Every home eventually needs a renovation. However, the quality depends on the contractor who does it. Choosing an inexperienced contractor leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. Selecting the best renovation contractor leaves you satisfied and gives you real value for your money and time.
While hiring the right renovation contractor is critical, the process might be challenging without proper guidance. We composed this guide to help you choose correctly. We share red flags, selection factors, and how to differentiate a shoddy contractor from an excellent one. Stay on this page to learn more.
Top Signs of a Good vs. Bad Renovation Contractor
Let’s start by looking at some distinguishing signs of a good and shoddy home renovation contractor. You shall know them by these traits.
An excellent contractor has these outstanding qualities:
- A clean track record but within reasonable limits
- Responsive and punctual
- Listen to homeowners’ valuable suggestions and ideas
- Ensure the client’s terms are met by having a written contract
- Provide a written estimate to help you make informed buying decisions
A bad contractor exhibits these unreliability symptoms:
- They have licensing abnormalities
- Unresponsive and irresponsible
- Avoid permits, zoning, and building codes
- Unprofessional communication
- History of lawsuits
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Home Renovator
You need to consider several factors before hiring a given home renovation contractor. Here are the top issues to pay attention to.
1. Define Your Renovation Goals
Pay attention to your home remodeling goals before taking any other step. Why do you want to renovate your home? What results do you wish to see at the project’s end? It’s also essential to define the kind of results you want in the design, among other vital project specifications.
Otherwise, introducing mid-way changes or ideas might give your contractor a hard time. Such unplanned ideas could delay or derail your renovation project.
2. Verify Their Insurance, Licenses, and Permits
Ensure your potential contractor has the necessary permits, licenses, and insurance. The insurance should cover their workers if they get injured while renovating your home. Their insurance must also cover any damage they might cause to your home during the renovation process.
3. Review Their Past Projects
Don’t just take their word for it. Insist on seeing their past projects to get a feel of what to expect. Seeing their work is the best way to gauge the results you will get for your money. Make sure that the work you check isn’t too recent to understand how long it took. Don’t forget to ask the homeowners if they have done any recent repairs or servicing since the contractor completed the renovations.
4. Don’t Ignore Your Instincts
This point might seem less important, but it’s still critical to pay attention to it. Don’t ignore your instincts if they tell you to keep off a given contractor. For instance, if you don’t sense a strong rapport between you and the contractor, it’s better to back off.
5. Don’t Limit Your Estimate Minimum or Maximum
Don’t limit your minimum or maximum estimates to a given number. Break the traditional “three” minimum and go for more if necessary. Breaking this limit gives you more options to make a better choice.
6. Don’t Ignore Busy Schedules
Do you have a “busy bee” prospective contractor? That might be a good indicator they’re in high demand. If you aren’t in a hurry with your renovation project, you can wait for a maximum of six months.
7. Check Online Reviews
Don’t forget to check online reviews before choosing the best contractor for your home’s renovation. Take advantage of the internet to get a testimony of how other homeowners have fared in the contractor’s hands. These reviews help you know more about their service, materials, and labor quality.
8. Negotiate Ground Rules
A home contractor accesses your privacy. They can do their work indoors and outdoors. Therefore, discuss and agree on applicable ground rules during renovations. Discuss the most appropriate hours they will work in your home.
Also, agree on the kind of notice you’ll receive, their parking space, and what they should clean after every day’s work. Don’t forget to agree on the bathroom the renovator’s workers will use. These ground rules save you avoidable infringement and foster proper respect for boundaries.
9. Engage the Right Contractor for the Right Job
Your home might require a specific type of renovation. For example, you might need a specialized bathroom renovation, flooring, or roofing. Just make sure that the contractor specializes in that area or is a competent general remodeler. If they’re wide-spectrum general contractors, insist on seeing the results of your particular renovation project.
10. Sign a Comprehensive Contract
Don’t forget to sign a comprehensive contract with the contractor. Scrutinize the contract to ensure it’s professional, fair, and balanced to protect both parties. If it isn’t exhaustive, request to write yours or provide addendums. The contract should capture these details:
- A bid price
- A payment schedule
- Precise information about the project’s scope
- A site plan
- A systematic plan of preliminary construction works
- A change-order clause
- A clearly documented procedural list for close-out
- An express limited warranty
- Deadlines
- A clause on dispute resolution
- A line waiver to block subcontractors or suppliers from placing a lien on your house if your contractor doesn’t pay their invoices.
11. Reasonable Availability
Most excellent renovation contractors are busy. Also, their availability varies depending on your home’s location and year’s season. If you’re sure the home remodeler does an excellent job, you can wait for them for between three and six months. This waiting period is reasonable for them to organize their time and plan for your project.
12. Contact References
A good home renovator gives references to contact and gets a witness of their work quality. They should give you their phone numbers, names, and email addresses. Ask the prospective contractor to provide you with a mix of older and recent jobs in different suburbs for better comparison.
But be careful while calling the customers to get the most out of your calls. Here are some specific questions to ask past customers before hiring the contractor.
- Did this renovator complete the renovation on time?
- Did they keep the job site clean?
- Did they address arising problems promptly and professionally?
- Was the home remodeler punctual for appointments and work?
- What time of the day did they do their team work?
- How did they hold up their renovation work?
- Did the contractor exceed your budget?
Contractor Red Flags to Look For
We have many red alerts enabling you to back off from an incompetent home remodeler. But how do you spot red flags to save yourself from potential headaches? What warning signs can you detect in their references and finished work to drop a shoddy contractor? This section examines some red flags to look for before hiring a home renovator.
- A History of Legal Suits and Unethical Behavior
Find out if the contractor has legal battles for breaching contracts or any professional misconduct. Government licensing boards maintain publicly viewable licenses to determine if the contractor is in good standing.
You may also contact reputable online contractor-matching services to learn more about the contractor. These service providers do background screening all listed contractors should pass before recommending them.
- Habitual Lateness
It’s understandable for a busy contractor to show up late for appointments. However, if it is a constant, you have a reason to back off from that contractor. A delay habit will most likely spill into your project and could delay or even derail it. Don’t take such behavior lightly.
- Zero or Unclear, Skewed Contracts
A reputable contractor should love legally binding contracts because 80% of the word “contractor” is “contract!” If they hesitate to commit everything to an agreement, retreat. A genuine renovator must be ready to sign a contract that protects both of you and not just their company. Otherwise, you could get a raw deal that leaves only one side satisfied.
- They Make Unsolicited Visits After Renovation Completion
Be wary if your references tell you the contractor makes unsolicited visits to clients’ homes after finishing their contracts. A professional renovator should let you initiate their appearance in your home and not vice versa.
- Too Few References
A confident contractor should proudly give you many references to broadcast their excellent work. If you notice they’re mean with references, most likely they’re trying to minimize enough information that could expose their weaknesses. Also, look for any significant time gaps between their past clients to smell a rat.
- Serious Imperfections in Projects
Now, this is the ultimate test, their results. Check for these red alerts in any of the following finished projects.
- Bathrooms: Dark stains on walls or ceilings, slanting floors, low-quality materials, and poor lighting.
- Kitchens: Visible seams on countertops, low-quality materials, misaligned stoves, fridges, and sinks creating triangles, poor lighting, and insufficient storage.
- Painting: Over spraying, running paint marks, streaks, unsightly lines and edges, and paint splattered on floors.
- Tiling: Crooked lines, cracks, excess grouts, inconsistent grout lines, unlevel surfaces, and clear transitions between surfaces.
- Decks and patios: Wavy boards, mismatched edges, gaps between panels or windows, cracked floorboards, and cracked concrete.
Let’s Renovate Your Home Today
Are you ready to renovate your home and take its value to a higher level in 2022? Let’s help you remodel your home and make it cozier for everyone. Go ahead and contact us today for a free estimate and consultation.
