Victorian Restoration

I would not use a T&M contract again. The costs got out of control from our perspective. We could not be home all the time so we had to trust the contractor that the actual hours charged were being worked: $50/hr for a painter and $65 for the carpenter. We had budgeted about $35K, and had contingency up to a total of $50K. We almost did not have money to put the final color coat on the house after spending $49K on paint removal and wood repairs (the latter approximately $10K of the T&M total, including $5K for the Mansard roof, not part of the original bid). I think I would go with a regular fixed price contract. The can be that if the contractor under-bids, then it can be a real fight to get the work done, and done well. We withheld $9.7K (~15%) until the job was finished to our satisfaction.