Sample deliverable

What a Bid Check actually gives you.

Below is the summary that goes with every Bid Check — the workbook behind it (leveled comparison, flags & questions, quantities) is delivered with your order. Three tile bids for a Westside remodel: the low number was not the low bid, the mid bid had a math error in its own total, and there was $17,900 of scope worth asking about before anyone signed.

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Bid Check Summary — Tile & Stone Installation

Single-family remodel, Los Angeles Westside  ·  5 baths, 2 laundry floors, rooftop + 3 balconies  ·  3 bids received  ·  Prepared by BuildHalo Estimating

Verdict

Bidder C ($42,700) is the low number but is not the low bid. It omits all four exterior areas — roughly $12,000 at the other bidders' pricing — and does not call out slab handling, mitered edges, or the Bath #2 bench. On a leveled interior-only basis, C is about $8,000 under Bidder A, and that gap narrows once the open questions below are answered. Bidder A ($62,850 stated) is the most likely award, but its stated total does not match its own line items ($62,922). Confirm the governing figure before contract. Bidder B ($63,900) is the most complete scope and roughly $1,000 above A on a leveled basis.

Leveled comparison (interior scope, all three bidders)

AreaLeveled sfBidder ABidder BBidder CFlag
Bath #4 (powder) — porcelain slab196$11,865$12,400$9,800C: slab handling / seaming not called out
Master bath — walls, floor, ceiling289$13,890$12,950$11,200B: ceiling not listed
Bath #5 — pony wall + vanity miter141$6,035$6,600$5,100C: miter not called out
Bath #3 — pebble shower floor163$6,585$6,300$5,900
Bath #2 — porcelain slab + bench187$10,886$11,750$9,450C: bench not listed
Laundry floors (2)63$1,486$1,400$1,250
Leveled interior total1,039$50,747$51,400$42,700$48.84 / $49.47 / $41.10 per sf
Exterior: rooftop + 3 balconies515$12,175$12,500NOT BIDA priced from memory (SF sheet lost)
Sum of line items$62,922$63,900$42,700C not comparable as bid
Bidder's stated total$62,850 −$72$63,900 ok$42,700 okA: math error in own total

Questions to send back before award — $17,900 identified exposure

Q1 · CPlease price rooftop deck (310 sf), master balcony (95 sf), balcony #2 (70 sf), balcony #3 (40 sf) to the same spec — exterior-rated setting materials. ~$12,175 at A/B pricing.
Q2 · ALine items sum to $62,922; stated total is $62,850. Confirm which governs and reissue. $72 — small, but the contract will cite one number.
Q3 · CConfirm slab handling, seam layout, and mitered edges for the 63×126 porcelain in Baths #2 and #4 are included. ~$2,500 if excluded.
Q4 · CConfirm mitered pony-wall cap and vanity-top edge in Bath #5. ~$900.
Q5 · BConfirm master shower ceiling (30 sf) is included. ~$750.
Q6 · ARe-measure and document exterior square footage so pricing is traceable to a quantity.
AllConfirm shower curbs, niches (per drawings), and step details are included at the quoted price. ~$1,500 typical "extras" exposure.

Recommendation

Send Q1–Q6 to the bidders today; allow 48 hours. If C prices the exterior scope and confirms Q3/Q4 at or under $10,000 combined, C becomes a real contender at roughly $53–55k leveled. Otherwise award to A on a reissued proposal at the corrected $62,922 with exterior quantities documented, and hold B as the fallback. Do not sign any of the three as currently written.

Bidder A figures are from an actual bid round (anonymized). Bidders B and C are illustrative — constructed to show how leveling exposes scope gaps and math errors — because publishing a real competitor's numbers side-by-side would not be fair to them. Quantities from drawings, +10% waste, rounded up. Every figure in the workbook is a live formula; change an input and the leveling recomputes.

This is the whole product. You send the bids (PDF, photo, spreadsheet — whatever the sub sent you). Within 48 hours you get this summary plus the workbook, for a flat $295 per trade package. Full material takeoffs and complete residential estimates from $650. Start a Bid Check →