Thanks!

One does not simply control the logo

Shouts out to Jose!

lolol

We try to bring the best!

He always does!

Utilizing your Home Inspection is key!!! Make sure to check out the full episode for more tips and tricks!

Thank you very much!

@LoadBearingWallPros I'm a retired firefighter-paramedic and emergency manager (fire officer). Also, I was born and raised outside the United States, so I know of several methods of moving things without machinery. Small unit tactics.

Precisely! Our pros do this type of thing daily!

Thanks!

Yup! They're impressive!

We are the Pros!

Ha!

My question as well. How are you able to do this without having to dig and add reenforced concrete pads around the existing footings where the supports for those beams rest, with HDU Holdowns or something similar?

@@philgofbergyou can’t. That slab is roughly 4 inches thick. Maybe 6” at the most. Supposed to saw it and pour a footer where the load ends. On the perimeter of the house it should already have a footer but where they rested that beam on that wall that concrete will settle and crack eventually leading to a big ol crack across that ceiling. Nobody understands when you take walls out that you have to transfer that load to the ground.

Yup, the bend in a long board is going to make a huge difference than an over nailed/glued 2 ft section. That said the hanger and screw tests were interesting.

Wood*

Nope! Lol!

Great point! Thanks for the comment!

You gotta love America where everyone can choose their own way of how they want to do business - we certainly respect your way! Thanks for sharing! Load Bearing Wall Removal is easy to ballpark and our customers LOVE it. In fact, we have (literally) hundreds of comments on our social media of people saying they are going to go with us BECAUSE we give our ballpark pricing publicly in the comments of our posts. People love the transparency. Thank you for your comment. Continue the discussion by checking out our construction podcast: kzbin.info/aero/PLvAucOzxuqTW8yWRT61S9Rto_HBQzWzKO

Love it! Great points! Thank you for your comment!

It's more like trying to get a ballpark price on a specific meal. "I want to make a lasagna a family of 6, about how much is that going to cost." It wouldn't be that hard to look at an ingredients list and say "the meat is going to cost x/lb, the cheese is going to cost y/oz" and so on until you have a ballpark price for a meal. The ingredients price is listed on the shelf or on the website. A contractor worth their salt is going to know, roughly, the raw goods and labor needs for common projects. There will be unknowns (like when I did my AC the spring before last and the range had without replacing the coil on the low end and with it on the high) and the prices are subject to change if something unexpected arises (like if the furnace needed to be replaced) but it at least gives you an idea.

Thank you for the comment. Absolutely agree! When you have many things that affect the price, the price can change dramatically. But everything can be summarized with a range of pricing to give someone a basic understanding of what kind of costs they'll be looking at. And even extras and unforeseen's!! (to some extent) And they should know what % chance they have of incurring these extra costs so they can decide whether or not to roll the dice. Our approach is to cover those areas too with as much up-front range of pricing as well so nothing is a surprise. We've lost business doing this because people got scared off by the unforseen's... but in the end that only leaves fully educated & knowledgable customers who can afford our service (who are happier & more understanding customers) and honestly, scares off the people who really couldn't afford it and would probably react to unforseen's accordingly. This creates an environment of happy contractors and happy customers. It's almost like a vetting process.

We sure appreciate your comment on the subject! There are definitely horror stories on both sides of the argument! We try to distance ourselves from the obscure numbers contractor who, in the construction industry, there have been far too many that have turned out deceptive. That's why prefer to give ballpark numbers before we come to your house. And we have gotten a lot of positive feedback from our customers who appreciate the transparency. Here is an example of our ballpark and exactly what it includes: "Typically, the cost to remove a wall or row of columns + install a beam is $4,500 to $6,000 for 1st beam, and $1700 to $2500 per additional. That includes protecting home with blankets/plastic, demo, wall removal, installing the beam, connecting the joists to beam, trash/debris removal, & cleanup. It also includes recommendations from a 3rd party engineer. The prices do NOT include finish out: HVAC, electric, plumbing reroute, sheetrock, trim, paint, etc. Our work comes with a lifetime transferrable warranty specifically written to include load bearing wall removal and a $2M insurance policy to cover all our work. We provide a FREE onsite walkthrough to give you a firm estimate on paper. "

He is referring to ballpark idea while the contractor is there looking at it, I get asked for that all the time while looking at projects. Sometimes I have a close idea so I'll tell them what I think what it will be, but I need time to figure it out exactly. No one on this earth starts a project based on a "ball park bid".

Your contract is not going to cover you for things like rot or trim that cannot be reused. So it does actually become your problem since rarely does anyone actually read and understand all of the contractual exclusions.

@@ajs96350 Great point thank you for commenting!

Bingo! Great points! Totally agree. Doesn't have to be a hard number... give me a range! If you don't, I'll find someone who will.

@@LoadBearingWallPros It's the worst way to do business. You must be lucky to have never heard; "But you said it was only going to be XXXXX and now it's XXXXXX ..." It's a good way to lose a long term customer and you've given away your leverage

@@godbluffvdgg Not a good scenario for sure! And we try to avoid them as much as possible. No one likes to hear "it's going cost more." That's actually why we prefer our niche' business of removing walls in 1 day and why we got out of the remodeling business which took 8-10 weeks...because you never knew what was going to be behind their walls... and NO ONE likes to pay for "black mold remediation!!" The same way that no one likes to pay for root canals. So it's much easier for us to stay within our ballpark range which, to your point, makes for very happy customer. And by the way, you can still give people ballpark ranges for unforseens and what kind of percentage they have to encounter stuff that will cost more behind their walls up front. Then the price will ALMOST NEVER GO UP! Because you talked to them about EVERYTHING...even the stuff not included on a bid that MIGHT show up later. And if we lose customers b/c of that, good riddance, thats a dodged bullet in our mind. Plenty of business out there. And we don't care anything about leverage. We'll leave that for you to care about. Thanks for the comment(s)! Happy to discuss this stuff and appreciate your thoughts!

Thank you for your comment! Yes you're right, without understanding what's included, you can definitely end up with a situation like you mentioned. We try to combat this by giving very explicit details about what is included in our ballpark bid so it is easy for our customers to understand why the price went up/down when we give a firm estimate on paper. Good communication from the beginning can defeat misunderstandings in our opinion. Plus, we know our product pretty well so it usually stays within the ballpark range. It's also a little easier for us to do it this way as a wall removal company because the work is pretty straightforward. But even if it wasn't straightforward and it was something that could fluctuate in price considerably depending on the options/upgrades, like a bathroom remodel, (we were once home remodelers), we would still give people a range like, "bathroom remodels start at $15 to $20K and go up from there depending on finish out. What we're talking about is at least giving someone a range! Here's an example of our ballpark bid for removing a wall: Typically, the cost to remove a wall or row of columns + install a beam is $4,500 to $6,000 for 1st beam, and $1700 to $2500 per additional. That includes protecting home with blankets/plastic, demo, wall removal, installing the beam, connecting the joists to beam, trash/debris removal, & cleanup. It also includes recommendations from a 3rd party engineer. The prices do NOT include finish out: HVAC, electric, plumbing reroute, sheetrock, trim, paint, etc. Our work comes with a lifetime transferrable warranty specifically written to include load bearing wall removal and a $2M insurance policy to cover all our work. We provide a FREE onsite walkthrough to give you a firm estimate on paper.

@@LoadBearingWallPros See, you do something a lot of people don't: you provide the details. That's actually very good. :D

Very good point. The point we're trying to make is if you're unable to tell someone, (for example) a bathroom remodel starts around $15K-$20K and can go up from there depending on level of finish out and customization, then you either don't know what you're doing -OR- you are being deliberately obscure...hopefully not to be devious but as you probably know, the industry is FILLED with some shady contractors. We are trying to distance ourselves from that way of doing business.

@@LoadBearingWallPros "Going up" is a steep slope my friend...Going down makes them feel good; Going up makes them think you're taking advantage. It's a fine line we walk...

@@godbluffvdgg so true! Just another reason more information is better in our view! Try to avoid going up...or at least up above the highest range of your ballpark