What to say when the contractor says "we can't do that"

At some point in a renovation, you'll ask for something on your list and the answer will be "we can't do that." Or "we don't do that." Or "that's not how it's done." Most people hear it as final. It almost never is. It's one of three things, and each one has a different next sentence.

"Can't" usually means one of three things

It's not possible. The wall is holding the building up. The drain can't go there because the joist is there. The door can't be wider because the stair is on the other side of the wall. This is real, it happens, and it's the least common of the three.

It's not something we do. A tile contractor doesn't frame walls. An electrician doesn't move plumbing. A general contractor may never have built a step-free shower and doesn't want to learn on your bathroom. This isn't a fact about your house. It's a fact about who you asked.

It's more work than they'd like. A linear drain is fiddlier than a center drain. Blocking in every wall is an hour they didn't price. Switches at 42 inches means telling the electrician twice. "Can't" here means "would rather not," and it goes away when it's on the drawing and in the price.

Your job isn't to argue. It's to find out which of the three you're hearing.

The one question

"What would it take?"

Not "why not." "Why not" gets you a reason, and the reason is usually true and beside the point. "What would it take" gets you a list: an engineer to look at the wall, a different trade, a change to the drawing, a number. If the honest answer is "an engineer, and the wall might not allow it," that's the first kind of can't, and you've learned something. If the answer is "someone else would have to do that part," it's the second. If the answer is a sigh and a number, it's the third, and now it's a decision you can make.

Ask it calmly and write the answer down.

Then route the question

A good question asked of the wrong person still doesn't get you the answer. Once you know which kind of "can't" it is:

Not possible goes to the person licensed to say so. Structure, exits and fire are an architect or an engineer's call, not a contractor's opinion and not mine. Ask for it in writing if the answer changes what you build.

Not something we do goes to the trade that does. Ask your contractor who they'd use, or find the trade yourself and ask your contractor to coordinate. Most contractors are relieved when you bring the specialist rather than asking them to become one.

More work goes back to the drawing and the quote. Ask for it to be added as a line with a price. Things that are priced get built. Things that were agreed in the driveway get forgotten.

When you're still told no

Sometimes you'll ask what it would take and the answer is "it's not worth it" or "you don't need that." That's a contractor making a decision about your body, and it's not theirs to make. The plain reply is:

"I understand it's more work. I'd like it priced as a line so I can decide."

If they won't price it, that's information about the contractor, and it's better to have it before the walls are open than after.

What "can't" sounds like when it's true

You'll know the real one because it comes with specifics. "That wall's carrying the floor above and we'd need a beam, which is an engineer and probably four to six thousand dollars" is a real can't with a real what-would-it-take attached. "Nobody does that" is not.

Write down what you were told

Every "can't" and every "what would it take" goes in the same file as your requirements, with the date and who said it. Two reasons. If it comes up again with a different trade, you'll have the earlier answer. And when a quote comes back missing a line, you'll know whether it was dropped or ruled out.

The list this belongs to

Knowing which question goes to which person, and what to say when the answer is "we can't," is part three of the course, and the free guide, The Decisions Your Renovation Makes Without You, has the one-page version you hand to the project team so the requirements are in front of them before "can't" comes up. Short, large print. Sign up and the download is yours.