Unexpected construction change orders after the project is done
Contractors sometimes spring massive price increases—such as a 62 percent markup—after a job is finished without ever providing a prior written cost estimate or specific numbers beforehand. This sudden financial shock leaves homeowners scrambling to figure out how hard to push back against verbal estimates and misjudged work.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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Unexpected construction change orders after the project is done
- 1Offering to pay only the original contract amount while negotiating a separate reduced number for the change orderDid this help you?
- 2Accepting dimensional lumber if the material is fastened correctly and not in gapsDid this help you?
- 3Trusting that the roofer mentioned potential plywood needs beforehand to avoid surprise extra chargesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Concerned that he misjudged the situation.”source ↗
“Up until installation day after the roof was stripped he said it was no longer necessary.”source ↗
“Roofer hit me with a $3,612 change order on a $5,800 mansard job. How hard should I push back?”source ↗
“After completion I got a change order for $3,612, a 62% increase.”source ↗
“Mid-install the foreman told me verbally there would be "some additional cost." No number given.”source ↗
Where this came up
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