Find the right contractor...
If you are considering contracting work out for your home or office, the following advice might save you thousands of dollars.
I would like begin this posting with a picture of what can happen if you make a poor contracting decision.
I have seen Saltillo thin-set to a floor, then left without grout… indefinitely.
Another customer once asked me to take a look at staining some of his interior doors. While walking up the driveway, I noticed that all the paint on the outside of his stucco home was peeling off. When I asked about it, he explained to me that he had hired a painter who agreed to paint his house for a great price. The painter convinced the customer that hosing the house off was as good as pressure washing it.
…The cost to repair the walls for that customer will now be three times what it should have cost to paint the house the first time.
A few months ago a general contractor was hired to add a playroom on to a customer’s house. The contractor completed about half the job, then told the homeowner that he ran out of money. It appears that he spent their materials budget paying his personal bills and didn’t have anything left over to continue with the project.
A month before that, a customer paid to have a 12 foot by 12 foot arts and crafts room added onto her house. Instead, the general contractor built her a 10 foot by 10 foot room, and then disappeared. She lost almost 50 square feet.
One last example: Today, a customer told me about an experience he had with a landscaper who was supposed to redesign his yard. The landscaper asked for a 50 percent deposit so that he could buy the materials. He then brought a meager pile of supplies to the customer’s house and never returned.
You can avoid the ugly side of contracting by following some simple advice.
5 Ways to Escape Cruddy Contractors:
1. Get estimates from licensed, bonded, and insured companies.
Licensed companies have a paper trail on file with the Better Business Bureau. A five minute check-up on the BBB’s website can tell you how long the company has been in business and if it has had any complaints. A company that hasn’t been in business for over a year should not be seriously considered unless they can prove that they have a track record of quality.
When a contractor has his or her license revoked for shoddy craftsmanship, they can choose to: 1) find a new profession, 2) try to continue working without a license, or 3) change their company’s name and get another license. Fairly often, contractors will begin working again with a new name, thus their license will reflect that they are a new company. It is better to find someone who has been around for a few years.
Insured companies also tend to be more trustworthy for two reasons. Firstly, if something goes terrible awry, there is a decent chance that insurance money will pay for the damages. Secondly, insurance can add a substantial cost to the operations of a company. A company that can manage the cost of the overhead is likely to be better run than one that can’t.
2. Don’t take the risk of hiring cheap labor.
Most of us enjoy bargain shopping. Our thought is “why pay full price when you can get it for less?” Unfortunately the contracting industry is different that your normal desk lamp.
Good contractors know their worth. They charge what they know they can. If someone is cheaper than everyone else we have to ask why.
3. Find out what you are getting.
I am stunned sometimes when customers don't take the time to ask questions. I went to a home recently to estimate the cost of a painting project. It seemed as though the customer was anxious to have me leaving the moment I stepped into the house. I don't mind being brief but I feel sorry for the customer. There was much that I wanted to share with him but he didn't provide me the opportunity. All he wanted to know was the price. Unfortunately, the guy with the best price is not usually the guy who will do the best job.
Also, keep in mind the difference between a quote or an estimate and a price. Sometimes contractors will get halfway into a project only to come back asking for more money to complete the job. The customer is suprised that this is even possible, but then the contractor reminds her that what he gave to her in writing was "an estimate," not a price.
The vet surprised my wife and I in this way when we had a potentially cancerous lump removed from our dog's chest. Our final bill was double what we were told that the operation would cost. It turns out that we had been given a quote...and a bad one at that.
4. Don't be too price conscious.
Price matters, but it is deceptive. Often times people will step on their own toes by getting a good deal in the short run. The other day a lady cheerfully told me she had the outside of her house painted for $1,000. It sounds like a pretty good deal right? She then began to shyly ask me if it was normal for paint to start peeling within a couple of months. I didn't want to tell her, but she likely made a mistake when she hired that painter. If the walls weren't pressure washed, all the paint on her walls is going to start cracking and falling off like scotch tape on a chaulk board. To fix this, her next paint job is going to cost between $4000 and $6500. It would have been cheaper and less frustrating to just let a quality company do it the first time.
5. Get it in writing.
What contractor X says and what contractor X does are not always the same. I would even say that if it is not in writing, it wasn't said. One thing I have found is that people have funny and imperfect memories. A roofing contractor shared with me a time when he almost had to repave someone's driveway because the customer insisted that his roofing truck broke her concrete. It was only after he was able to show her before and after pictures of her roof, including the grass that was growing out the cracked driveway in both pictures, that the customer realized her mistake. Though the customer immediately began to apologize, it shows the importance of having something tangible behind the negotiating beyond our recollection.
Written proposals also allow you as the customer to make fair comparisons. Some things to get in writing include: the scope of the work to be done, the brands and product lines of the materials that are going to be used (if available), any guarantees and warranties that are included in the proposal, and the license number of the contractor. These things will also provide you recourse in the event that the contractor does not do what is proposed.
I would like begin this posting with a picture of what can happen if you make a poor contracting decision.
I have seen Saltillo thin-set to a floor, then left without grout… indefinitely.
Another customer once asked me to take a look at staining some of his interior doors. While walking up the driveway, I noticed that all the paint on the outside of his stucco home was peeling off. When I asked about it, he explained to me that he had hired a painter who agreed to paint his house for a great price. The painter convinced the customer that hosing the house off was as good as pressure washing it.
…The cost to repair the walls for that customer will now be three times what it should have cost to paint the house the first time.
A few months ago a general contractor was hired to add a playroom on to a customer’s house. The contractor completed about half the job, then told the homeowner that he ran out of money. It appears that he spent their materials budget paying his personal bills and didn’t have anything left over to continue with the project.
A month before that, a customer paid to have a 12 foot by 12 foot arts and crafts room added onto her house. Instead, the general contractor built her a 10 foot by 10 foot room, and then disappeared. She lost almost 50 square feet.
One last example: Today, a customer told me about an experience he had with a landscaper who was supposed to redesign his yard. The landscaper asked for a 50 percent deposit so that he could buy the materials. He then brought a meager pile of supplies to the customer’s house and never returned.
You can avoid the ugly side of contracting by following some simple advice.
5 Ways to Escape Cruddy Contractors:
1. Get estimates from licensed, bonded, and insured companies.
Licensed companies have a paper trail on file with the Better Business Bureau. A five minute check-up on the BBB’s website can tell you how long the company has been in business and if it has had any complaints. A company that hasn’t been in business for over a year should not be seriously considered unless they can prove that they have a track record of quality.
When a contractor has his or her license revoked for shoddy craftsmanship, they can choose to: 1) find a new profession, 2) try to continue working without a license, or 3) change their company’s name and get another license. Fairly often, contractors will begin working again with a new name, thus their license will reflect that they are a new company. It is better to find someone who has been around for a few years.
Insured companies also tend to be more trustworthy for two reasons. Firstly, if something goes terrible awry, there is a decent chance that insurance money will pay for the damages. Secondly, insurance can add a substantial cost to the operations of a company. A company that can manage the cost of the overhead is likely to be better run than one that can’t.
2. Don’t take the risk of hiring cheap labor.
Most of us enjoy bargain shopping. Our thought is “why pay full price when you can get it for less?” Unfortunately the contracting industry is different that your normal desk lamp.
Good contractors know their worth. They charge what they know they can. If someone is cheaper than everyone else we have to ask why.
3. Find out what you are getting.
I am stunned sometimes when customers don't take the time to ask questions. I went to a home recently to estimate the cost of a painting project. It seemed as though the customer was anxious to have me leaving the moment I stepped into the house. I don't mind being brief but I feel sorry for the customer. There was much that I wanted to share with him but he didn't provide me the opportunity. All he wanted to know was the price. Unfortunately, the guy with the best price is not usually the guy who will do the best job.
Also, keep in mind the difference between a quote or an estimate and a price. Sometimes contractors will get halfway into a project only to come back asking for more money to complete the job. The customer is suprised that this is even possible, but then the contractor reminds her that what he gave to her in writing was "an estimate," not a price.
The vet surprised my wife and I in this way when we had a potentially cancerous lump removed from our dog's chest. Our final bill was double what we were told that the operation would cost. It turns out that we had been given a quote...and a bad one at that.
4. Don't be too price conscious.
Price matters, but it is deceptive. Often times people will step on their own toes by getting a good deal in the short run. The other day a lady cheerfully told me she had the outside of her house painted for $1,000. It sounds like a pretty good deal right? She then began to shyly ask me if it was normal for paint to start peeling within a couple of months. I didn't want to tell her, but she likely made a mistake when she hired that painter. If the walls weren't pressure washed, all the paint on her walls is going to start cracking and falling off like scotch tape on a chaulk board. To fix this, her next paint job is going to cost between $4000 and $6500. It would have been cheaper and less frustrating to just let a quality company do it the first time.
5. Get it in writing.
What contractor X says and what contractor X does are not always the same. I would even say that if it is not in writing, it wasn't said. One thing I have found is that people have funny and imperfect memories. A roofing contractor shared with me a time when he almost had to repave someone's driveway because the customer insisted that his roofing truck broke her concrete. It was only after he was able to show her before and after pictures of her roof, including the grass that was growing out the cracked driveway in both pictures, that the customer realized her mistake. Though the customer immediately began to apologize, it shows the importance of having something tangible behind the negotiating beyond our recollection.
Written proposals also allow you as the customer to make fair comparisons. Some things to get in writing include: the scope of the work to be done, the brands and product lines of the materials that are going to be used (if available), any guarantees and warranties that are included in the proposal, and the license number of the contractor. These things will also provide you recourse in the event that the contractor does not do what is proposed.
posted by The Design Guy at 9:31 PM
1 Comments:
I like the stories, but you still need some links. What we are trying to do here is to make your pieces into something like a column. You need sources. With that said, you gave good advice.
The Lovely and Gracious
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