Hiring a contractor can be intimidating, especially for new homeowners. You need new countertops in your kitchen and a sink in your bathroom! Who do you call? — or do you email? How many estimates should you get? How much money should you pay up-front? Here is a simple, yet informative, guide to hiring a contractor.
How To Find a Contractor:
In most areas, there are hundreds of contractors, so narrowing down your list can be a daunting task. The first thing you can do is ask your family, friends and even acquaintances if they can recommend someone. To broaden your net, post a request for contractor referrals on Facebook or write an email to your group of friends and ask them to forward along your inquiry. A first-hand referral is the best way to find a top-notch contractor. Once you get a personal recommendation, ask questions because you might have different needs and expectations than the person making the referral.
Be sure to ask:
• Was the project completed within budget and on-time?
• Were there any problems with the quality of the work?
• If they had another home project, would they rehire their contractor or would they research other contractors?
Don't worry if you can't get a personal recommendation. There are plenty of contractor directories online. Consider using directories that include a rating system and offer reviews, like Angie's List and Yelp. These are great consumer resources and can help you weed out unprofessional or sloppy contractors. In fact, in an age where online reviews are common-place, it's amazing that bad contractors still get business!
How To Contact a Contractor:
Once you find 3 to 5 contractors that come highly recommended by a friend, family or internet review, get up the courage and actually call them on the phone. There are several reasons why you should call instead of email. First, the turnaround time is faster. Also, speaking with someone is a good way to gauge the way they approach work. If someone is rude and dismissive when you call, don't waste your time meeting with them, they might not think twice about treating your project the same way!
Estimates:
One question people always ask is: how many estimates should I get before I start a project? The simple answer for large projects is 3. Major jobs can vary in price by hundreds or even thousands of dollars. You should make sure your contractor visits the project area and gives you an estimate based on set criteria like:
• Do the bids include the same quality material (i.e. carpet, wood cabinetry and tile)?
• Do the bids include all services from start to finish?
• Do the bids include all fees, licenses and warranties?
Another issue people find confusing is: when is it appropriate to ask a contractor to visit the project area for an estimate? Obviously, if you have a small job worth $200, you aren’t going to find 3 contractors willing to visit your home and offer a bid. This is a tough question because it can vary by region, but any job over $800 should merit a home visit. Anything under $800 should be discussed over the phone. Be sure to describe your project in detail, highlighting any potential problems. It’s better to know how much a project will cost up-front, as opposed to being blind-sided by extra fees after you’ve drafted a budget.
What To Look For:
Before you accept the lowest bid, make sure you do your due diligence on your contractor, regardless of whether or not you get glowing reviews from a friend or family member. Ask your contractors for referrals from past clients. If you can, talk to the referrals on the phone instead of emailing. This is another situation where it’s important to interact with a person, paying close attention to their tone. Also, look up your contractor on the Better Business Bureau website and make sure there haven’t been any serious complaints. Always ask your contractor for copies of their licenses and insurance or check online at Contractor’s License Reference Site.
Contracts:
Contracts are essential. If your contractor doesn’t want to sign a contract or doesn't have one readily available, find someone else. The terms of each contract will vary depending on your project. However, you want to make sure your contract is amended to your specific project. For example, if you are hiring a painter, don’t just sign a general contract. The contract should include the exact rooms you need painted and the paint numbers along with any other particular instructions. The more specific the terms of your contract are — the more recourse you have if things go wrong. Your contract should also include the basic budget, a firm deadline and provision ensuring the contractor will pay for any damage done to your property.
Costs:
How much you pay up-front can vary by state and can be mandated by law, but typically contractors will ask for 30 percent to 50 percent. Never pay your contractor the full amount until the job is finished, and never pay in cash — it's important to have records of all our payments.
Do you have your own advice to share when hiring contractors?
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This is all good advice. In DC, a good place to get contractor recommendations is checkbook.org. Unfortunately it's not free, but it has a lot more info than Yelp. (I haven't used Angie's List so I can't compare it to that.)
Should/Do/Can contractors give you receipts (for tax purposes? Rental property)? or is the contract and copies of cashed checks enough?
Get a contract, and specify, specify, specify. Source all the materials yourself, and put those specifications into the contract item by item. With the web, it's now possible to print an offering of the specific item you want (like fixtures for a kitchen or a bath) even if the contractor buys it elsewhere.
i am preparing to gut a bath, and the first thing I did was find all the products I want on the web, and bookmark them. I have everything except the tile, which I will spec at the local tile importer. In some cases I ordered a catalogue from the manufacturer. When I am ready to write the contract, I will have all the specs on every item going into my bath.
We just hired a contractor for a $100,000 job (renovating most of our house - we don't have the free time or the know-how to do most of it). I would add a couple of things to this list.
1. Make sure you clarify during the estimate phase who will provide what. We didn't go with one guy because he had to use his own cabinets for our kitchen, but we had already picked ones we love. Our current contractor has contacts and sources, but he knows we have our heart set on our cabinets, and is fine with that.
2. Don't go with the first 5 contractors if you don't have a good feeling about them. The sixth time was the charm for us. You can definitely oversearch, but if you're doing a bigger project, it's of huge importance that you find someone you can trust, that you feel you can bring up concerns/ideas with and that brings something other than labor to the table (ideas, experience).
Two things to add:
1: ask your contractor if they subcontract out any of the work for which you are paying. If so, get referrals on the sub-contractors, as well. You may contract with A, but if A hires B to do the actual work, your referrals on A go out the window.
2: GET A WAIVER OF LIEN UP FRONT, no exceptions!! If contractor A buys the materials from store A and doesn't pay his bills, store A has every legal right to put a lien on your property for the cost of those materials - even if you've already paid contractor A for them. You can't sell your property with a lien against it. If your contractor won't sign a waiver of lien, run fast, and run far. And get a waiver of lien from the sub-contractor mentioned in #1, too!
Learned by experience.
Coincidentally, I just signed up for Angie's List earlier today. It's behind a paywall, which causes sadness, but it seems worth a one-month subscription while I renovate my new place. Reviewers mostly list what they paid and what the work involved, so it's useful for pricing guidelines too.
I'll have to look into checkbook.org, thanks for the tip.
For DC folks, I highly recommend checking Community Forklift (a nonprofit salvage yard) before starting a project. They have tons of construction materials, kitchen/bath stuff, appliances, etc. Re-using is the greenest of all options! If you are ripping out useful stuff, it's also a nice place to donate. Other cities might have similar places.
go with a small company, owner operated. you want the guy that you hire to be there every day. if that contractor has to sub out some work, he should still show up and be there while the other contractor is working.
also, if they are a small company, they will need a fair amount down to buy materials, so check them out on angie's list and check their referrals.
Can I just say that that picture is hilarious? You can just hear that dude say, "ta-daaaaaaaa. I did it..."
I've had great luck finding people with Thumbtack.com in the Bay Area--everyone from contractors to handymen, and they're free and nationwide.
To protect yourself legally:
Check their license - you can usually do this online on your state's website. Never hire an unlicensed contractor, or someone whose license is expired.
Always make sure they pull any necessary permits. Never work with a contractor who wants you to pull the permits yourself, or suggests you don't need one for a big project (and make sure you read up on whether a permit is required for your particular work in your city).
And don;t forget the old favorite- check with the BBB, even though its no way to pick a contractor by itself, its a good idea to check the couple you have narrowed it down to
Amen, Gateau! I found that one out the hard way when I bought this house five years ago.
When my condo was flooded by a neighbor last year I hired a wood flooring guy, an electrician, a drywall guy and a painter -- I got multiple estimates on each job, hired the contractors in a certain order with certain expectations and my entire condo was refinished from top to bottom within 2 weeks, well under budget with beautiful results. (I'm still proud of myself.) I followed all of the guidelines listed above: started with friends, moved onto Angie's List and BBB and checked all licenses, got 3 estimates for each job, all contracts in writing and, VIOLA! Brand new home.
One hint: if you set-up an account on Angie's List but stop just shy of buying a month of access, you'll get an email within 24-hrs offering you 50% off their normal rate. It happened to me and, so far, several friends. Just so's ya know.
I have a few things to add since I am in the business. Don't expect to get freebies, we work for a living. Changes in the plan cost us money so expect to pay more. Don't ask the contractors employees if we will do work on the side aka can you do work for us cheaper. Almost half of all our customers ask us this. It's very annoying. Another thing, we are NOT your personal confidants, babysitters, advice givers, nursemaids, dog walkers or entertainers.( I actually had a woman ask me to help change an elderly woman's diaper because none else was there to help her, I obliged out of my heart but it was really uncomfortable for me)I like to be friendly and chat with my clients but hours of conversation make me get behind in my work. Just show us the same respect you would show any other person you are doing business with outside of your home. Thanks!
Ruthie from Community Forklift here. Ms. Tart, thanks for the shout-out!
I have a tip to add: when interviewing potential contractors, find out if they are willing to donate leftover materials - because it can save you serious money.
Are you changing cabinets, fixtures etc. simply because of style or layout, not because the old things are in terrible shape? Then donating the sturdy old stuff to a home improvement thrift store can really reduce the cost of your project.
Many nonprofit thrift stores will pick up donations. So, not only will you earn tax deductions worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, but it may significantly lower your disposal costs (after all, you get charged for the weight in the rental dumpster or the number of trips your contractor takes to the landfill). And of course, you can feel good because it creates green jobs, helps your local community, and reduces waste and energy use.
However, the time to talk about it is NOT when you see your contractor taking a sledgehammer to your vanity or chucking perfectly good light fixtures into the dumpster. BEFORE you sign the contract, tell him/her that you would like to donate if possible, and ask what s/he thinks can be removed carefully for reuse. Then have it written into the contract that they will try their best to make it happen.
Another important tip: contact your local thrift store for home improvement in advance and ask them what they are most interested in. We love it when a homeowner sends us photos of materials before it has been removed - it gives us a good idea of whether it will be worth our while to send our truck out to pick it up. Also, it means that we can schedule the pickup appointment according to the contractor's schedule, making it easier for him/her to work with us (If the homeowner doesn't contact us until after the stuff is removed, then it may have to sit there, taking up space in their house for days or weeks until we can pick it up - slowing down renovation work).
Some smart contractors in the DC area are starting to include donation in their bids. Andy Ault from Little River Carpentry will give a client an estimate that includes the cost of materials, the cost of labor, AND the amount of tax deduction that he thinks he can get them.
Don't know if there's a thrift store for home improvement in your area? Go to http://communityforklift.com/links.cfm and scroll about halfway down the page to the "Other Reuse Resources" section. We have links to several directories of building material thrift stores around the U.S.
Since I was searching for this information I came across your blog.But my advice is that everyone should check the background of the contractor before contracting.For different part of work such as electrical work,changing cabinets etc. should use different contractor.For further information :click here
here's another one - don't always assume the lowest bid is the best bid. my husband is a general contractor and frequently gets business from people that have hired the lowest bid first and then ended up with a mess.
jonnifer, you are dead right on. You definately get what you pay for and if the bid is exceptionally low be wary. Also be wary of very high bids too. Paying too much doesn't guarantee better work either.
Don't give them too much information...about future plans. I bought a house and had to have it entirely painted and made the mistake of talking of future plans I had to eventually replace the original cabinets down the road. The result was corners cut during the job since they figured they were temporary.
Now I have to deal with paint chipping from the cabinet doors from them not properly sanding the acrylic paint before applying the new paint, just a few months after the job was done!
Keep it on a need-to-know basis!