# installing teleposts



## jpenns (Jun 25, 2010)

edit: when I refer to teleposts, for those of you in the U.S. I'm referring to "lally columns"

OK, just putting it out there cause I want to be honest... I'm sorry, I'm not a contractor. But I got charged $1500 for four hours of work, and I am just freaking out right now because I'm afraid I got royally ripped off, and I really need you knowledgeable contractors to help me with this one pricing question. The DIY Chatroom just doesn't have the expertise. I beg someone to answer it out of the goodness of your heart, and I promise I will never abuse this forum's intention again. Here's the situation:

How much would you charge to replace an exposed supporting beam in an unfinished basement with a telepost, and then do a laser level, plus installing another telepost underneath the back porch where one seems to have once existed, there's even the outer housing for the post, just no actual supporting post inside. From what I can tell the range in what people charge for this varies a fair amount, but my cost seems excessive, and I'm kicking myself for not researching it before signing on the dotted line. The contractor did promise to return for a 2nd visit to complete the leveling, but I can't see that taking very long.

Thank you very much in advance to anyone who answers, and to whomever this pisses off, I'm sorry.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

If you knew the price before the work was done and you had other quotes then why such a surprise with the price. Or did you just give him the go ahead without even asking the cost?


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## parkers5150 (Dec 5, 2008)

if you did not hire him by the hour, then you really have no beef with anyone but yourself. Did you put the time in to educate yourself about the scope of work involved? Did you take the time to contact SEVERAL contractors? since your asking this question on an internet forum after the fact, i'm going to assume not. This sort of thing happens every day in the world of contracting and otherwise. Let's play this out another way shall we? let's say you did take the time to contact several contractors, and let's just say that (since money is the real issue here) you decided to go with the cheap guy:thumbsup: now that four hour job has dragged on for two weeks, calls have not been returned,construction debris never cleaned up.................................... and in the end your biggest concern is not the price as much as "was the job even done correctly" and more importantly is it sound and safe?????. 
Worry, now getting the best of you, you decide to have the work checked out by a respected third party. Uh Ohhhhh... seems the guy offering the lower price really had no idea what he was doing. Now youve got to pay someone else to do it correctly. Where is that price tag now????. How much time, energy and aggravation have YOU invested now???
I'm hoping that you did not pay for FOUR hours of labor, rather you paid for many years of on the job training and experience, and that all those YEARS of experience got you a job well done the first time. More importantly i hope you understand and appreciate the EFFICIENCY, knowledge, and professionalism that you may have just paid for.


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## parkers5150 (Dec 5, 2008)

sorry about the composition guysarty:


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

jpenns said:


> How much would you charge to replace an exposed supporting beam in an unfinished basement with a telepost, and then do a laser level, plus installing another telepost underneath the back porch where one seems to have once existed, there's even the outer housing for the post, just no actual supporting post inside. From what I can tell the range in what people charge for this varies a fair amount, but my cost seems excessive, and I'm kicking myself for not researching it before signing on the dotted line. The contractor did promise to return for a 2nd visit to complete the leveling, but I can't see that taking very long.
> 
> Thank you very much in advance to anyone who answers, and to whomever this pisses off, I'm sorry.


$2500.00

So you got a deal, be happy. Give they guy a tip.


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## Cjeff (Dec 14, 2009)

If he took 20 hours would you be happier?

Did he supply materials? 

How much time before he got to your house did he spend? Just because he was only at your house for 4 hours does not mean that was the total time. Right now I am working on a deck. It is all angles and "pie" shapes on the steps. I will have over 12 hours in before I start any work on site. Designing and sourcing materials.


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## JustaFramer (Jan 21, 2005)

jpenns said:


> edit: when I refer to teleposts, for those of you in the U.S. I'm referring to "lally columns"
> 
> OK, just putting it out there cause I want to be honest... I'm sorry, I'm not a contractor. But I got charged $1500 for four hours of work, and I am just freaking out right now because I'm afraid I got royally ripped off, and I really need you knowledgeable contractors to help me with this one pricing question. The DIY Chatroom just doesn't have the expertise. I beg someone to answer it out of the goodness of your heart, and I promise I will never abuse this forum's intention again. Here's the situation:
> 
> ...


You are in the UK right? Blame your government with all that taxation to pay for social programs. I am sure his profit margin is that same as a American contractor.


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## jpenns (Jun 25, 2010)

OK, thanks for the replies guys, and I'll take the verbal slaps on the wrist... Yes I'm aware that the beef I have is with myself. Here's what happened, I did some online research into how much it should cost to replace a telepost, including putting down the concrete base, saw ranges from $200-500. Seemed affordable, especially since I already had the concrete in place. Decided to get it done, but life got busy and a few months later I got around to calling a guy. Two things happened by the time he came in, I had forgotten about the research I had done, and I really liked the contractor. He was professional and friendly, and I trusted him. I tend to label people either trustworthy or untrustworthy and base too many decisions on that; he seemed trustworthy, so I trusted his quote. A while later he had another guy come in to actually do the work, this guy was not entirely informed about what needed to be done at my house, but he was still professional and got the job done in 4 hours. It's that time frame that really got me thinking about how much I was being charged for this job. I understand everything about paying more for the piece of mind and for having the job done right, and I'm sure there was extra time put into 1) arrangements with me and the actual worker to have the job done, and 2) securing the materials (two teleposts, not really much material). But excessive time was not required cause there's no designing going on, the job was simply replacing an existing wooden column with a telepost. There wasn't even any concrete work involved, so it should have been on the lower end of the original range that I looked at, but instead of $200-500 it was more than twice the higher end. Let's say, generously, that an additional 4 hours went into this project. That's still $187 an hour. That's not excessive? I'm in an area where cost of living and salaries aren't really very high, and I'm sure this is more than my family doctor gets paid, probably more than my oncologist gets paid, and I sure as hell am trusting in his expertise to get the job done right. Mike Finley, I'm assuming your $2500 quote is facetious to make a point? Point taken, but it doesn't ease my mind. Can someone give me a realistic quote for this?

FYI, I'm in Canada.


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## angus242 (Oct 20, 2007)

Sorry, this is not a forum for home owners to ask professional contractors questions.

This thread is closed.


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