Hiring a contractor for your home usually only occurs either during a very exciting time of your life when you finally get to remodel the kitchen you always have wanted or a terrible time in your life when the washing machine just flooded your laundry room. Either way hiring a contractor will always occur during a stressful time in your life. There are new budget and time restraints you now have to add to your already busy schedule. Here are some tips on how to make sure you pick the right contractor for you.
Do Your Research
Hiring a contractor is a big decision. You will be putting a lot of trust in someone and subsequently a lot of money and time. It is very important you personally do your research both on the person you end up hiring and the job itself.
Obviously you are not going to be an expert on whatever work you are hiring a contractor for, and you do not have to be; however, you should try to gain at least some working knowledge on the subject and the prices and times associated to the project. You can then use this information to see how forth coming and honest the contractor you are considering is being with you.
Doing your research on the contractor can consist of word of mouth, internet searches, and asking to see jobs they have done in the past. If possible it would be best to choose a contractor who has already completed a job similar to the one you need done. This would mean there should be less surprises for the contractor which would mean hopefully less surprise expenses.
Get Multiple Quotes
Even if the first contractor you make contact with seems perfect, you should always try to get multiple opinions or quotes on an upcoming project. This does not mean you always need to pick the cheapest option (as that might mean it may not be the most quality work) it will however be able to show you if the contractor you liked after doing your research is at least in the ball park with the other pricing in the area. If someone is noticeably cheaper it may mean they are underestimating how hard of a job it is going to be, which means more than likely their time line for completion is also off.
Ask Questions
You need to ask your potential contractor as many questions as possible before ageing on using them. Any questions you already know the answer to (due to doing your research) needs to be asked to gauge their truthfulness and experience. You should ask about previous jobs they have done, to make sure this is not completely uncharted territory for them. Also an important question to ask is what other jobs they are currently doing or have scheduled. Contractors have a bad reputation of biting off more than they can chew. Which ends up leaving your job getting pushed back weeks or months after you already moved out of half your house.
