We get asked if it’s OK to hire unlicensed contractors more often that I’d like to admit. Our answer is a resounding NO. But we learned this one the hard way. We’re just going to share our experience. Straight up.
GOOD, FAST, CHEAP. When selecting your contractor you get to pick 2. You can’t have all 3.
We had some clients, who had just bought an adorable 2 level house and wanted to remodel as soon as humanly possible so they could move out of their expensive rental and into their new home. In addition to their kitchen they needed to remodel 2 bathrooms, and add another bathroom on the first floor. They also wanted a more open-plan living area on the first floor, which included removing some walls.
After understanding their needs for a fabulous interior concept, we brought on interior designer, Karina Marshall of Marshall Interiors, and completed the design process in record time. The clients got an initial bid from 2 licensed contractors, and each was roughly the same - $150K give or take. A screaming deal if you ask me. Then they got a third bid from an unlicensed contractor for… $54k. That’s like a 66% savings! $100K off? Sign me up, right?
I completely understand this is SO INCREDIBLY TEMPTING. The clients asked for my advice, so I explained that licensed contractors can be held accountable for their work (and mistakes). For instance, if something leaks, licensed contractors are bound to come back and fix it. If a licensed contractor installs something incorrectly, they’re bound to fix it to match the architect’s drawings for free. They’re also legally required to be insured. And, perhaps most importantly, they are also bound to building code, you know… like waterproofing a shower and using safe electrical outlets in wet locations. You know, THE BASICS.
After explaining why to hire licensed contractors, the ultimate decision is up to the clients. And they chose the unlicensed guy. Can’t blame them, right? $100K is $100K.
Here’s how it went.
First, the unlicensed contractor opened up the wall and boom! There was the sewer pipe for the upstairs bathrooms in the way. So… he charged the clients to move it, because… he didn’t account for any sewer work in his bid (even though were were adding a bathroom). The licensed contractors did account for it. Same with all the mechanical rework required when the wall was removed, all mechanical work required was billed extra, even thought it was always in the scope.
Our clients were billed extra for designs that were already in the drawings.
The unlicensed contractor put outlets all over, without following the drawings. Then every time they got in the way of something, say… a wall mounted sink, he would just move the sink over. Unfortunately, he didn’t think about the wall mounted faucets (already installed in the wall) and that they would miss the sink if they moved… So I went to the site to see how to coordinate, and I asked the contractor, “OK, where are the drawings?” He said he didn’t know.
He didn’t even have the drawings printed, so… what exactly was he building to?
That’s right, he had been building for 3 months at this point, and wasn’t even using the drawings the clients had paid us for.
Among a thousand issues, one issue just baffles us. He used 2 different grout colors on the same wall. So the tile mosaic is running along in grey, and suddenly it switches to white on a weird uneven line in the middle of the room. A licensed contractor would be obligated to rip it out and redo it. They also probably wouldn’t do that in the first place… but these poor clients had no way to get that fixed unless they literally pay to have it ripped out and done again, correctly. So paying twice to get one part right. They ended up just leaving it.
They installed one side of the kitchen cabinet frame UPSIDE DOWN. I kid you not. And then said, “Well it wasn’t right-side-up in the drawings!” And he billed the clients for his time to install it right side up.
Missed the shower rail. Even though it was in the drawings. How would he know that if he never printed them, right? The contractor missed it, and he charged the client extra to install it, where a licensed contractor would be legally bound to install it, per the drawings, no matter what.
He charged the clients to fix his own mistakes.
Installed the entire kitchen backsplash in the wrong direction, not following the interior elevations. We had to go to the site to show him to install the tile horizontally. After he mocked the interior designer, he then installed the entire backsplash of expensive tiles vertical. The contractor had to rip it all out and re-order, re-install, at the clients expense for time and money.
That one mistake cost the homeowners 6 weeks.
Other major issues with this build:
They covered up the plumbing valve for the tub with drywall and tile, then lied about it. He said the valve didn’t fit the trim, so he didn’t install the plumbing valve at all. We were absolutely sure we had seen the valve installed before they added the tile… It took an hour to convince him to open up the tiled wall! And wouldn’t you know it, a valve was in there, and it very well may have flooded the inside of their second story wall if it was left that way.
The bathtub is permanently installed noticeably crooked, about 2” difference from one side to the other.
The wrong grout color was installed on the master shower and the contractor refused to fix it.
The tile was installed at an angle. Not a slight angle, a massive difference of 2” over the height of the wall. The worst part? The vanity mounted to this tiled wall is a box frame, meaning there is a perfect vertical line right next to the misaligned tile.
In the kids bathroom, they installed an outlet where a drawer went, so the drawer didn’t fit. Even though the outlet was correctly located in our drawings, they made the homeowners pay to move the outlet.
In the end, this couple spent… you guessed it…. $150K.
My clients spent about the same amount that the licensed contractors bid.
Except, had they hired a licensed contractor, the project would have been done sooner, and it would have been done correctly.