How to tell if a contractor quote is realistic
Homeowners are seeing social media ads quoting specific project prices and do not know if those numbers are actually possible for their homes. Because they often cannot ask neighbors to verify local costs, they rely on online forums to review their contracts and determine if a bid is acceptable.
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?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Posting the proposed contract to online forums for professionals to reviewDid this help you?
- 2Asking neighbors how much they paid for recent roof replacements.Did this help you?
- 3Purchasing a satellite roof measurement report to run numbers through pricing calculators.Did this help you?
- 4Putting money into a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) to prepare for future out-of-pocket roof replacements.Did this help you?
- 5Buying materials directly and performing the tear-off and labor themselves or hiring friends.Did 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.
“I got several quotes and narrowed it down to this business. Contract seems oaky to me but I figured I’d run it by this sub since you guys have already helped so much”source ↗
“Lately, on my social media feeds I am getting slammed with roofing ads.... And almost all of them are quoting prices between 5-8K.”source ↗
“Not to mention, I've seen several homes on my block get new roofs.... But I haven't been able to ask a neighbor how much it cost. My house is 1600sq ft wit no steep slopes. Is that possible?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 69Why are contractor and window replacement quotes so absurdly high?
- 2Why is it so hard to get contractor quotes?
- 113How do I know if a contractor quote is fair?
- 4What questions should I ask contractors?
- 17Are commercial HVAC quotes and unit sizes reasonable?
- 3How to handle a struggling contract-to-hire employee who isn't working out