Prudent consumers usually shop around for comparison prices when contemplating a major purchase, and large home repairs and improvements should be no exception. Homeowners are encouraged to get two or three estimates when hiring contractors for major home improvements and to carefully compare the bids before choosing the one to do the work.

However, consumers must also understand that contractors are in business to earn a living. If a homeowner has three contractors submit an estimate, at least two will spend time working on a bid without receiving payment. This is all part of being in business, of course, but contractors must be able to balance this unpaid time with earning enough while they are "on the clock" to stay in business. The bigger the potential job, the more time a contractor is likely to spend bidding to get the job. And the smaller the job, the less time he can afford to work on an estimate.

Q: A plumbing company wants me to pay a $39 service call to come give me an estimate to fix my toilet even if I decide not to hire them do the work. How can I get the best price if I have to pay for estimates?

A: Small jobs that will take less than two or three hours to perform frequently fall under the category of "service calls," for which contractors rarely can afford to give free estimates. It is usually most efficient for contractors to quote an hourly rate with a minimum charge to cover the time traveling to and from the job. You should do your "comparison shopping" for such jobs over the phone before deciding to call someone to come to your home, diagnose the problem and fix it.

Many plumbing companies always charge a minimum service fee because they must pay their employees an hourly rate (with all the associated taxes and insurances) to drive to your home to make the estimate. You will find that major appliance repair companies also charge a minimum fee just for coming to your house, automobile shops charge for the time it takes to diagnose your car's problem and even VCR repair shops will charge you just for looking inside your machine. However, because the minimum service charge is included in the overall price of the service call, the final price will often be no more expensive than hiring another plumber who gave you a free estimate then came back later to do the job. Sometimes consumers feel overcharged when charged a one- or two-hour minimum fee after the technician fixes the problem in a few minutes. However, they need to realize that his expertise allowed him to find the problem and fix it much more quickly than someone with less training, experience or special tools could.

Q: When my roof was leaking after a storm, all the roofers I called said they would come to fix it, but no one was willing to give me an estimate to repair it first. I figure they are taking advantage of an emergency situation in refusing to give me an estimate first.

A: Giving estimates to repair roof leaks, especially during emergencies, is simply not efficient. During and after a storm, roofers are deluged with calls to repair roofs from homeowners who risk expensive damage to the interiors of their homes, their furnishings, etc. that would cost far more than the few dollars' difference between roofers' bids. During these emergencies, roofers' waiting lists can have dozens of people and they all work dawn to dusk for days trying to get to everyone. They simply don't have time to show up at a house, climb on the roof, try to guess what needs fixing, then leave and wait for the homeowners to get a couple more roofers to go through the exercise before deciding who to call back to set up an appointment.

Secondly, roofers often can't tell exactly where the leak is coming from just by looking at the top of the roof or the evidence indoors, and therefore have no idea how long it will take to find it and fix it, so they can't give a firm bid. Few companies can even "guarantee" a repair because it may take more than one or two attempts to solve the problem. Therefore, most honest contractors usually charge around $50 to $150 to come, fix the leak and get paid for the time and materials they use while there, unless the labor is more extensive. Then if they have to come back, the time they spent before can be considered part of the elimination process and again you only have to pay for the time and material they give you researching and solving the problem.

So if you are put on a waiting list to get a leak fixed, we recommend leaving your name and number with two or three good roofing contractors and as soon as one comes to fix your roof, call the others and have them remove your name from their lists. This is by far the most fair and efficient way for both consumers and contractors.

Q: When getting bids on a kitchen remodel, one contractor said "somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000," while another sent us a proposal with an exact amount. How to I choose between them?

A: A kitchen remodel is one of those larger project which contractors are usually willing to spend more time bidding, but there are still differences between personalities and styles as well as prices that will make you prefer working with one contractor over the other.

The first contractor probably wanted to "qualify" you because if you had expected your kitchen project to cost between $3,000 and $8,000, it would be a waste of everyone's time for him to spend several hours working on a bid you would never accept. The wide price range would depend on your choice of materials (Corian, ceramic tile or Formica countertops? Vinyl or hardwood floors? etc.) but you know you have lots of choices and can work from there. The second contractor who gave you a more detailed estimate spent a lot more time on his bid, but he also risked scaring you off with a specific price instead of a range if it came in much higher than your budget.

The next step would be to ask them both to submit written bids on the exact same list of items, and make your comparison from there. Even if you make changes later, this step will let you accurately compare their prices and give you an idea of how it will be to work with them.