What really makes me angry is when a general contractor asked us for 50 percent up front before doing the job.

The complete amount is provided in the initial proposal by the general contractor, sent to the insurance assessor then when and if approved a check is cut and mailed to us in the exact dollar amount on the proposal which stipulates that it covers all materials, man hours, taxes and if there is found some additional work required such as finding bad boards that need replacement before the window is installed that would have to be re-estimated and submitted to the insurance company to request additional funding. The worst news is the man who made these estimates is a general contractor but he said our window was not available that easily because of it's being 75 years old and the only way he could manage replacing it properly would be to custom build one exactly like it and his estimate is close to 2600 dollars for a duplicated window to replace our old one. This would have to be either covered by the initial money given by insurance or a new bit would have to be forwarded to insurance to request more money. I refuse to be taken and will not get a loan for the rest. If 3,150.00 doesn't cover the cost I will opt out on this 2600.00 window. If he doesn't want to get a cheaper window and make alterations to make it fit then I will have to get another person to do the work. But I hope I will not be expected to pay him the balance since he will have not fulfilled his end.

unfortunatley, @shshiju , beore I even realized it, my wife signed papers giving the guy the go ahead without consulting with me first. We have paid up front money. Now we are waiting for him to fulfil his end. If he doesn't within a reasonable amount of time or doesnt bother to contact us with updates soon we will have to e-mail the guy to find out what his actual intentions are with our window situation. It is both aggrivating and nerve racking. Hind site is 20/20 in this regard.

@lookatdesktop Sounds that the general contractor is not a right person.

@lookatdesktop I've never used Home advisor - I rather trust a recommendation by someone I know who has used the person. Good luck.

The total amount required in his estimate was just a bit over 3,000.00 to remove the window, replace it with a new one, replace several siding panels and plant some grass on the lawn on top of bags of new top soil. He was referred by Home Advisor dot com.

@AbbyGreenhill The only person I knew who would have been able to do the repairs who is a relative of ours passed away years ago. We were in a state of panic and made the move to get a contractor to estimate the damages because we were afraid of what if we put it off too long. This is not a thing that happens every day and it unnerved us both.

He actually is very honest. He does home construction, remodels and repairs on million dollar houses and is in good standing with the BBB and Home Advisor dot com. He is also listed with Houzz.