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Tips For Finding The Right Contractor For Your Specific Property Repair Needs
by
Don Marks
Some people are good performing their own home improvements odd jobs, but some major jobs such as a home extension or major kitchen improvement might always require a good home improvement contract to carry out. The question becomes: how can you find and determine a good contractor who can deliver on the kind home improvement expected?
The first step is to select about four or five contractors – and there are several ways to do that. Ask people you know who have had home improvement jobs done to refer you to their contractor if the job was done satisfactorily. Alternatively, decide to randomly select contractors by doing online web searches, reviewing related websites, finding information from consumer review sites.. Once this first step has been taken, start the vetting process to determine the best of the chosen lot. Listed below are some tips for finding and qualifying a home improvement contractor before hiring them for the job at hand.
1. Conduct a thorough research on the contractors selected. Find out their specialties and how long they have been in business. Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if there are any complaints filed against them by other past clients and how the complaints were resolved. Also be sure to check their BBB rating.
2. Contact all the chosen contractors to schedule an appointment to assess the work to be done. Even though most contractors are very busy, take special not of those who respond to your calls promptly and are readily accessible. If a contractor cannot be easily reached or does not respond to calls in a timely manner, most likely this attitude will be reflected in their working style. Not responding to calls or messages are most of the time telltale signs that a contractor is too busy and might not follow through and complete the job on time.
3. Meet with each contractor and interview him or her thoroughly. The interview process is to make sure both yourself and the potential contractor will be a good fit. Ask about their typical timeframes for finishing such jobs in the past. Find out their availability for the job at hand. Ask to see copies of their licenses, liability insurance and bond papers. Ask them to provide a list of references of their past clients, and tell them they will hear back from.
4. Call out their references and ask questions. Some of the most important questions to ask will be if the contractors kept to their completion schedules; did they go over the budget agreed upon; are these references happy with the outcome of the work provided and would they recommend this particular contractor.
5. From the satisfactory responses you receive, narrow down the choices and pick out the three contractors you think can provide an excellent service and ask them to provide estimates for the job. Make sure the bids received are broken down into labor and materials. Compare the estimates and make a choice on the one you feel comfortable with.
6. Go over the chosen contractor\’s bid estimates again and ask the contractor to draw up a contract stipulating work timeframes, the agree-upon price, and every other detail such as change orders and latent defects. Read over the contract and make sure every detail is understood before signing it.
Every home improvement project requires a qualified and good contractor to be a success. However, not every contractor who has hung up a sign can perform quality work in a home improvement project. Doing due diligence is the only way to best qualify a contractor for the job.
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