chimey mortor crown repair.. wowza

[mound]

3'x3' chimney with chipping/cracking crown.  Of the 6 contractors I called for estimates, only one called me back..  Quoted to "stage roof, remove chimney cap. install bonding agent with 2500lb concrete cap, tapered brush finish"

Two guys, in and out in just under an hour and a half.. 1200 bucks..  I'm in the wrong profession!

[meackerman]

The Boilermaker Story....


There is an old story of a boilermaker who was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that was not working well.
After listening to the engineer’s description of the problems and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room. He looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls and took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve one time. Immediately, the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.
When the steamship owner received a bill for one thousand dollars, he became outraged and complained that the boilermaker had only been in the engine room for fifteen minutes and requested an itemized bill. So the boilermaker sent him a bill that reads as follows:
For tapping the valve: $.50
For knowing where to tap: $999.50
TOTAL: $1,000.00”

[mound]

The Boilermaker Story....


There is an old story of a boilermaker who was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that was not working well.
After listening to the engineer’s description of the problems and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room. He looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls and took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve one time. Immediately, the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.
When the steamship owner received a bill for one thousand dollars, he became outraged and complained that the boilermaker had only been in the engine room for fifteen minutes and requested an itemized bill. So the boilermaker sent him a bill that reads as follows:
For tapping the valve: $.50
For knowing where to tap: $999.50
TOTAL: $1,000.00”

Similar modern, floating around recently:
https://twitter.com/davygreenberg/status...56?lang=en

[EricU]

I have done this myself.  It's not a particularly difficult job.  I need to go up there and inspect it, the article in fine homebuilding that I followed said they only last about 10 years. OTOH, it did take me a while, and of course once I started there was thunderstorm after thunderstorm.  Had to build a platform to stand on and tear it down after.  

I couldn't get anyone to even return my call. I really want to get rid of the chimney, it has always been a pain and we haven't used it in years.

[fredhargis]

In my slice of the world, I've often called 6 contractors and never heard back from anybody...at least you got one reply. Maybe he knew he had you by the short hairs when he wrote the quote.

[meackerman]

both my FIL's are contractors.....Sometimes they're asked for a quote for a job they really don't want to do.  So they give what they call a "courtesy quote"....price is jacked up in the hope the person doesn't pick them, and high enough that if they are picked it'll be worth their time.

[fixtureman]

I had an old TV that would just quit.  Back in those days you could call out a repair man or take it in.  The first time I took it in and a week later I picked it up.  It lasted about 6 months then happened again so I had the tv repair guy out that repaired it before telling him it was acting the same.  He came out and pulled the back off and had to solder in a fuse he charged me $25.25 and the bill was broke down $25 for his time and 25 cents for the fuse.  I ended up replacing that fuse 4 more times but I could do it in less then 10 minutes.

[Robert Adams]

both my FIL's are contractors.....Sometimes they're asked for a quote for a job they really don't want to do.  So they give what they call a "courtesy quote"....price is jacked up in the hope the person doesn't pick them, and high enough that if they are picked it'll be worth their time.

           Yup very common. If you have ever owned a Corvette or a van you are very familiar with this. They get quoted very high prices for repair because they are such a PITA to work on that they don't want to do it but if they really end up doing it they make enough to make it worth the hassle. 
      I have quoted people high prices on projects that Either I don't want to do, are going to be a basket case or you it is for someone I don't want to work for. 

 
           The best option on the chimney would be to have a sheet metal guy make up a full cover for the whole top. It's a one time fix and water will not have a way to get in the chimney or through the brick from the top. The other option if it was a house here I would say just cover up the chimney and block the chimney off or the better solution is to get rid of the fireplace all together but that is if it were a house here.

[KC]

In my slice of the world, I've often called 6 contractors and never heard back from anybody...at least you got one reply. Maybe he knew he had you by the short hairs when he wrote the quote.

LOML backed into and destroyed the stone/brick mailbox a few week ago.  HOA requirement that we rebuild it.  Several houses in the neighborhood under construction.  None of those guys want to do it.  Called two other people; no follow through.  

[jteneyck]

3'x3' chimney with chipping/cracking crown.  Of the 6 contractors I called for estimates, only one called me back..  Quoted to "stage roof, remove chimney cap. install bonding agent with 2500lb concrete cap, tapered brush finish"

Two guys, in and out in just under an hour and a half.. 1200 bucks..  I'm in the wrong profession!

Exactly why I do every home maintenance related chore I can.  Mine's about ready for another new crown, too.  

A couple of weeks ago one of the garage door springs broke.  I've replaced no fewer than 4 of them over the 40 years we've lived here.  Not that hard to do but it takes some strength and I'm still not allowed to lift the equivalent of that amount of force while my neck heals, so I called the door guys.  I've bought the springs and other parts from them before but never had them do the installation work.  To my amazement the owner showed up at my house within an hour.  He checked things over, then tried to lift the door with only the one good spring.  I knew that was a waste of time as the door weighs at least 500 lbs.  He had a repair guy with the correct length spring at my house by 3 pm and the job was done in an hour.  The bill was $203.  The spring alone costs almost $90.  So it's not universal that companies don't want to do small jobs and/or give poor service when they do.  And I may have to rethink doing some of my own maintenance work.  

John