Contractors - Do's and Don'ts

Contractors are the worst part of a home renovation. In Charleston, I found no quality contractors. Keep in mind, I was trying to save money by hiring contractors skilled in lots of things instead of masters of one. This was likely my problem. Contractors are weasels. I had multiple tell me that they would fix an issue “good enough” to last 1-2 years, and then it would be the new home owner’s issue after I sold. If you want to know if your contractor is legit. Ask him to cut a corner or do something sketchy. If he’s good at his job, he won’t do it.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind while working with or hiring a contractor.

1. ALWAYS SIGN A CONTRACT
   I’m a person that always believes the best in people. Contractors won’t do any more than they believe they’ve agreed to. I was silly and had many verbal contracts with handshakes, and not a single one turned out the way I wanted. If the contractor doesn’t give you a list of their responsibilities and make you both sign it, it’s likely because they aren’t good at their job. Make sure that you have them sign something before they come into your house and start work.

2. GET A WRITTEN WARRANTY ON EVERYTHING
   Make sure your contractors are willing to warranty their work. Problems arise all of the time because they don’t take their time and do everything well. If you get them to warranty their work for 2, 5, or even 10 years, then they have a desire to do it right the first time. Make sure you are in agreement if that warranty is transferrable too.

3. LABEL YOUR TOOLS
   I wouldn’t recommend even leave your tools in the house while you have strangers, aka contractors, working on the property, but sometimes you can’t help it when you’re in the middle of projects. A few of my tools walked off or I had to get into debates about what stuff was mine and what was theirs. Label your stuff, and tell the contractors not to use anything that isn’t theirs. If you have anything of real value, lock it up or take it home with you every night.

4. NEVER PAY ANYTHING UP FRONT!
   This was difficult for me because every contractor said that they wanted half up front and half when finished. That sounds reasonable to me except we didn’t have an agreement or anything to bind them to coming back. Even if they did come back, they still had the chance to damage something mid way through. This left us with an unfinished project and lost money. So even if a contractor pressures you or tells you that’s what everyone else does, don’t do it! Offer to pay them half at the half way mark if it’s an expensive project, but again, have a signed contract. If the contractor can’t afford to pay his guys before the end of the project, you don’t want them anyways.

5. GET AT LEAST 3 QUOTES PER PROJECT
   I typically did this, but I got impatient a couple times and went with the only person who would call me back. For a bathroom remodel, I had a company come quote a new shower to be installed, and he said $10,000 to put in just a tile shower. I quickly showed him the door… The quotes I received were amazingly different. I wouldn’t always go with the cheapest guy either because they typically don’t have the best work.

6. MAKE SURE YOUR CONTRACTOR HAS A WEBSITE OR SOCIAL MEDIA
   I didn’t initially think of this one until I wanted to bash their company name all over the web. One company did so bad, and they never showed up again half way through the job. If the contractor doesn’t have a reputation to uphold, then there is nothing holding them to do a good job. Make sure you have a way to review them and look at other people’s reviews.

7. BE CAREFUL WITH PEOPLE WHO DON’T SPEAK GREAT ENGLISH
   I’m a pretty cheap person, so when I had a Brazilian man tell me he could do a few projects for me at half the amount of anyone else, I said sure! Well, then he stopped showing up because he thought we were taking advantage of him because he wasn’t getting paid enough. This was an issue with more than one contractor. If you want to hire someone who doesn’t speak english well, make sure you speak in person about what need done and refer to #3 again.

8. GOOD CONTRACTORS ARE FRIENDS WITH OTHER GOOD CONTRACTORS
   If there is an off chance that you find a good contractor, you’re pretty safe asking him to refer his friends to you for projects. Now, the opposite is true too. Don’t ever hire a friend of a bad contractor, even if they are cheap. You’ll get poor quality work and waste time. Good contractors run in the same circles. If you need a job done, the chances are good that your contractor will know someone that can do it.

9. HAVE A FEE WRITTEN IN YOUR CONTRACT FOR BEING LATE
   Contractors are notorious for promising one due date and then finishing weeks later. In your contracts, add a fee or some type of incentive for them to finish on time. If you don’t, they’ll walk all over you and drag the project out. Even if it’s a later date than wanted, come up with a reasonable completion date together so you can schedule around it.

10. DON’T BUY SUPPLIES UP FRONT AND PAY FOR LABOR
    I’m only saying this one if you have never used the contractor before. Have the contractor write the quote up with all of the supplies included. This way, if they break anything or mess anything up, you aren’t responsible to pay for more materials. This will also make them more careful around your stuff.

11. BE PREPARED TO PAY CASH
    You’d think that contractors run thriving businesses and therefore take credit cards. Most don’t want to pay for the transaction fees, so be prepared to pay cash for all projects. I didn’t budget for all cash projects in my timeline, and we were tighter on money than I thought.

I wish you the best on finding a contractor that does wonderful work! I was told, “You don’t always get what you pay for, but you certainly don’t get what you don’t pay for.” Keep that in mind while you’re trying to find the best person for the best deal. You’re welcome to ask me questions along the way!