How to Read and Compare a Remodeling Bid

Minnesota law covers more than the final contract. It requires all agreements between a licensee and a customer, including proposals, estimates, bids, quotations, contracts, purchase orders and change orders, to be in writing. Each must include a detailed summary of the services, a description of the specific materials or a list of standard features, and the total price or how the price will be calculated 1. Before you enter an agreement, the licensee must give you written performance guidelines, and they must be included or incorporated in the agreement 1. The agreement must be signed and dated, and you get a signed copy at no charge 1.

So a one-line bid that says "kitchen remodel, one price" falls short of what the statute describes. Ask for a bid that meets it before you compare.

The Attorney General's handbook adds that the contract should name materials by brand, color, grade, style and model where possible, list subcontractors and suppliers, and say who obtains permits and inspections, the start and completion dates and who does cleanup. It warns that an item left out can be treated as an extra that costs more 2. Use that list as the checklist for every bid.

This page is an AI research draft pending expert review, not legal advice.

Write one scope sheet before the first site visit and give it to every bidder. The handbook says to prepare a detailed list of the scope, including materials, so each bid is similar enough to compare, and to get at least three written bids for a significant project 3. The FTC says an estimate should describe the work, the materials, the completion date and the price, and that you should ask for an explanation when estimates differ greatly 5.

Then build a grid with your scope items down the side and each bid across the top. Mark every cell with one of five labels: included, allowance with a dollar amount, excluded, by owner, or not mentioned. Every "not mentioned" cell is a question to put to the bidder in writing.

These rows often hide gaps. They are items to check, not claims about any firm:

• Demolition and disposal, including the dumpster.
• Permits, permit fees and who schedules inspections.
• Electrical, plumbing and venting changes, and patching walls and ceilings afterward.
• Drywall finishing, priming and painting: the whole room or only new surfaces.
• Flooring: only the new footprint or a continuous floor into adjoining rooms.
• Appliances: purchase versus installation. Countertops: templating and fabrication.
• Lead-safe work practices if the house was built before 1978.
• Design fees, engineering and structural work behind the walls.
• Daily cleanup, final cleaning and protection of floors and adjoining rooms.

An allowance is a placeholder amount for something not chosen yet, such as tile, lighting, plumbing fixtures or hardware. A bid with "tile allowance" and no dollar amount cannot be compared. Ask for the amount, whether it covers material only or material and installation, and what happens to the price if your choice costs more or less.

The same line means different things in different bids. A low allowance shrinks the headline total and moves the real cost to a later change order. The fix is to pick one allowance level for each item, usually the highest among the bids or the price of the item you plan to buy, and raise the other bids to it. The worked example below shows the arithmetic.

Minnesota treats change orders as written agreements with a stated price 1, and DLI advises requiring a signed written change order for every change 4. An allowance overrun should therefore arrive as a change order you approve before the work, not as a surprise on the final invoice.

An exclusion is anything the bid says it will not do. Ask each firm to list exclusions in writing. A low total with a long exclusion list is a different bid from a higher total that includes those items.

The Attorney General's handbook says an unusually low bid may mean the contractor does not understand the scope, is inexperienced and underestimating labor and materials, plans to cut corners with inferior materials or low-paid workers, or wants to get a foot in the door and raise the price later citing unforeseen circumstances 3. It also says to be wary of a contractor who works only on a cost-plus or time-and-materials basis 3. If a firm prices that way, ask how the final number is capped, how markup is calculated and how often you get itemized invoices.

The handbook describes a bid as the starting point for negotiation, not the bottom line, and suggests keeping unwanted items in mind to negotiate 3.

Opening walls in an older house can reveal wiring, plumbing, framing or water damage that no bid could see. Some homeowners hold a reserve for this. Others ask the contractor to carry a contingency line. Either way, decide whose money it is, who approves its use and what happens to any unused part.

This guide could not load a source that states a standard contingency percentage, so it gives none. In the worked example, the 10% and 20% rows are scenarios you can replace with your own number. They are not a rule from any source.

Whatever the amount, a draw on contingency should still arrive as a written change order with a price 14.

This example shows the arithmetic. None of the three bids is real. The anchor is one cited figure: the national 2025 Cost vs. Value job cost for a midrange minor kitchen remodel, $28,458 13. The same report lists a national resale value of $32,141 for that project, 113% recouped, and $82,793 for a midrange major kitchen remodel 13. This guide tried to load the report's Minneapolis-St. Paul page and received an access error and a timeout, so it uses no Minneapolis figures. It also did not load the report's definition of the project scope, so $28,458 is a reference point and not a price for your kitchen.

The spreads around the anchor and the share of each bid placed in allowances are assumptions made for this illustration. They are not sourced. Replace them with the numbers from your own bids.

Step A sets each total. Step B converts the allowance share in each bid to dollars. Step C raises every bid to the highest allowance. Step D adds the gaps.

• A. Bid A total: 85% of $28,458 = $24,189.30, shown as $24,189. Bid B: 100% = $28,458. Bid C: 115% of $28,458 = $32,726.70, shown as $32,727.
• B. Suppose Bid A puts 10% of its price in allowances, Bid B 20% and Bid C 25%. Bid A: 10% x $24,189 = $2,418.90, shown as $2,419. Bid B: 20% x $28,458 = $5,691.60, shown as $5,692. Bid C: 25% x $32,727 = $8,181.75, shown as $8,182.
• C. Suppose Bid C's allowance matches what your chosen finishes really cost. Gap for Bid A: $8,182 minus $2,419 = $5,763. Gap for Bid B: $8,182 minus $5,692 = $2,490. Gap for Bid C: $0.
• D. Adjusted totals. Bid A: $24,189 + $5,763 = $29,952. Bid B: $28,458 + $2,490 = $30,948. Bid C: $32,727.

The original spread from the lowest to the highest bid was $32,727 minus $24,189 = $8,538. After matching allowances it is $32,727 minus $29,952 = $2,775. Most of the apparent gap came from allowances, not from the quality of the firm.

Exclusions work the same way, but use letters instead of guesses. Suppose Bid A excludes permits (P), disposal (D) and painting (N), and Bids B and C include them. Bid A's adjusted total becomes $29,952 + P + D + N. This guide has no sourced price for permits, disposal or painting, so it invents none. Ask Bid A to price each in writing. Bid A stays lowest only if P + D + N is below $30,948 minus $29,952 = $996.

Now add a contingency scenario. The percentages are your choice, not a sourced rule, and the totals leave out Bid A's P, D and N.

What this shows: matching allowances cut the spread from $8,538 to $2,775, a drop of $5,763, or about 67% of the original gap ($5,763 divided by $8,538 is 0.675). The all-in budget you need is well above any headline total. The example does not show that any bid is the right choice. Schedule, who runs the job, warranty and references can outweigh a small price gap.

• 10% scenario. Bid A: $29,952 x 0.10 = $2,995, total $32,947. Bid B: $30,948 x 0.10 = $3,095, total $34,043. Bid C: $32,727 x 0.10 = $3,273, total $36,000.
• 20% scenario. Bid A: $29,952 x 0.20 = $5,990, total $35,942. Bid B: $30,948 x 0.20 = $6,190, total $37,138. Bid C: $32,727 x 0.20 = $6,545, total $39,272.

Illustration, not a quote. Every figure above is derived by the shown arithmetic from the single cited national figure plus stated assumptions.

The handbook says a contract should have a small down payment, calls a large one a reason to avoid the contractor, and recommends a holdback clause that lets you withhold final payment until inspections pass and the job is complete 2. DLI tells homeowners to avoid full or substantial payment before work starts and to require a payment schedule that makes clear when payments are due 4. The FTC advises against paying the full cost up front and says to hold the final payment until the work is finished and you are satisfied 5.

No source loaded for this guide gives a percentage for a reasonable deposit, so compare what each bid asks and ask each firm to explain it. To see scale, a deposit of 10% on the $28,458 anchor would be $2,845.80 and a deposit of one third would be $9,486 (illustration, not a quote, arithmetic only).

Prefer a schedule tied to finished stages and inspections, not to dates. Ask for a lien waiver with each payment. Minnesota's licensing statute lists as a ground for sanction a licensee not giving the person making payment either a lien waiver for unpaid labor and material or a payment bond in the amount of the contract price 10.

Read the change order clause before signing. Ask how changes are priced, who approves them and how fast you receive the written price 14.

This is general information, not legal advice. In Minnesota, anyone who contributes labor, skill, material or machinery to improve your property can have a lien on it, even when hired by your contractor rather than by you 69.

A contractor who uses subcontractors or suppliers must put a statutory notice in the written contract, or deliver it within ten days after the work is agreed when there is no written contract. A contractor who fails to give the notice does not get the lien remedy 7. Subcontractors and suppliers must give you their own notice within 45 days after first furnishing labor or materials 7. You may withhold payment until 120 days after completion unless you receive waivers signed by those who gave timely notice 7. A lien ceases after 120 days from the last work unless a statement is filed and served within that period 8. The handbook says enforcement must begin within one year 9. You generally cannot be made to pay twice if you hold a valid waiver, or if you paid the general contractor in full before receiving the subcontractor's notice 9.

Date illustration: if work is completed on December 1, 2026, 120 days later is March 31, 2027 (30 days left in December, 31 in January, 28 in February and 31 in March make 120). This is arithmetic only. Confirm the dates for your own job with a lawyer.

A lien waiver is a signed statement giving up the right to file a lien 9. The handbook advises listing expected subcontractors in the contract, tracking any notices you receive, and getting waivers from each subcontractor before the final payment 9. When comparing bids, ask each firm how it handles waivers and whether it provides them with every payment.

Before your final payment, hold the check until you have the signed waivers in hand.

Many bids include a firm warranty page. Compare it with what Minnesota already provides for home improvement work. For major structural changes or additions, the statute gives one year against faulty workmanship and defective materials and ten years against major construction defects. For plumbing, electrical, heating or cooling installations it gives two years, and for other home improvement work one year 11.

A bid cannot simply remove these. Excluding or modifying them takes a signed written instrument in boldface type of at least ten points that sets out the terms, and the contractor must offer substitute express warranties of substantially the same protection 12. If a bid disclaims the statutory warranty, ask why and have a lawyer read it. The handbook notes these warranties are in addition to any the contractor agrees to provide 2.

Ask what the written warranty covers that the statute does not, who services it and how you make a claim.

Reviews and complaint counts are inputs, not scores. This guide does not combine them into a number, and you should not either, because each platform measures something different.

Counts and dates. A handful of reviews says little. A large count says more but is not proof of quality. Read the most recent ones and the dates, and look for whether the work described resembles your project. Look at how the business answers criticism. These are reading habits, not claims from the platforms.

The absence of reviews is not a warning on its own. A firm may be new, work mostly by referral, or have customers who do not post. Treat it as a reason to ask for references, not as a verdict either way.

Better Business Bureau. BBB says its A+ to F ratings are calculated from complaint history, how the business responds, how transparent it is and any licensing or government action, and that customer reviews do not affect the rating 14. It says a complaint is a request for help with a specific dispute and a review is an opinion, and that it cannot force a business to act 14. A complaint count means more when set against the size of the business and read with the business's responses, which is a reading note, not a BBB statement. Accreditation is separate and paid: accredited businesses pay annual dues 15, BBB says dues do not buy a rating or remove a complaint 14, and a business can have an A+ rating without being accredited 14. BBB also says a business not being accredited is not on its own a mark against it 14. BBB says it generally does not report private lawsuits or small claims actions 14, so search court records separately, as the handbook suggests 3.

Houzz. Houzz describes its annual awards in four categories. The Design award goes to professionals whose work drew the most user engagement and ideabook saves. The Service award is based on the Houzz rating and client reviews. Photography is based on engagement with images. Innovator goes to Service winners who use Houzz Pro business software and hold its certification 16. Houzz says consideration is automatic and based on the profile, rating and reviews, and that just over 2% of the 3+ million professionals on Houzz receive an award each year 16. So a Design badge reflects how popular photos are on the site, which is not the same as how well a firm manages a job, and the Innovator award depends partly on using Houzz's paid software.

Yelp. Yelp's software recommends some reviews and places others in a "not recommended" section, which stays accessible by link but does not count toward the star rating or review count 17. Yelp says a review may land there because the software knows too little about the reviewer, and that it looks for suspected solicited reviews and conflicts of interest 17. A rating you see is therefore not the average of every review written.

Google. Google's policy bans reviews that are paid for or incentivized, content from multiple accounts at one person's request, and reviews with conflicts of interest 18. It also bars offering incentives to remove or change a negative review 18. That tells you the rules exist, not that any given profile is clean.

Nothing here is a ranking. If a firm's review profile and its license record disagree, trust the license record and your own calls to references.

Use this rule in order. If a step fails, stop and fix it before comparing prices.

• Confirm each bidder's license number in the DLI lookup and that the bid is in writing with a detailed scope, specific materials and a price or pricing basis 1.
• Fill in the grid. Send every "not mentioned" cell back to the bidder and wait for written answers.
• Raise every bid to the same allowance level and add priced exclusions. Compare these adjusted totals, not the headline totals.
• Drop any bid that cannot give allowance amounts, will not list exclusions, or asks for substantial payment before work.
• Add your own contingency scenario to each adjusted total and check that you can afford the higher one.
• Among bids that remain, compare schedule, who runs the job, written warranty against the statutory floor, lien waiver practice and references. Use reviews only to form questions for those calls.
• If two bids are within a few percent after adjusting, choose on the non-price items. If none fits, ask for revised bids, not a cheaper scope.