Sorry, man. I think you don't understand construction contract work. The cost of crown moulding can be a buck a foot, or it can be 20. That doesn't really matter too much when you're looking at whether it's being installed around the perimeter of a gymnasium, or into an early 1900s house with 12 different rooms. Linear feet is not always the way to measure.
Tools aren't free, and neither is skill. For that matter, skill isn't cheap.
I'm not trying to say that there are no con artists in the contracting business. I'm just saying that your insinuation that many or most contractors are way over charging is BS. I bet I could walk into the house you're finishing (are you clear on what that word means), and tell you that an amateur did it, as opposed to one finished by an actual carpenter. Same goes for a basement framed by some guy that went to a Home Depot DIY Saturday, or a taped and mudded rumpus room.
It's all fine, if you, the homeowner is ok with an amateur job. I've been known to paint my own vehicles, and I feel no shame. It's just a matter of whether you want it done properly, or if 'good enough' is good enough. I wonder how good an electrical job needs to be to be good enough.
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