How to Know Your Contractor Is Trustworthy

Home improvement can be an exciting endeavor, especially if it means that you are finally getting the home you’ve always wanted. Doing work on your home can also be somewhat scary because you are placing your trust into the hands of someone you may not know that well.

Hiring a contractor to do the work is a must these days, but finding the right contractor can be a touchy subject. There are ways you can make sure that you are safe in your choice and make sure you’ve hired a contractor that is reputable and someone you want to work with.

contractorAs long as you follow these tips, you’ll be able to know that the person you hired is someone you can trust to give you what you want in your home improvement endeavors.

They Should Have a License

This might seem like something that is a no-brainer but there are plenty of people who work as contractors that aren’t properly licensed. Those who are not licensed could be shut down in the middle of a job, leaving you high and dry.

Obviously, contractors who aren’t licensed probably aren’t the best choice anyway.

They Should Have Insurance

This might like also seem like a no-brainer, but there are plenty of people who don’t check and make sure the person they hire has the appropriate contractors insurance. The best contractors are going to be carrying plenty of general liability, worker’s comp, contractor’s bonds and anything else that might come in handy for a particular job.

Get Written, Official Estimates

Most of the top workers in this area are going to be offering estimates, but the best of the best will have no problem giving you those estimates written out on company letterhead. A job might go over what the contractor believed it would originally cost, but if the job is going way, WAY over, you will want to have something on paper by which you can hold them accountable.

A worker who balks at official estimates might not have any interest in staying on budget.

Is the Contractor Registered With the Better Business Bureau?

A worker worth his salt is going to be one that has no problem registering with the Better Business Bureau. This is a rather small step, but it holds the contractor to some fairly simple–but important–business rules.

Check References

If the contractor hasn’t been in business long enough to have some very good references, you probably don’t want to use them. If you ask for references and that list looks like it’s too good to be true, you should check them out thoroughly and completely. Previous customers who are happy with the work should have no problem giving good reviews and references.

The more jobs that are similar to yours, the better. The more jobs that are similar to yours that have very successful testimonies the better as well.

Pay Attention How They Treat Employees

Even the smallest home improvement jobs are likely going to involve the contractor hiring someone to work alongside them or under them. Those who are not treating their employees well will tell you quite a bit about how good they actually are. While movies and television shows tend to show all bosses as hard to work with, those who are truly mean or cruel to their employees are likely not that great to work with even if they’re working for you.

Be Happy With Your Choice

As long as you are diligent about checking out the contractor who is doing your home improvement work, you should be relatively happy with your choice. Some people are always going to want to quickly choose someone and get started right away. Those people tend to pay the price in a large number of ways.

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