I think I’ve mentioned how I’ve been finalizing colors to have the rooms on our first floor painted.
Well, I gave myself a deadline of last Friday to contact our painter to come give me a quote, and when he stopped by on Saturday, I also asked him if he could quote the cost to paint the red exterior brick on our chimney white to go with the rest of our house.
To me, it’s a HUGE, gnarly job because the side of the house that the chimney is on is already eight feet off the ground, plus, the chimney reaches crazy high next to our steeply pitched roof. I was pretty sure it was going to be ridiculously expensive for them to get to it to paint it, but I figured I’d ask because how can I decide not to do it if I don’t know how much it will cost?
This will be the third time we’ve used these painters and I really like and trust them, so I knew their quote would be fair.
Well, I was absolutely astounded at the low price of their estimate to paint the chimney.
I was “WHY DIDN’T WE DO THIS YEARS AGO” kind of shocked.
I love and hate when that happens.
And of course, we didn’t do it years ago because I assumed it would cost three times as much as it is actually going to cost.
Even though I know better than to give myself fake quotes and then make decisions for my home based on my uneducated guesses, this is not the first time I’ve done this.
Don’t do what I keep doing.
This happened again just last month with our driveway.
We’ve had a gravel driveway forever and always dreamed of how exquisite it would be to have an actual paved driveway with dark black asphalt.
But, one time, years ago, a friend mentioned how much he thought it might cost and we’ve had that number in our head as gospel.
Long story short: we couldn’t afford it.
Well, last month a driveway company pulled up and offered to measure and give us a free quote right on the spot and Chad practically floated in to tell me the cost. It was less than half of what we imagined!
Turns out, maybe we could afford an actual driveway!
Chad contacted a few other companies to get quotes and we added a few upgrades and the cost did go up, but it was still nowhere near the original cost that we assumed it would be.
Moral of the story?
Always get the quote.
Do not change or postpone your plans or dreams based on what you assume something will cost because what if you’re wrong?
Even if you have zero dollars right now budgeted for a project, getting an estimate on the cost will give you a realistic goal, is a fantastic first step and will help you truly know if it’s a project you can afford.
Whether it’s renovating the kitchen, moving the chandelier, replacing the front door, landscaping the side of the house or adding in the pool, don’t assume you know how much it will cost.
You gotta get that quote and most of the time, a quote is free, and for me, ninety percent of the time is less than what I expect. Will I ever learn?
Four years ago, Chad and I high-fiving in our brand new pool that had just been filled with water ten minutes prior. We still had a bunch of work to do in the back yard, but this was a mini-celebration.
And it all started with a quote.
Do as I say, not as I do, okay?