by Duane Craig

Created on: March 31, 2010

The best contractor for you is usually one you have previously hired and have been happy with the work, and the price. Still, things change. Contractors go out of business, they die, they run into difficulties with subcontractors and suppliers, and they get too busy. So if you find you have to start over, here are some tips.

Listen to what people you trust are saying. If your neighbor hired a contractor and can't stop talking about the job and the price, then that contractor would be worth checking out. 

Look around your neighborhood and see just who is working there. Pay attention to those job sites and note the general cleanliness and the speed and quality of the work. Does the work seem to move forward, or are there long periods of time when nothing is happening? By simply observing you can learn a lot. When it comes to delays in the work there can be all kinds of reasons, but you really aren't interested in that. All you want to know is if the contractor can overcome the kinds of things that cause delays and keep the project on schedule.

Ask those you trust to refer someone. People like to talk about those times in their lives when everything went well and they are often more than happy to refer contractors who have met with their satisfaction.

If none of the previous efforts nets some names then you will need to expand your search. There are many on line resources that claim to match clients with contractors. These can be time savers but just make sure you are very specific about the work you want to have done, and that the service actually checks out the credentials, insurance and history of the contractors it is recommending.

Other places you can find contractor leads is of course in newspapers and phone books. In these instances you may have to narrow down the choices, so you might start by selecting all those that are within 10 miles of you. Then you might further narrow those down to the ones that specialize in the kind of work you want to have done.

Once you have a few candidates get out and visit job sites and see for yourself how each one operates. When it comes to making your final choice only you can take that step, but if you follow a thorough process you should be rewarded with a pleasurable building experience.

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