How to compare handyman quotes

Quotes are only comparable when the scope is identical, written, and complete, and most quote comparisons fail before the numbers are even in. Two bidders who heard two slightly different verbal descriptions will price two different jobs, and the "cheaper" one is often just the smaller one. The method in this article is short: same written list to everyone, totals instead of rates, materials and fees surfaced, insurance verified, then compare. Ten minutes of setup makes the numbers mean something.

The single biggest cause of incomparable quotes is that the bidders were asked different questions. On the phone, the job grows and shrinks with the conversation. In writing, it holds still. Build one list, item by item, with a photo of each: "hall bathroom faucet replaced, faucet already purchased" is a priceable sentence; "some plumbing stuff" is not.

Send that identical package to every bidder. This is the same list you built if you followed our punch list budgeting guide, doing double duty. When a bidder asks good clarifying questions, note it, that is what quoting discipline looks like from the outside, and share the answers with the other bidders so the scopes stay aligned.

A rate is not a price. Convert every bid to an expected total before comparing anything. For hourly bidders, ask directly: how many hours do you expect, what is the trip fee or minimum, what does the whole list land at with materials. For flat bidders, confirm the number covers the whole written list. Now you have totals for identical scope, and arithmetic can finally happen.

The classic mistake is choosing the $65-per-hour bid over the $95-per-hour bid without asking about hours. Slower hands, second trips, and uncapped clocks make cheap rates expensive. The mechanics of both models, and where each favors you, are covered in hourly versus flat-rate pricing.

Whether the faucet is inside the number is most of many price gaps. Every quote should answer: which materials are included, which are assumed to be yours, and how included materials are billed, pass-through with receipts, or with a stated handling markup. Fixtures are the big swings; consumables like caulk and fasteners are normally in the labor side and not worth auditing.

There is no wrong arrangement, only unstated ones. If you have strong opinions about fixtures, buy them yourself and have every bidder price labor only, which incidentally makes the quotes cleaner to compare.

Trip charges, minimums, and disposal fees are legitimate, and they belong in the total, not on the invoice as a surprise. Nearly every Treasure Valley outfit has a minimum or trip fee, because the drive is real cost. Haul-away of an old toilet or fence boards may carry a dump fee. Ask each bidder what appears on the invoice besides labor and materials, and add it to their total.

A fee disclosed upfront is structure; a fee discovered at billing is a pattern, and where there is one undisclosed number there are usually others. Our red flags article covers where that road goes.

An uninsured quote is cheaper because you are the insurance. Before comparing numbers, confirm each bidder carries general liability coverage and will show a certificate, and for two-way protection ask who actually shows up to do the work. This takes one question per bidder and removes the most dangerous kind of false economy from the comparison.

Reviews and references matter more for list work than for a single small fix, since you may be handing over a whole day of access to your home. The full pre-hire conversation is laid out in questions to ask before hiring a handyman; for comparison purposes, insurance and identity are the two that change the math.

When three aligned quotes come back and one is far below the others, the low one usually contains less job. Materials are the same price for everyone, and honest labor in this market runs in a fairly narrow band, roughly $60 to $120 per hour. A dramatic outlier on identical written scope has usually omitted paint, omitted the second coat, omitted the return trip, or omitted the insurance.

The move is not to reject it; it is to ask. "Your number is well under the others, can you walk me through what it includes?" A good answer, less drive time, a cancellation slot, a simpler method they can explain, turns the outlier into the winner. A vague answer settles the question the other way.

Once totals are aligned and bidders verified, close numbers mean the price is no longer the deciding factor. Behavior is. Who answered clearly and on time during quoting? Who asked the clarifying question that showed they actually read the list? Who offered scheduling that matches your constraint, an active leak or a listing date does not wait three weeks for a ten percent saving?

Quoting behavior predicts job behavior with unreasonable accuracy, because both are the same skill: organized communication under small stakes. Pick the bidder you would want answering the phone when something under the sink surprises everyone.

If you are collecting quotes on a repair list anywhere in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Kuna, Star, Middleton or Caldwell, we would like to be one of them: send the written list with photos and you will get back a flat, itemized number with materials and fees stated, which is the format this whole article is asking every bidder to produce. And before the first conversation, skim what a first visit should look like so you know what good looks like in person.