Question on Contracts

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find anything on a search of the forums.

The story (Question is below):
A couple months ago, I contacted the town administrator of a small town nearby to leave off a card and discuss possibly demo-ing an old abandoned mobile home that was a tax liability to the town. He was interested, told me to submit an estimate and he would talk to the selectman about it. I did and he called me back, saying he needed at least one other bid (per town ordinances) before proceeding, and that he would get back to me. I never heard back and forgot about it.

Yesterday, he called and asked if I was still interested; he wanted to proceed, my bid came in the lowest, and just needed to hear back from the dumpster company to see if they could get a deal. (I had submitted an estimate of both with and without our paying for a dumpster)



He wants me to write up a contract of basically what was in my estimate, saying when we would finish by, and they could either pay at the end of the job, or divide it up.

QUESTION(S)

Does anyone have any experience demo-ing a mobile home (we have done one as a "freebie" on craigslist to gain some experience, and to know what our expenses would be for future projects, but that's it) and if so, do they have any words of advice? Has anyone experience with writing up contracts, and if so, have they done it without consulting a lawyer? Does anyone know any good websites that have free templates for this kind of contract? Thanks for ANY advice anyone can give!

You're contract should be pretty simple who controls the cost of the work being performed. Who foots the bill and on what grounds is it? Bacisally you are going to demolish the mobile home to the slab or ground. Removing all debris associated with said mobile home. You foot the bill on the entire structure removal. Pretty simple to write up if you ask me.

Are you going to use just some simple tools or are you going to rent a bobcat to do it? If you rent a bobcat with a grapple bucket. Small size machine 175s or something similar to it. Just take the machine and go around the outside of the mobile home and knock the walls off the steel foundation or just start grabbing pieces of it but remember to separate the materials to maximize your profit on it. Average rental per day with grapple bucket should be between 400 and 500 plus delivery depending upon how far away they are. If you can't get a grapple bucket then ask for forks with it and a bucket. Take the forks and just put them wherever you want. Demo is really fun just be safe. Remember pieces can come back into the machine be it wood or steel or aluminum and its can really suck. I have had it happen allot and every time I always get scrapped or cut and bruised by it.

The demo that we did before we basically just used a sawsall, torch, crowbars and a really big, long chain that we attached to the truck to pull sections of it down after we had taken out the windows and inside walls. Then we cut up the frame. That's what we were planning to do this time. We'll have three people doing it. I factored in labor for all three of us, dumpster charges if we had to pay for it, and supplies including blades, contractor bags (for insulation), and acetyline and oxygen. I also gave an estimate of 10-12 days, with more time if there's bad weather. I just don't know if i've covered all the bases and while i'm excited to be doing an 'official' demo, i'm very nervous about a contract. Thank you so much for your input!

Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

Could go to M/S web site and get a Quotation Template and use it as the Contract.

Is that microsoft? Thank you, i will check that out!

Originally Posted by LadyScrappers

Is that microsoft? Thank you, i will check that out!

http://templates.services.openoffice.org/

I generally charge $1k to completely demo and remove a mobile, I make O.K. money that way without resorting to rental equipment. I have a good procedure if you want details. A professional contract helps...few ever read them, it makes towns feel better about hiring a newbie..

Well,oddly, it seems to be mobile home demo time for me as well (town demo on the tweeker park..oh joy!). Here is my effective low,low tech method. 1- 3 person job (can be done with 2...tough) 2- completely empty the trailer (furniture,cabinets,toilet,carpeting,paneling,dryw all) whole crew on this 3- one crew member uses a cordless drill and starts taking out the screws holding the aluminum skin on (also remove aluminum windows), 2nd crew processes the sheet and windows so you are leaving the site with $$ that day,3rd crew starts pulling the insulation out from the OUTSIDE (much safer) and putting it into large 55 gallon leaf bags ( you can sell on CL or give it away for new projects) and is pulling out the wiring (give him/her good cutters..I like aviation tin snips) and filling 5 gallon buckets. 4- now the roof is being held up by the 2" by 3" ( or 2" by 4" if you are lucky) studs, crew one knocks them out with a 3lb sledge from the OUTSIDE. One at a time side to side,hands them to crew 2 for cleaning (de nail,,leave staples)..this is usually a sellable product,crew 3 also w/sledge on other side. LEAVE THE CORNERS ALONE (for now). 5- now take out the studs from the "ends" of the trailer, so all that is left is the corner sections..it will start to get wobbly ( do not do this on a windy day), now all three of you get on one side and push in over CRASH! 6- All three crew now skins the roof,this can be tough, saw=zaw or a sharp axe helps. This should end day 2. 7-tear up plywood floor 8- Cut up frame (sawzaw),sell metal!!

Wow, that's a great system - very streamlined! So this takes you about 3 days? (weather permitting)

3 days weather permitting, unless you find a dreaded Frontier brand mobile home (it has a weird atomic "rings around the atom symbol), they are really,really built,all 20 gauge steel with lapped rivets. If you ever bid that you need to double everything. I would hold firm on the $1K removal price,that is fair and you will make a decent wage for the hours spent.

Frontier mobile home...good to know. Where would you find the symbol, on the trailer hitch? My bid was a little over 1k, so glad to know I was in the "normal" ballpark. Getting frustrated now, though, because the town administrator was supposed to call me back to know when to submit the contract and start, didn't call me back, I called him finally, and he says they might have a buyer for the trailer now!!! I don't know who would want to buy it, it's in really rough shape, but now I'm waiting for him to call me back to let me know whether I'll be demoing it or whether the buyer came through. Feeling jerked around, but i suppose if nothing else I've learned how to bid and write up a contract.