During our remodel I was very surprised at how many places (tile, plumbing, lighting, etc…) were open very limited hours (ie Monday thru Friday 9am to 5pm).
Emily, because that’s how they roll. Every line item in that estimate you get can be played up or down. I am not taking about self-purchased stuff… just line items. 
“We called a couple of places like that. We called a couple places like that. You know what they said?
“Not interested.”
Apparently our job is too small. We are talking about a project that is half the value of the house, but that is too small for them.”
That’s a shame. My GC is also family run and has been in business over 100 years. They also have around 100 employees (from designers to carpenters and everything in between) and take jobs of any size. They even have handy man service for very simple jobs needed around the house.
Who is going to do all the design work on your project? Does your architect have a designer on staff?
Wow, NRE. A remodel of that size is too small of a job. Lol. Contractors here are having a great time building $5M boxes on postage stamp sized lots. Many would not touch a remodel job. Just this past Saturday a couple of home builders showed up on our porch asking if we are looking to move anywhere. They are running out of land to build their $5M boxes on and are going door to door trying to buypass the middlemen realtors. To some folks, that might be an attractive option. We are not that interested. The next day, someone was flying a pro drone above our area. Paused over each house on the bigger lots. I need to get a drone catcher.
Why would contractor Y charge less than X?
Lots of reasons why. For example: y suddenly has one job postponed a week, and now has next week to fill, so bids a little low because low dollar work is better than no work.
Or how about: I have tried to get my sign in this neighborhood for years. I’ll lower my price a bit in hopes of future jobs in this area.
Most contractors are booked solid for months in advance and how would the contractor be able to get all the tradespeople needed on such short notice?
No one buys the lumber, insulation, beams, subfloors, plumbing, electrical supplies and everything else needed by a contractor to do the job. Those materials are all purchased by the contractor. They don’t pay retail for any of that and only a crazy person would buy that material at retail and only hire the contractor to do the labor. Same thing with all the “fixtures”, IMO.
@notrichenough, have you, at least, asked your contractor if you can purchase what you need using his contractor’s discount?
@emilybee
I think you are referring to high end appliances and fixtures.
Disregarding construction materials, 90% of homeowners are not purchasing the $1,000 designer faucet or $75 sq ft tile. When it comes to Delta, Moen and Kohler type stuff a homeowner can get fixtures, etc for the same price a designer or contractor would. Even if the contractor went to a showroom to get their contractor discount. Because that showroom has an inflated retail price compared to a big box store or Internet shopping.
Designers most definitely make a large portion of their fee purchasing through showrooms and charging their customers the retail price. Most contractors would much prefer clients to purchase their appliances, fixtures and lighting and have it all ready to be installed. Or they will have to cover their butt with an “allowance”. An allowance is just turns into issues for everyone involved.
Just a FYI for everyone. Home Depot and Lowe’s do not offer contractor discounts. We pay the same marked price for building materials. But there are a couple of perks. If I can bundle an order up over $2,500 they will run the order through their ‘bid’ room. This is really just a computerized review that will generate about a 5% discount on high margin items. But most of their lumber is loss leader priced so it doesn’t get discounted.
A lot of contractors are lazy and go to a lumberyard where they’ve been going for years because they know Joe behind the counter, they can set up a charge account, they can call in orders, and they’ve got coffee and doughnuts at the contractor desk. I will always go to a lumberyard when I need special lumber or I want to make sure I can find straight pieces. These yards offer contractor discounts but their pricing is higher to begin with.
I have all Kohler fixtures in my bathrooms. I did not pay the retail price of any of them - which includes 2 $1000 toilets a $650 per sconce, plus all the other Kohler fixtures. My contractor purchased them from kitchen/bath supplier at contractors price.
I looked at Delta (which was significantly cheaper) at the same supplier and if I had chosen Delta, again, I wouid have gotten the contractor’s discount.
The prices aren’t inflated. It’s the same price on any internet site that carries the Kohler line I purchased.
One also cannot even purchase that Kolhler line and most of the other brands lines carried by reputable suppliers at Home Depot, etc.
You can not compare any fixture (kitchen cabinet, vanities, countertops, etc., one can buy at a big box store with those from suppliers.
@coralbrook, I know you have lots of experience flipping houses and purchasing everything you need to do that job and make a profit - but that is not the same type of work as what contractors do whose business is remodeling people’s homes.
I’ve also always had an allowance in my contracts, which gets adjusted after all the fixtures are chosen. My contractor knows me very well, after doing work for me for the last 16 years and my allowance is always quite high to begin with. On my bathroom I went well over the allowance by about $10k but it was no big deal. All I had to do was sign off on the changes. Took about a minute to do. Contractors are used to that and it’s done all the time. Nothing gets ordered until it is signed off on - giving the client a chance to pick out other fixtures if the cost is more than they want to spend.
I have a detailed breakdown of all the costs my contractor charged me for every single thing. I was not charged the retail price for any fixture.
Emily, a lot of folks remodel their homes using materials and appliances of lesser grade that @coralbrook uses in her “flips.” A lot. CB does not cut corners and finds good deals on things… A lot of the public ar large shops at HD for their remodels. CC world is a very closed universe, so what most of us do does not translate into what the rest of the country does.
Back to actual projects.
I never said they didn’t. But I don’t think that is what NRE has in mind for his remodel at all.
Yes, CB gets very good deals and spends an inordinate amount of time getting those deals - but she has to because she flips homes, and doing differently then that would cut into her profit big time. It’s a totally different business model than a contractor’s. Just because as a flipper it might be profitable to do the prefab thingy she was suggesting for the shower - no regular contractor would suggest that to a client. If mine ever did, I’d be like ???!???!
Think of the time she spent just getting the permits for dfin’s house. My GC has people whose only job is getting permits and there is no faffing around for days and days because they know exactly what is required and are prepared.
If I was going to flip a house, I wouldn’t spend the same amount of money as I did on my house, either.
The big builders get ahead with permits not because of what they know, but because of who they know in the permitting departments. 
You think I will be allowed to build an extra house on my swampland? Not unless hell freezes over. The two guys that stopped by our place? Oh they will be able to build 3 houses here hands down. Call me a cynic but that is how things work.
@klbmom18 - I was referred to a store called Light Bulb Depot. They have an excellent web site and 18 or so shops around the country. I was lucky that one was near me. You can try any of the bulbs, and the people are helpful. I bet you could call them and ask your questions.
Yes, and they know the people in the permitting departments, but so should CB. She’s been in this business quite a long time now.
“Not everything can only be purchased by a contractor, but if you believe you are getting the same product at Home Depot, or Lowes, or Costco - even though it appears to be the same - it is not.”
Emilybee - I think you have been mislead about some things. Yes, there are some (few) products that are carried at speciality stores, but A Grohe faucet is a Grohe faucet. Same model number at Home Depot, or online from the online stores, or displayed at the pricey designer show room. You may buy into the idea that you are getting quality that we budget-folk don’t, but I think you are misguided. Most of us don’t have the kind of money you can freely spend on your renovations. We get good deals, maybe buy used, maybe do some of the work ourselves, and end up with a quality product.
But CB does not golf or fish with them. Lol.
You may be able to by a Grohe faucet at a big box store but not every Grohe faucet. They don’t carry every line of Grohe faucet - just like they don’t carry every line of Kohler - because the price point on those lines is too high for their business. You cannot buy my toilet in any big box store. There are many fixtures you cannot buy at a big box store. None of my Kohler faucets, shower head, towel bars, sconces can be purchased at a big box.
I think what I was trying to say is that 90% of remodels are not using the high end fixtures that can only be purchased at fancy showrooms. Therefore the ‘contractor’ discount doesn’t really come into play to realize any significant savings when shopping at regular stores or the Internet.
If someone is purchasing a $1,000 toilet then you have to go to the fancy showrooms and hope you have a contractor or designer that will get a discount.
One reason that large contractors get through the permitting process easier is they don’t go down to the City. They all use paid services (charged to the client) that run plans back and forth for review. They aren’t in a hurry like I am. They throw everything in for submission and review. They don’t even bother with over the counter reviews. If a review is required, the permit services company handles it.
Most people who are buying their stuff at a big box aren’t hiring contractors to do the work. They are DYIers.
NRE is doing a complicated whole house remodel with an architect’s plan and a contractor doing the work. Not the kind of thing 90% of people do.
Hope the contractor/designer gets a discount? Any reputable contractor/designer gets a discount. Also, access to showrooms not open to the public (like the design showroom NRE mentioned.)