Debate: Should we charge more for fixing mistakes made by the last guy, or just swallow the extra time?

Ran into a kitchen remodel last week where the previous guy had put in cabinets with no shims... level was off by almost an inch in one corner. Took me an extra 4 hours just to fix his framing before I could even start my work. Some guys I know say you bill for every minute, others say it's bad karma and the customer shouldn't pay for someone else's mess. What do you do when you inherit a nightmare job?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_henderson361mo ago

Maybe it's just me but do you tell the customer upfront about the extra time?

wadew511mo ago

Telling the customer upfront saved me a lot of headaches on a similar job. I just explained the old work was messed up and gave them a choice to fix it right or deal with problems later. They went for the full fix and I billed the extra time, no hard feelings.

the_diana1mo ago

Right @ruby_henderson36? Wadew51 nailed it with that upfront talk. Had a plumbing job once where I pointed out a bad pipe splice from years ago and the guy just said "well you're the one who has to fix it later so do it right." Communication saves everyone time and money, for real.