Why the Cheapest Bid Isn't the Best Value: A Breslow Homeowner on Choosing Quality

Anyone shopping for a motorized louvered pergola runs into the same problem quickly: quotes vary widely, and it's not always obvious why. In the clip above, a Breslow homeowner talks through that exact question — what you're actually paying for when one bid comes in well below another, and why the lowest number on paper isn't automatically the best value.

The Question Behind the Video

"Are you expensive?" is one of the most common questions Breslow hears from homeowners early in the process, usually because they've already gotten at least one quote that looked dramatically cheaper. The honest answer is that a lower number almost always means something was left out — whether that's engineering, permitting, warranty coverage, or who's actually standing behind the installation five years from now.

What Drives the Price Difference

A handful of factors determine what a project costs, and they're the same factors that separate a complete bid from a stripped-down one: the size and span of the structure, whether it attaches to the house or stands freestanding, footings and site work, any electrical needed for fans, heating, or lighting, custom trim or architectural integration to match the home, and engineering plus permitting. A bid that skips or underscopes any of these will look cheaper on paper and cost more to fix later.

Where required, Breslow provides PE-stamped structural engineering on a project, and where permits are needed, Breslow handles or assists with that process rather than leaving it to the homeowner to sort out. Those aren't optional add-ons priced separately after the fact — they're built into the number from the start.

What "Value" Looks Like Over Time

The most meaningful difference doesn't show up on installation day — it shows up years later. Every Breslow project includes a 5-year structural warranty from Breslow, plus Azenco's manufacturer warranty on the louver mechanism and motors, and Breslow services every product it installs for the life of that product. That's a materially different proposition than a lower bid from a crew that isn't around, or doesn't have the in-house team, to come back if something needs adjustment.

Design, engineering, permitting, fabrication, and installation are handled entirely in-house by Breslow's own crews — not a patchwork of subcontractors — which is part of what a complete bid is pricing in. Most projects install in about 4 to 6 weeks from order confirmation, with the physical installation itself typically taking 3 to 5 days on site, and financing through Synchrony and HFS is available for homeowners who'd rather spread the investment out than choose based on the sticker price alone.

Questions Worth Asking Any Bid

• Is the structural engineering PE-stamped where it's required, and is that included in the price?
• Who handles permitting, and is that process included or left to the homeowner?
• Is the installation crew the contractor's own team, or subcontracted labor?
• What's covered under warranty, and for how long — on the structure itself and on the motors?
• What happens if something needs service five or ten years after installation?

Those five questions, asked of any bid, tend to explain most of the gap between a low number and a complete one.

See the Difference for Yourself

The clearest way to compare bids apples-to-apples is to ask exactly what's included in each one — engineering, permitting, warranty terms, and who's actually on the crew. Breslow's own published price ranges lay out what drives cost on a real project, and the project portfolio shows completed work across the region. Every conversation starts the same way: a free Zoom design consultation, with a realistic investment range discussed up front before anyone commits to anything. You can also hear more from real clients in the full client stories library.