This is not normal. You are right to walk away.

Big warning sign. Be glad it "only" cost $500 to find out. It could cost many thousands more than you have budgeted, or this guy could just walk away with your money. I've done a number of remodels and only did business with contractors who would do work and ask me to pay at the end of the month for hours documented, and materials bought, invoiced, and delivered to the site. I'm not saying you should never pay a little up front - like 10% - but someone who wants this much is on the thin edge of solvency, and may have overdue bills from other jobs.

Run, don’t walk, away from this guy.

Kudzu9 thanks for the comment - this guy has a medium size business with a showroom and 50 + 5 star reviews on Houzz - does that change your opinion @ all?

What is the scope of work? Paying 90% for cabinets, and the 10% for the install holdback is not unheard of. But for 20K bath project, that would be unusual.

@theCooksKitchen it’s a $45000 bath project

Check contractor laws in your state. In California a contractor can not require more than 10% of the total estimate as a down payment. There after, the contractor should provide a breakdown of the costs and a schedule of when additional payments are due. These payments usually occur after subcontract work, such as plumbing, tiling, hard surface installation, etc.

Thanks @jacqui Naud

No, not normal. I have done may remodeling project over the last 8 years with several contractors and was never asked for more than 10 to 20% to get things going.

I did my kitchen last year and I did have to pay 50% of the cabinet order on the date that the order was processed. The remainder was paid months later when the cabinets were delivered.

No. 90% down is not normal. It is a bad sign he is in trouble. That guy could take your money and disappear.

Our deposit/down payment was less than 10% of our bathroom remodel. We had to pay a much larger deposit on our kitchen remodel several years ago, but still less than half the cost. And we had vetted that contractor thoroughly before parting with the money.

The guy we really wanted for our shower re-do wanted 100% down. We refused -- it seemed very wrong /dangerous /bad business to us.

Oh, was he angry. Seriously, he was shaking and said mean things. His attitude 1) made me feel I was right to refuse, and 2) totally removed any guilt I had about him coming out to the house twice.

10% down is what I’ve always done on remodeling projects. Then there are usually between 3 and 5 draws. The last payment doesn’t happen until a few days or a week after the job is complete. That’s pretty normal.

When we remodeled our master bath my new favorite contractor asked for nothing down. He said he never asks for a dime until the job is complete and customer is satisfied. That’s very unusual.

There is one tradesperson that I’ve worked with several times who asks for half down. He’s a cabinet builder, carpenter, furniture maker. Very skilled. I actually said no the first time he worked here, but after that I said okay because by then I knew him better and trusted him not to disappear.

Asking for a 90% down payment sends a signal that he’s in some kind of trouble and desperately needs cash. Maybe he’s caught in the cycle of using the next down payment to pay off supplies for his last job, behind on his mortgage, or is about to get his truck repossessed, being sued for child support payments, etc, etc. It’s not a good sign.

My contractor does percentages due at various stages of the project, 90% down is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

I usually get a 30% down payment on sink jobs, but several weeks ago a guy paid me for two sinks up front in full. I didn't argue, but it felt kinda weird to me.

90% up front nonnegotiable? That's got trouble written all over it.

@joseph Thank you !

In our area the norm seemed to be 1/3 at signing contract, 1/3 once materials show up, and 1/3 upon completion. These are $20-25k bathroom remodels without a designer or anything. FWIW, we ended up going with a contractor that asked for no money until the job was complete (I guess he screens his customers well?). Then you pay 100% upon completion. (Unless you have a special order item WAY over the allowances.) That was unusual but fine with us.

For the small master bath we went over most the allowances but he never asked for payment until the end. For the hall bath we went WAY over the allowances and added on things like upgrading/replacing an old electrical panel, replacing 2 exterior doors, etc., so a couple weeks before things wrapped up, he did ask for approx $15,000 or 50% of where we were at at that time (I think it ended up at 34K when all was said and done for the bathroom plus other projects). We had no issues with that since he had told us from the beginning that if we were way over the contract allowance, he might want partial payment at some point.

Thanks @adawn5

As others have posted, 90% down is completely outside the norm and could be illegal in some places.

I just finished a gut remodel and used the services of both a GC and a designer as different aspects of the project were handled by them - for example I bought "aesthetic" stuff like tiles through the designer.

My GC contractor had a step process in which I paid 10% on execution of the contract and then 50% to cover costs and labor when we reached each step of the process (mine was a full gut remodel that took many MANY months LOL).

My cabinets were done by a custom place and designed by my designer and those were 50% on start and 50% on completion.

I believe a certain amount is being withheld until the absolute sign off on the project - I think it is 10%.

The reality is that I was very lucky in terms of my GC and designer so that once we started the project, payment timing wasn't much of an issue on both sides especially since my designer acted as my Project Manager in terms of actually inspecting the quality of work and letting me know that it was fine to pay or that it had reached a stage when payment was due. My GC has not disappeared in terms of doing all of the small stuff that needs to be done to actually finish the project and I am pretty reasonable in terms of letting him schedule stuff so that it makes sense in terms of his having enough of the final stuff to do so that the appropriate labor isn't making a trip to paint a wall board.

It's upsetting to lose $500 but be glad that you received this "omen" which saved you for what would most probably be a disaster. In terms of the actual contract with the GC everything was spelled out in terms of pricing for the components and the labor and his overhead was a separate line item. My designer had provided a complete blueprint with detailed specifications so the contract incorporated the design so the actual contract wasn't that lengthy. My contract was a mixture of fixed prices, allowances and items that were supplied by me through my designer (e.g. actual tiles, actual wood etc.). Except for stuff that really couldn't be predicted like my need for a new electrical panel or my request for an upgrade (e.g. my frameless shower doors have Showerguard protection at my request), everything really was within the allowances.

Looking back at the whole experience, the most important choice I made was going with the designer and GC I chose because they were talented, knowledgeable and reliable as well as being really "nice" people. I think I also helped in terms of my being reciprocally nice to them by not holding their feet to the fire and just riding with the punches with a sense of humor and acceptance. That really paid off as they didn't take advantage of me at all - if anything they went the extra mile in terms of helpfulness when it was needed.

Yeah no.

We usually break up payments depending on the progress of the job.

40% Upon signing, then 40% Upon inspections etc, then 20% upon installation, completion of punch lists etc. Varies depending on job but it is a rough idea.

Good you walked away and the fact they were not wiling to budge and loose a client well that tells you everything you need to know.

Mine was 50% on signing to get on schedule (reduced to 10% because I scheduled four months out...then the other 40% at the start), 20% after structural inspection passed, 20% after final inspection passed, and 10% upon completion.

I'm also in PA and have NEVER been asked to pay 90% up front for any home remodel / reno / re-do that we've ever contracted for. You were right to walk away.

no its either 30% or 50% depending on the products offered and the logistics of the company? is this from a private contractor? and did you sign a contract that has a recission? Contractors are different from boutique bathroom firms for a multitude of reasons. do they have a license? Liability insurance? did they give you a presentation and show you actual reviews, from other customers? This is not normal. I'am a bathroom remodeling company, that does business in NJ, PA and NYC. All the companies that specialize in bathrooms, located in PA, that are validated firms, do not charge 90% upfront. no one does. its either 30% or 50%