How to Properly Choose a Home Improvement Contractor
Picking your contractor correctly will help to speed along your home improvement project, ensure higher rates of return on your investment and improve the quality of your life and enjoyment as you benefit from the upgrades, additions or other enhancements. Ask around for recommendations. Or if you spot a home that has been recently improved you may want to knock on the door, compliment the owner and ask for the name of their contractor. Then interview a few candidates and ask them questions to determine their level of experience and expertise, their qualifications and their standard operating procedures.
Here are several things to consider and ask during the search for a home improvement contractor:
- How many years of home improvement experience does the contractor have, and how long has the contractor been in business as an independent contractor or company?
- Does the contractor have verifiable references from past clients, and can you visit the sites of previous home improvement projects to judge the quality of the work for yourself?
- If the contractor cannot provide references that is a red flag. An experienced and expert contractor should offer multiple references for a variety of different types of home improvement jobs that include both interior and exterior upgrades or modifications. Those should include several recently completed projects including a few that you can view in person.
- Does the contractor demand payment up front for anything besides basic construction materials needed to start the job? If so, you might want to hire someone else. A reputable contractor will never require payment for labor before the job is satisfactorily completed, although asking for money to buy basic raw materials to start the job is a reasonable request.
- When paying for materials, the contractor should immediately provide receipts for reimbursement. Most professional contractors pay on their own account and then ask homeowners to reimburse them after they deliver the materials and receipts. Don't front money to pay salaries for subcontractors and don't pay for materials for the whole project. Pay only enough to buy materials for one small phase - for example, a few days' worth - at a time.
- Disreputable contractors, on the other hand, often take large deposits for labor or materials up front and promptly disappear - even across state lines or international borders. It can be virtually impossible to recover the money by any legal means (even if you manage to find the contractor who absconded with the money, which you probably won't). Never pay for work in advance. Never.
- What professional certifications, licenses, trade organization memberships, and other credentials does the contractor have? Some municipalities or states, for instance, require current active licensing of all professional contractors. If you live in one of those places your contractor needs to have these - otherwise you may not be able to secure permission from the city or other governing authorities to do the home improvements you have in mind.
- Do the contractor and any subcontractors that might be hired to assist the contractor have adequate insurance coverage and is he or she bonded? Bonds protect homeowners in case a contractor defaults on promises, skips town without doing the work, or fails to comply with other contractual agreements. Insurance protects the homeowner from liability if a contractor is injured on the premises.
- Will the contractor apply for and acquire all necessary legal permits to do the home improvement work and ensure that required inspections are performed - and passed - on schedule? While homeowners can do this on their own, it can be a time-consuming job that requires some knowledge and experience of construction practices. It is best to have your contractor handle these details and it is imperative that the contractor deals with inspectors of work in progress to explain and defend the quality of the work.
By asking the questions listed above it is possible to find out essentially everything you need to know to hire a reliable home improvement contractor. Get all work project agreements in writing and run them past an attorney before signing the dotted line.
When finalizing arrangements, it is prudent to include a start and end date in your home improvement project contract. Otherwise your contractor - who may be juggling jobs with other clients - might be tempted to put yours on a back burner and that could cause annoying and costly delays. By stipulating the completion schedule - and writing in clauses that call for stiff financial penalties for unjustified tardiness and postponement - the homeowner helps to ensure a timely outcome.
Since many homeowners often live on the premises during home improvement projects, this kind of deadline reassurance is particularly important and can make the difference between unhealthy stress and the satisfying fulfillment of seeing a job reach fruition on time.