A few blog posts ago, I was lamenting the lack of pricing that can be found on the internet for building materials and home construction. In most cases, you're led to believe that you're going to get a firm price quote, only to find yourself filling out some sort of form request in which a salesman will "get back to you". Well, I finally figured out a type of building in which you know exactly how much you're going to pay (provided that you already have your piece of land and perhaps a slab). I'm referring to steel buildings, of course.  read more »

Our contractor stopped by the house today to deliver his final bill for the siding work. It was supposed to be cheaper than his estimate, since we decided to cover the existing siding rather than having it torn off. However, I opened the envelope and discovered that it was about $1400 MORE than he had estimated. I was furious. I called him to ask what happened, and he said, "I dunno. I guess that's what it cost us." Looking over the breakdown, it appears that he is trying to mark-up the labor for his subs by another 100%, so that's about $700 worth of the overage.  read more »