The "We Found Something" Mid-Project Surprise and How to Evaluate It

Your kitchen is gutted. Cabinets gone, drywall stripped to studs, a fine layer of plaster dust coating everything you own. Then the phone rings. "We opened up the wall and found something. We need to talk about additional costs." Your heart rate spikes — and the contractor knows it. You are three weeks in, deeply committed, and cannot exactly wheel the kitchen out to a competitor for a second opinion.

That phone call will either describe a legitimate problem nobody could have anticipated, or an inflated change order designed to extract money from someone who has no easy exit. The difference between the two is worth thousands. Here is how to tell them apart.

Legitimate mid-project discoveries

Some conditions are genuinely invisible until demolition exposes them. They are real, they are common, and they come with well-established cost ranges that you can verify:

• Asbestos in popcorn ceilings or old flooring mastic — Homes built before 1980 frequently contain asbestos in textured ceilings, vinyl floor adhesive, and pipe insulation. Professional abatement runs $2-$6/sq ft depending on material type and local regulations. A 200 sq ft kitchen ceiling abatement typically costs $800-$1,800. This is not optional — disturbing asbestos without licensed abatement is a federal violation.
• Knob-and-tube wiring behind walls — Common in homes built before 1950. If the remodel opens walls where knob-and-tube is active, it must be replaced to meet code for any new circuits sharing that cavity. Cost: $150-$300 per circuit to remediate, and a typical kitchen has 3-5 circuits in adjacent walls. Total exposure: $450-$1,500.
• Rotted subfloor under tile or vinyl — Moisture damage under old flooring is invisible until the flooring comes up. Replacing rotted subfloor runs $8-$15/sq ft including new plywood, leveling, and refastening to joists. A 10 sq ft section under a dishwasher — the most common location — costs $80-$150. A 60 sq ft section across a bathroom or kitchen entry runs $480-$900.
• Galvanized drain pipes corroded beyond repair — Galvanized steel drain pipes in homes built before 1970 corrode from the inside out. They look fine externally but are 80% occluded when cut open. Re-piping a kitchen drain from the fixture to the main stack costs $2,000-$5,000 depending on accessibility and length of run.
• Termite or water damage in wall framing — Hidden behind drywall, visible only during demolition. Sistering or replacing a damaged stud costs $100-$250 per stud. If a header or bearing point is compromised, structural repair can run $1,500-$4,000 including temporary shoring and engineering.

Fabricated or exaggerated discoveries

Not every mid-project finding is what it appears. Some are real problems inflated to three times their actual scope. Others are manufactured from thin air. Here are the most common exaggerations and the logic that unravels them:

• "The framing is not to code" — The single most misused statement in residential remodeling. The standard is the building code in effect when the home was built, not the current code. A home built in 1985 with 2x8 floor joists on 16-inch centers was to code in 1985. A contractor claiming it "needs to be brought up to current code" is either wrong or inflating scope. Current code applies only when you are modifying the structure as part of your project.
• "We need to sister every joist" — One joist with a crack or undersized for a new load (like a cast-iron tub)? Sistering is reasonable at $200-$400. Claiming every joist in a 20 ft span needs sistering ($4,000-$8,000) without an engineer's report? That is scope inflation wearing a hard hat.
• "The electrical panel can't handle the load" — If an electrician inspected the panel before the project and rated it sufficient, this claim contradicts a documented inspection. A 200-amp panel handles a standard kitchen remodel with dedicated circuits for a range, dishwasher, microwave, and disposal. A contractor pushing a panel upgrade ($2,500-$4,500) when the panel was inspected months ago should produce load calculations, not opinions.
• "All the plumbing needs to be replaced" — A corroded section of galvanized pipe under the sink is a legitimate find. Claiming the entire house needs re-piping ($8,000-$15,000) based on one exposed section is a scope expansion. You hired them for a kitchen, not a whole-house plumbing overhaul.

How to evaluate a mid-project discovery

When the contractor calls with a discovery, do not authorize work over the phone. Urgency is their leverage. Process is yours. Follow this sequence:

1. Demand photos before demolition continues

Tell the contractor to stop demolition in the affected area and photograph the condition from multiple angles with a ruler or tape measure for scale. A legitimate contractor will do this without hesitation — they need the documentation too, for their insurance, their subcontractors, and the building inspector.

2. Get an independent opinion

Hire a licensed home inspector or the relevant specialist — structural engineer, electrician, plumber — to examine the condition. Cost: $200-$400 for a focused, one-issue evaluation. This is not a full home inspection. It is a second pair of eyes on a specific claim.

3. Check whether the condition was reasonably discoverable

Ask yourself — and then ask the contractor: was this condition visible or testable during the pre-construction walkthrough?

• A sagging floor visible from the basement? The contractor should have noted it during the estimate visit.
• Water stains on the ceiling below a bathroom? A visible indicator of a concealed problem that should have been flagged.
• An electrical panel with visible corrosion or a Federal Pacific brand? Any licensed electrician would have flagged this on sight.
• Asbestos-era popcorn ceiling in a pre-1980 home? An experienced contractor should have mentioned the possibility and either excluded it or priced testing into the original bid.

4. Review the original contract's exclusions

Pull out your signed contract. Read the exclusions section. If it says "excludes asbestos abatement, mold remediation, and concealed structural damage," the contractor anticipated these possibilities and explicitly carved them out. That means:

• The discovery is not a surprise to the contractor — they knew it was possible.
• You agreed to pay extra if it occurred.
• But you did not agree to pay whatever they quote. The change order rate should match the T&M rates in the contract, not a new inflated number.

If the contract has no exclusions section at all, the contractor either assumed the risk of concealed conditions (unlikely) or wrote a vague contract that benefits them when surprises appear. Either way, you have more negotiating leverage than they will ever volunteer.

How much should a change order cost?

A change order for a legitimate discovery should be priced at the same rates as the original contract, plus a reasonable markup for scheduling disruption. Here is what fair looks like:

When the change order markup is significantly higher than the base contract's implied rates, the contractor is using the discovery as a profit center. It happens constantly. It is also negotiable — if you have the numbers to push back.

Protecting yourself before you sign anything

Document everything. Photograph the condition. Get an independent opinion for anything over $1,000. Compare the change order pricing against the rates in your original contract. The contractor who found the problem is often the right person to fix it — but only at a fair price, backed by documented evidence, at rates consistent with what you already agreed to pay.

The leverage in any mid-project negotiation comes down to information: what was the condition, how much does the fix actually cost, and does the change order match the contract's own pricing structure? Without those answers, you are negotiating blind. With them, you are negotiating from a position the contractor did not expect you to occupy.