The most important decision you will make when starting a project on your house is the selection of the contractor. A reputable, honest and responsible contractor can make the project painless and somewhat worry-free. However, if you hire the wrong contractor for your project, the shoddy work will cost you much more than you budgeted, along with numerous other nightmares you will end up with.

The selection process could start with a talk to people you know that recently had work done on their house. You can also call your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of businesses in the area, or, call the Better Business Bureau. There are other organizations that pre-screen contractors who are members of that service, such as Service Magic.com, Renovation Experts.com or Construction Deal.com. Next, you should contact at least 5 contractors, 3 should call you back and come for the free estimate.

When meeting with each contractor ask to see 3 written references and some photos of work they have done. While the contractor is there, you should also ask about his/her business insurance. After receiving the written estimates you will need to do some thinking. It's easy to just take the lowest price and say "that's my guy" but that's not a smart move and you are really asking for trouble. Start by calling the references you have received from the contractors, ask them if the job was completed in a timely manner and if they received the finished product and the value they were contracted for. Ask if that person would use the same contractor for future projects.

The next thing would be to call the contractors that are still in the running and ask them to stop by to go over the written estimate. During this process, explain the budget you are on and try to get a read on the contractor, see if he shows any enthusiasm for getting the contract and doing the work. After these steps, then you can start to negotiate a price with the contractor whom you feel most comfortable. There is more to hiring a Contractor than just price, a cheap price may say more about the contractors desire to get the job than it does about the quality of the work he or she will deliver.

A good contractor will walk you thru the construction process and help you make decisions not based on his benefit, but yours. He or She will also offer advice knowing that you are on a budget and work with you to stick to the budget. I recently read an article and picked up on an interesting quote from a 19th century economist by the name of John Ruskin who wrote "When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, sometimes you lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the job it was bought to do."

Robert
peakimprovements.com

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