Finding a good contractor for your home remodeling becomes difficult in many cases. You have to hover here and there; need to wait for some references from your friends or colleagues. And even after all these sometimes all your efforts go into vain and you end up with a contractor who is not that much good and does not match your expectation level. So, through this article, you will be having a clear idea about what are the steps or what are things you need to keep in mind when you are searching for a good contractor. If you follow the things mentioned below, then surely you will be able to convert all your efforts into success and satisfaction. Let’s start this remodeling contractors article.
- First, you should be very clear about the fact that what you want and it entirely depends on you and the condition of your home. Prepare a layout on your own and fix your budget. This doesn’t mean that your remodeling will entirely be as you have planned but your layout will help the contractor to understand the fact easily that what exactly you want and what is your budget. In case your contractor is not ready to work according to your plan and he/she is asking for an 180 degree change, then it is the time to stop your discussion with the contractor and find someone else. Actually, it may happen that the contractor may ask you for a little bit of addition or alteration in your plan which they think will be better for you. But changing the plan entirely cannot be adhered to.
- Second thing is to discuss the same with your nearest and dearest persons like close friends, family members or neighbors. It will work just like referrals. If any of them have done any remodeling of their homes with any contractor and they are satisfied, then collect the contractor’s contact from them and reach out to him/her.
- In the era of the internet, it is not a big deal to search for the home remodeling contractors in Google. Check the reviews of the contractors available near to you and then make a list of them. But here we have one little suggestion: read the reviews of those customers whose work was quite similar to yours. Basically, all the contractors may not be that much efficient in every area. So, it is highly recommended to choose the contractors as per their specialization.
- Once your short listing is done and you have finalized the name of five to ten contractors, then your concern should be pricing or charges. Now, just collect the contacts of your shortlisted contractors, describe your project and them for the costing. It is quite obvious that the pricing would vary from contractor to contractor.
- Now, it is the time to ask the contractors to visit your place and finalize the costing. But before finalizing anything, verify all the legal documents. You must be aware of the licensing parts which means what kind of licenses the contractors require to work or what kind of authorizations they require to work in any project. So, check the licenses of contractor
- When you are bidding with any contractor, first ask for the breakup of the entire costing. There is a thumb rule in the cost estimation: 40% of the entire cost should be the materials cost, next 40% should be labor cost and rest 20% should be contractor’s profit. It may vary a little bit. So, when you receive the different costing from the contractors, validate them in the above mentioned way. If your house is very old then the materials requirement will be higher
- To have a better customer experience in terms of work and money, BBB rating is a significant factor. Ask for the official business name of the contractor. It will help you to search more specifically about the contractor. Basically with the official business name you can find the complaints which were registered previously and how it was handled. The BBB rating is very useful in this case
- Now, it is the time of having your final agreement paper. Prepare it very carefully. Check all the terms and conditions written over there. You may prepare this paper on your own upon having a discussion with your lawyer or else you can ask your contractor to prepare the same. But make sure you are happy with the agreement before proceeding with the final work.
