What we catch
in real bids.

The bid didn't name a cabinet line, grade, or square footage. Fourteen thousand dollars can buy you anywhere from builder-grade plywood boxes to mid-tier semi-custom on a 22-cabinet kitchen. When the homeowner walks into the showroom and picks something they actually like, the overage hits as a change order mid-project. Usually $5,000 to $8,000. The allowance is a placeholder, not a real number, and the contract gives the contractor every dollar of upside if the homeowner stays cheap.

For a whole-home interior repaint with trim, the real materials cost (paint, primer, caulk, putty, sandpaper, tape, drops) lands closer to $5,500 to $6,500 at retail. The line had no breakdown, no product spec, no quantity. That gap between real cost and bid cost is contractor margin parked in a "materials" bucket where the homeowner can't see it. Legitimate markup is fine. It should be labeled. Hidden inside materials, it inflates the project without anything to point to.

No spec on number of coats, paint brand or quality, sheen, prep work (patching, caulking, sanding), or trim. "Paint" can mean a single thin coat of contractor-grade flat paint over unprepped walls. Looks fine for 30 days, then telegraphs every nail hole and roller mark. The right spec for a job that lasts is 2 coats of mid-grade paint, full prep, and trim called out as a separate line.

One 60-lb bag per post is a homeowner-grade install. For a 6 ft cedar privacy fence in clay-heavy soil with regional wind exposure, the right spec is 3 bags per post minimum and posts set 24 to 30 inches deep, not 18. Skimped post setting is the #1 reason fences lean within 2 years. The homeowner would have been re-bidding the same fence by 2028.

No mention of stripping the previous finish, no wood brightener, no sanding, no prep, and no spec on stain (penetrating oil vs. film-forming, one coat vs. two). Topping over old stain without prep means the new finish doesn't bond. It goes on blotchy, looks uneven, and starts peeling in 4 to 6 months. The right job is strip + brighten + light sand + 2 coats of penetrating oil-base. That's a one-day-extra labor scope and double the stain cost.