Basement Waterproofing – 10 Tips on How to Negotiate the Best Price For Your Waterproofing Project

If you get your basement waterproofed during the dry time of year, not only will you be able to negotiate a better price but also you will be prepared for when the rain comes and you will not suffer the losses and inconvenience of your neighbors who were not so far sighted you will gain twice over.

However, picking the right time of year is not the only way of ensuring the best price for your basement waterproofing project, here are a few more tips on negotiating the best price for your basement waterproofing project.

1. Simply ask your contractor "under what circumstances would you do this work for a lower price without compromising on the quality or specification

Listen to the answer and see if it fits with your requirements.

2. Contractors get peaks and troughs in their work program which are expensive to deal with, You can often negotiate a real discount for being flexible on timescale and allowing the contractor to fit your job in around others.

3. Ask if your job could be used as a reference with before and after pictures and ask for a discount in lieu of that.

4. Ask the contractor how much discount would be available for the opportunity to put up an advertising board at the end of your driveway or in your window.

5. Once you have chosen your proffered contractor try "Well I was going to get one more quotation, but if I were to cancel that and give you the order now, what could you do on the price?

6. Ask your neighbors if any of them also want basement waterproofing work doing. Ask if there would be a discount for more than one job to go ahead in the neighborhood at the same time.

7. Talk about payment terms, ask if a very prompt payment would be worth another little discount.

8. Your contractor's labor will be expensive, so anything that you can offer to reduce the amount of labor should give a good reduction in the price. Could you do the muck away or the digging out for the pump pump and under floor channeling? If you are that way inclined or have friends and relatives who are, you could save a significant amount on the labor.

9. Be aware of the specification being reduced in return for a lower price; This is not a discount; you are simply buying less for less money, six eggs are always less expensive than twelve! Having said this, if you really can not afford everything that you want in one go it can be a valid decision to leave out some features until a later date, for example it is usually possible to install the battery back up system at a later date.

10. Make a friend of your contractor, win his or her sympathy, demonstrate that you are a nice customer to deal with, be understanding, offer hospitality, team coffee, food, especially if the surveyor has driven a long way. A little psychology can go a long way!

Note, that with all the above negotiating methods, you are giving your basement-waterproofing contractor something of value in return for your discount. Always be wary of the contractor that is all of a sudden able to discount for no apparent reason, were they offering a fair price in the first place? If not can they be trusted?

Tomorrowmore, do not forget that you are (usually) going to want a good quality service and it not necessarily in your interest as the customer to leave your contractor with little or no incentive to do your work at all. Most reputable contractors will have 10 – 15% to negotiate in return for some of the above terms – more if you are doing a significant amount of the laboring, but do not forget, if you seem to be able to negotiate a deal that sees too good to be true, then it probably is.

Find out the cost of waterproofing your basement .