Two bids came in. One is a page and a half. The other is six pages. The totals are far apart. Your first thought is to call the cheaper one.
Wait a day. Print both. Get a pen. This post gives you a worksheet to run them side by side. It’s built for Poway lots, where access, slopes and long runs move the scope more than in a flat tract.
Start with the state’s three rules
The Contractors State License Board gives owners simple advice. Three points matter most here.
- Get at least three written bids.
- Make sure every bid is based on the same plans, specs and scope.
- Be wary of a bid far below the others. It may mean a mistake or missing work.
Two bids is a start. If you can get a third, do. The rest of this worksheet helps you see whether your bids are even pricing the same job.
Column one: what problem is each bid fixing?
Write one sentence for each bid. What does it say is wrong?
- Bid A: “Settlement at the rear corner. Install piers.”
- Bid B: “Settlement at the rear corner from a wet slope. Fix drainage, then pier.”
Those are different diagnoses. One treats the symptom. One treats the cause first. If the two bids disagree here, the price gap means little. Get the diagnosis settled before comparing totals. That’s often where an engineer’s evaluation helps. We coordinate with licensed engineers as needed.
Column two: how many, how deep, how long
Foundation bids should state quantities. Write them down side by side.
- Number of piers or underpinning points.
- Target depth or the condition that ends each pier.
- Linear feet of new footing or grade beam.
- Linear feet of drain line, and where it discharges.
On a long Poway ranch house, these numbers add up. A bid that says “piers as needed” with no count is hard to compare. Ask for a count, even an estimate with a range.
Column three: getting equipment to the work
This is the Poway line most bids skip. Many lots here have long driveways, gates, steep approaches or a backyard reached only by a side path. Walk your lot with each bid in hand and check:
- Can a truck reach the work area? If not, how will material get there?
- Is there a staging spot for equipment and spoils?
- Will any fence, gate or landscaping need to come out?
- Who restores it afterward?
If one bid assumes a mini excavator and the other assumes hand digging, they’re pricing two different jobs.
Column four: dirt in, dirt out
Digging makes spoils. Where do they go? Some bids include haul-off. Some leave piles for you. On a large lot, haul distance to the street matters.
Also check grading. The City of Poway’s grading permit page lists triggers for a grading permit. Among them: excavation of two feet or more with slopes steeper than two to one, moving fifty cubic yards or more, or changing drainage patterns. It also says a professional engineer prepares the grading plan. If drainage work on your lot crosses one of those lines, someone has to handle the permit and the plan. The same page notes some exemptions for minor landscaping work on developed lots, but those have their own limits, including staying ten feet from any structure. Foundation-side drainage work sits right next to the house, so don’t assume an exemption applies. Find out which bid includes the permit and plan, and which one is silent.
Column five: soils information
A bid is only as good as what it knows about the ground. The building code’s soils chapter expects investigation where soils are questionable or expansive. Ask each bidder:
- Did you review a soils report, or are you assuming?
- If the soils turn out different, how does the price change?
- Is testing during the work included?
Our post on who does what between engineer and contractor explains how those roles split.
Column six: what’s excluded
Every bid has an exclusions line. Read it slowly. Common ones on Poway jobs:
- engineering and plan fees
- permit fees
- grading permit and grading plan
- slope or retaining wall work near the house
- interior patching, drywall and flooring
- stucco and paint
- landscape and irrigation repair
- utility relocation
Two bids with the same total can differ by a whole trade once exclusions are counted. Mark each excluded item in a different color on your sheet.
Column seven: the contract terms
California’s Business and Professions Code Section 7159 lists what a home improvement contract must contain. That includes the contractor’s name and business address, a description of the work and materials, the price, a payment schedule, approximate start and finish dates, and a notice of your right to cancel within three business days. Change orders must be in writing.
The CSLB also limits the down payment on home improvement jobs to ten percent or a fixed cap, whichever is less. If a bid asks for more up front, ask why.
Check each contractor’s license status on the CSLB website. It takes a few minutes.
Reading the worksheet once it’s filled in
Now look across the rows. You’ll usually see one of three things.
The bids price the same job. Quantities match. Access is handled the same way. Exclusions are close. Then the price gap is real, and you can weigh it against schedule, communication and how each bidder explained the work.
The bids price different jobs. One includes drainage and haul-off. One doesn’t. Go back to both and ask them to price the same scope.
The bids disagree on the cause. Stop. Get an independent evaluation before going further.
For more on what moves the numbers, see our post on Poway cost factors and our foundation repair cost page.
Keep the paper
Save both bids, your worksheet and any written answers. When the job ends, file them with the permit and inspection records. If questions come up later, that file answers them.
Want a third bid built on the same scope?
If your two bids don’t line up, we can walk the lot, look at the cause, and write a scope you can hand to every bidder. We work throughout Poway. Our foundation repair page has more on how we approach the work. Free Quote