because we already have 3 boxes from the last floor we had done....of course it won't "cost" $700 because I have about $300 in Home Improvement Store Gift Cards to redeem. 8-)
So after forking over $3,145(+$300)and $400 for the flooring, we'll owe Lowe's $1,650 OR the other Handyman approx. $ 800-$1K(I am guesstimating)for installing the flooring.
High end estimate now is under $7K for all with us doing most of the painting.
Almost $7K is MUCH BETTER than almost $10K.....
I'm liking that number a lot better! lol
Some of you commented/asked about bamboo flooring.
We had our master bedroom done in bamboo back in 2007 or so and then they did the upstairs hallway and stairs in the same materials.
Here's a photo from back in 2007.....
and here's a shot from Feb. 2012....pardon my junk....lol......
It still looks great.
Of course, we don't wear shoes upstairs in our house and the bedroom is not a high traffic room.
The bamboo stairs on the other hand have taken a beating. Between getting marked up when they hauled the washing machine and dryer up the stairs and the pounding the stairs took from the kids over the last 4 years, they aren't looking very good. I think if we replace the sections(mostly the edge pieces)on the stairs that have taken the brunt of the wear, the rest of the flooring on it should be ok.
The upstairs hallway, which is large enough to put a computer desk and chair in, is also done in the bamboo, but there is a large area rug over the central parts of it which has protected it from wear.
Once we get ready to sell the house, I'll probably have to replace that hallway area rug so the hallway looks better.
We are putting the same flooring materials down in the living/dining combo room. I'm not worried about wear, even though it's a more high traffic area because I already have an area rug to put down in the living room part and will get a rug for under the dining table set later.
We have 2 dogs but they are not allowed in the dining/living room since the little one likes to use it as her bathroom. 8-( So we put up baby gates when we first got dogs at this house back in 2003(I think)so they didn't get the run of the house. The baby gates also keep the dogs from roaming upstairs.
In the downstairs hallway and kitchen we have porcelain tile on the floor, the den off the kitchen has a Pergo laminate and the powder room has a vinyl floor. These are the rooms the dogs are allowed to wander through.
The idiots who installed that laminate did a half-assed job so we'll be replacing that floor right before the house goes on the market.
Bamboo seems to show blemishes more than traditional hardwoods if you get the lighter colored stuff.
Sluggy
The sheetrock repair and spackle, install crown molding, fix/rehang the closet door, replace the garage trim, shutters and attic vents.
We'll get either Lowe's or the old handyman guy(if I can wait until Jan.)to do the living/dining room flooring and we'll do the painting of the living/dining room ourselves.
At some point, maybe during the winter, we'll contract to have the hallway upstairs and the stairwell/ceiling done then. This is the painting I can't do because of location. (This part of the painting isn't urgent and can wait until contractors are begging for the work in the bad weather, so we might get a break on the price then too.)
This brings out Grand Total estimate to $3,145 + however much of that $300 disposal of materials fee he is charging us for the debris generated by those 3 jobs.
The painting job will cost us whatever the paint/supplies will be.
And the flooring will run us approx. $700 because we already have 3 boxes from the last floor we had done....of course it won't "cost" $700 because I have about $300 in Home Improvement Store Gift Cards to redeem. 8-)
So after forking over $3,145(+$300)and $400 for the flooring, we'll owe Lowe's $1,650 OR the other Handyman approx. $ 800-$1K(I am guesstimating)for installing the flooring.
High end estimate now is under $7K for all with us doing most of the painting.
Almost $7K is MUCH BETTER than almost $10K.....
I'm liking that number a lot better! lol
Some of you commented/asked about bamboo flooring.
We had our master bedroom done in bamboo back in 2007 or so and then they did the upstairs hallway and stairs in the same materials.
Here's a photo from back in 2007.....
and here's a shot from Feb. 2012....pardon my junk....lol......
It still looks great.
Of course, we don't wear shoes upstairs in our house and the bedroom is not a high traffic room.
The bamboo stairs on the other hand have taken a beating. Between getting marked up when they hauled the washing machine and dryer up the stairs and the pounding the stairs took from the kids over the last 4 years, they aren't looking very good. I think if we replace the sections(mostly the edge pieces)on the stairs that have taken the brunt of the wear, the rest of the flooring on it should be ok.
The upstairs hallway, which is large enough to put a computer desk and chair in, is also done in the bamboo, but there is a large area rug over the central parts of it which has protected it from wear.
Once we get ready to sell the house, I'll probably have to replace that hallway area rug so the hallway looks better.
We are putting the same flooring materials down in the living/dining combo room. I'm not worried about wear, even though it's a more high traffic area because I already have an area rug to put down in the living room part and will get a rug for under the dining table set later.
We have 2 dogs but they are not allowed in the dining/living room since the little one likes to use it as her bathroom. 8-( So we put up baby gates when we first got dogs at this house back in 2003(I think)so they didn't get the run of the house. The baby gates also keep the dogs from roaming upstairs.
In the downstairs hallway and kitchen we have porcelain tile on the floor, the den off the kitchen has a Pergo laminate and the powder room has a vinyl floor. These are the rooms the dogs are allowed to wander through.
The idiots who installed that laminate did a half-assed job so we'll be replacing that floor right before the house goes on the market.
Bamboo seems to show blemishes more than traditional hardwoods if you get the lighter colored stuff.
Sluggy
