9 Tips for Finding the Right Contractor for Your Next Home Renovation Project

9 Tips for Hiring the Right Contractor for Your Next Home Renovation Project

I love watching shows like Property Brothers, Love It or List It, or Rehab Addict on HGTV. I have always been fascinated with these shows because they focus on rehabbing old properties and making them new again. Otherwise, these properties would see the wrecking ball or the more modern Robotic Demolition Services and be torn down and replaced with something modern. While tearing down old buildings is necessary sometimes, seeing new life breathed into a place that still has potential is always heartwarming. I have always kinda wanted to try flipping a house of my own. However, I know that it takes a ton of physical labor, hiring the right contractor, and capital. Maybe one day I can fulfill my dream as long as I can find good contractors who would be willing to do all of the work so that I could just manage the projects.

If you are a homeowner at some point, you might need a contractor to replace the flooring in your home, paint, replace appliances, and other tasks that need maintenance as a home owner. So whether you have a small project or a large project, finding the right contractor, (such as Boutwell Built, a custom home builder in Ocala)  is important if you don’t want to do the projects yourself. Do it yourself projects usually end up saving you money in the long run.  However, if you don’t know what your doing it could end up costing you even more money because you end up having to find a contract to finish what you couldn’t handle.

Today, I wanted to share with you some tips on how to hire the right contractor for your next home renovation project.

Ask Friends or Family for Referrals

If you have family or friends who have owned their home for several years, chances are they will know of reputable builders or contractors. Especially if they have had their home built or had any major things go wrong in their home. They can tell you who they used. Word of mouth is still a powerful form of advertising.

Contact the Building Inspector in Your City

You can try calling the building inspector for the city that you live in. They will be able to give you a list of reputable people to contact. Depending on how busy your city is, you may not hear anything back from the building inspector so don’t be bummed if you don’t receive a call back.

Search Angie’s List

Angie’s list is a popular website that allows you to search for reputable company to help you build your home, take on remodeling project, or fixing things in your home. This site requires members to pay a nominal fee but there are some benefits to requiring a fee to use their database. Some of those benefits include: no anonymous reviews, companies make reports on their own company or a competitor’s company, they have a resolution team that will step in and help you resolve any issues that might arise during the project or afterwards, and companies are required to respond to their reports so that potential customers can get the real story instead of a one sided story.

Interview Several Different Contractors

Before making a final decision on a contractor, you should always get quotes from at least 3 different providers. This not only ensures that you are receiving fair quotes. A quote that is potentially too low or high might be a red flag, this isn’t always the case but you want to cover your bases.  I highly suggest that you interview them in person but you can even do it on the phone. Just be careful if you are given quotes for a project without ever stepping foot in your home.

Pick the Best Contractor for the Job

You are spending several thousands dollars or more so you want the contractor you choose to be a perfect match before you ever decide letting them in your home for the duration of the project. If you don’t feel someone is the perfect match, don’t give up. Take your time and continue searching for the perfect match.

Search the Internet for Company or Contractor Reviews

It is important to search the Internet for reviews. You want to see what other people are saying about the person that you plan on hiring.

Check with the Better Business Bureau

Once you have narrowed down your contractor selections, you should go to the Better Business Bureau website or contact them via phone. This will give you a chance to scope out their reputation. If you can’t find the company listed in the BBB website, it is possible that they don’t exist so be weary of doing business with them. You don’t want a company or contractor to take advantage of your family.

Never Pay for Materials or in Full Until the Work is Completed

Never pay for the full renovations upfront. There are too many fly by the night contractors who magically appear especially after a storm. You don’t want to do business with someone who doesn’t have the capital to float the money for materials or labor until the work has been completed.

Be Aware of Potential Red Flags Before and After Hiring a Contractor

As you are searching for your contract, do pay attention to potential red flags. They include:

  • Contractor is demanding you to pay for everything in cash only.
  • They refuse to give you a physical address for their business.
  • Don’t use a company that only has a P.O. box, they are very easy to obtain.
  • Keeps odd company hours.
  • Employees who use alcohol or drugs during business hours.
  • Refuses to sign a contract.
  • Lacks professional communication skills.
  • Pressures excessively to sign a contract immediately. A reputable company or contractor will understand if you want to get several quotes.
  • Can’t verify any of their credentials.
  • Contractor is willing to give you a huge discount in exchange for using your home photos as advertisement.
  • Can’t supply several references from previous customers.
  • They can’t supply insurance documents and professional licences.
  • Refuses to answer all of your questions thoroughly.
  • They are impatient.
  • Doesn’t address your needs or desires.
  • Have a hard time getting a hold of the contractor or doesn’t return your call in a reasonable amount of time.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What is your worst fear when it comes to picking a contractor?

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Comments

49 responses to “9 Tips for Hiring the Right Contractor for Your Next Home Renovation Project”

  1. Robin (Masshole Mommy) Avatar
    Robin (Masshole Mommy)

    Great reminders. There are so many con artists out there, you need to do your research!

  2. Christy Maurer Avatar

    I’m pretty fortunate to have family members who can do most of the stuff we need done! There are some totally shady contractors who will take advantage of you out there!

  3. tara pittman Avatar
    tara pittman

    Make sure they are insured too. Also ask for references.

  4. Renee Avatar

    These are great recommendations. My dad is a licensed contractor and I can’t tell you how many people skimp on doing things the right way and then end up having to have a professional fix it!

  5. Shonda Avatar

    Great tips. You can never be too careful. All too often, I find contractors simply fail to show up at a respectable time. So frustrating.

  6. Michellette "MimiCuteLips" Green Avatar

    Great tips, we’ve used a contractor a time or two for work around the house. We used a family referrals so that made the process much easier. We’d actually seen their work. Contracting business is a double edge sword sometimes you just never know.

  7. soapoperaspy Avatar

    I personally always look up reviews from other people if possible, great to see what others say about them!

  8. Helena Avatar

    These are excellent tips. It is worth bookmarking! I have run into a crooked contractor before and it really makes life difficult.

  9. Elizabeth O. Avatar
    Elizabeth O.

    Those a re very helpful tips. A friend had nightmares with their contractor. The job took so long and they had to pay extras for some materials.

  10. Czjai Reyes-Ocampo Avatar

    These are all great tips. Thanks for sharing! Will keep these in mind for our next renovation project. 🙂

  11. Virginia Avatar

    Great tips! I definitely love referrals from my friends!

  12. Yona Williams Avatar

    I think getting referrals from family and friends is one of the best ways to find a good contractor. They can give you the lowdown on their strengths and weaknesses. Great tips! I would be most afraid of a contractor doing work that seems good at the moment, but brings problems later on after the work is done. I would want some sort of ‘warranty’ or ‘guarantee’ on work.

  13. lisa Avatar

    These are great tips. Thankfully my husband can do most anything and if he can’t do it, we have family in the contracting business! It is very stressful trying to find good renovators!

  14. Caleb Hart Avatar

    My wife and I are thinking about hiring a contractor for a project we have. I’m not very tool savvy, and really doubt that I could build a house. Maybe I should find someone in my area to come take a look at my plans. They would be able to tell me if they are realistic or not.

  15. Deanna R. Jones Avatar

    I liked your tip to check with the Better Business Bureau before hiring home builders. It seems like that would be a good resource for finding contractors who will provide quality service. If there’s one thing that’s definitely necessary for building a home, it’s quality work. Now that I know to check with the BBB site, I’ll be more likely to find a good team of builders. Thanks for the tips!

  16. Olivia Sherwin Avatar

    These are some great tips, and I appreciate your advice to get referrals from friends and family when looking for a contractor. I’ve been wanting to make some changes to my dining room and living room, so I need to find a painting contractor to do that. I’ll definitely ask around to see if anyone I know has had a similar project recently to get recommendations. Thanks for the great post!

  17. Howard Reed Avatar

    My wife and I have been thinking of adding some additions to our house, and the tip about interviewing different contractors, and getting quotes form them to compare is something we never thought of. And the fact that you can find so much information from the internet is such a relief. I’m going to have to do some more research before hiring somebody. http://www.techniblockvic.com.au

  18. Lawrence Rodriguez Avatar

    My wife and I are wanting to repaint our living room soon, but since this is the first time we are doing this we aren’t sure what to do. That being the case, I really appreciate you giving me some insight about this and letting me know that hiring a contractor is a great option for us. I can definitely see how doing this is going to be pay off a ton. I’ll be sure to start looking for someone right away.

  19. Beverly Avatar

    Thanks Lawrence for your comment. We definitely need to do our due diligence when deciding. Let us know how it goes.

  20. Paul Langley Avatar

    This is some really great advice for any homeowner. I appreciate that you started with asking for referrals, because that is always a great first step. Looking into who your friends and neighbors have trusted is a great way to get a shortlist of who’s trustworthy. When I needed a painting contractor after my last kitchen remodel, my next door neighbor had the perfect one for the job, and I saved a lot of time. Thanks so much for writing!

  21. Kyler Brown Avatar

    I really liked these tips about things to look for in a contractor. I’ve hired contractors in the past who I absolutely loved, as well as some that I didn’t love so much. It makes sense to interview several different contractors in order to find the right one. Often you can ask for references to talk to other customers who have already used the services of a potential contractor. Thanks for posting this.

  22. Vivian Black Avatar

    My husband and I are looking to have our bathroom remodeled, and it can be difficult to know which person or business to pick. I really appreciated the advice to check the Better Business Bureau for a business’ reputation; I am definitely going to try that. The list of red flags was also very useful and had important information to keep in mind.

  23. Aria Wellington Avatar

    I didn’t think of contacting a local building inspector! That is such a smart idea and I’m sure that they would be able to recommend some great builders. My husband and I are planning on building a new home next spring and we are trying to plan everything out so that it will be a smooth process. I’ll have to get in contact with an inspector like you suggest and see what results we can get.

  24. Annie Frances Avatar

    I totally agree that you should pick the best contractor for the project. Right now, I want to remodel my office. I think I’ll go online and search for different contractors who can make my office look great. Thanks for the tips!

  25. Justin Knox Avatar

    My wife and I have been planning a home renovation project for some time, and we are finally ready to start looking for a home contractor. I like the idea of having multiple interviews, like you talked about. Do you think the consultation is the most important time to be able to find out if we communicate well with the contractors?

  26. Wade Joel Avatar

    Remodeling can be great. It can turn an old room or house and make it all brand new. I agree that you should interview the contractors because you can get a real feel for them and their work.

  27. Corkco Canada Inc Avatar

    I agree that mutual respect is paramount in working with someone on a renovation. My brother worked with a contractor that only argued with him which ended up costing him a lot of time and money and it was a total mess. If you can work with someone that respects you, you’re more likely to get what you’re looking for. Great tips!

  28. Erika Avatar

    These points were all great, thanks for sharing. I never thought to get quotes from at least 3 different providers. I will try and do that next summer when we are planning to remodel and will be looking for a contractor. I think one of the most important things is to find someone who you can trust and is easy to work with. You want a contractor that will give you ideas, but will also value any decision you make.

  29. Erika Avatar

    I have not been sure how to find a contractor to help with the renovation of my home. I have asked my family and friends but haven’t really been given a lot of options from them. I like the idea of calling the building inspector for my city. That is something I have not tried yet. He might have some good ideas. I will look into that further, thanks for the advice!

  30. Jeff Carbine Avatar

    We all know—whether it be from personal experience or from a person we know—horror stories about contractors not fulfilling their end of the job. Angie’s List is a great resource in seeing transparent recommendations and reviews of contractors. Interviewing different contractors can be daunting and difficult; I would suggest finding a recently remodeled house that you like and asking the owners who the contractor was.

  31. Cindy Tesler Avatar

    I loved your tip to contact the building inspector in your city to get their list of reputable home renovation contractors. You also mentioned that interviewing different contractors before hiring someone helps to ensure that you are receiving fair quotes. Not paying for materials until the job is completed is also a great idea that you mentioned. I also think that if you come across a company that insists that you pay for all materials up front, you might want to consider some more companies as well.

  32. Danni Black Avatar

    My husband and I have been wanting to build a home for the past few years but haven’t been able to find someone for the job. I really like your tip about finding the right contractor and taking the time to search for them. We want to be able to build something that is tapered to our needs as we are going to be starting a family in the next few years. I’ll have to keep these tips in mind during our search, thanks!

  33. Ridley Fitzgerald Avatar

    These are some great tips for finding good remodeling contractors. We are hoping to remodel our entire home, almost, so I will remember this. I especially like the the idea of talking to the building inspector of our city.

  34. Annika Larson Avatar

    I also have a small addiction to HGTV shows and the whole remodeling process. I’ve been wanting to remodel my home for quite some time now, but I think now my husband and I are really ready to move forward with it. These tips will be great for helping us find the right contractor for our home remodeling. I agree with you that referrals from friends or family are a great way to find quality contractors. We will be sure to look for these things when finding our contractor! Thanks for sharing!

  35. olivia nelson Avatar

    I like your idea on interviewing several contractors before you choose one for your remodel. I would imagine that meeting with several different builders could help you decide exactly what you are looking for. My husband and I are remodeling our kitchen so we’ll have to interview a few contractors before we choose one.

  36. General labour Victoria bc Avatar

    These are really great information, and I appreciate your suggestions to find a contractor that matches for renovation project.

  37. Chris Winters Avatar

    Christy, I really appreciate the advice to find a professional contractor through referrals. My wife and I have been wanting to completely renovate our kitchen. I’m not much of a handyman, so I think that a professional contractor would be extremely useful.

  38. Rachel Lannister Avatar

    My sister’s kitchen is really old and she’s always wanted to get it remodeled, and she thinks she might do it this year. You wrote that when choosing a contractor you should use one of these websites that lists good contractors in your area. If my sister did that, she could locate a couple different contractors and meet with them in person, and choose the one she likes the best.

  39. Max Jones Avatar

    I really like how you talked about asking friends and family for referrals when you’re looking for a contractor for your home renovations. We’re wanting to do some renovations in our kitchen, so I think that having a couple of suggestions for contractors that our friends have used and had a good experience with would be really helpful to us! I’m going to have to talk to a few people and see if we can get our kitchen home renovations rolling!

  40. Gloria Durst Avatar

    I like how you say that the BBB can give you an idea of the reliability of a renovation contractor. It would seem smart to consult their website to find out if they have any past complaints filed against the contractor you are looking at. I’m helping renovate my mom’s kitchen for her birthday so we’ll have to follow your tip and find a contractor that is liked by the BBB to help us out.

  41. Gloria Durst Avatar

    I like how you say that you would want to find out what other people are saying about a renovation contractor before you hire them. It would make sense to read reviews on the internet in order to find out exactly how people feel about them. My husband and I want to remodel our kitchen so we’ll have to do what you say and read reviews of potential contractors first.

  42. Kyle Winters Avatar

    I do like that you recommend interviewing several different contractors. After all, you’re not likely to find the perfect home renovation contractor on the first try. Instead, you should focus on getting as many different contractor names as possible, doing some initial research to mark a few of them off, and then interviewing each of your finalists face-to-face.

  43. Dennis Sanchez Avatar

    Thanks for the tips. In the article you talked about how you should find a contractor that is a perfect fit for the specific job you have in mind. I’ve been wanting to change up and expand my family room, and need a good contractor to do the job for me. I’ll have to ask the contractors I speak to what jobs they have done in the past, because if they have done it in the past they likely will be prepped to do the kind of work I have in mind for them.

  44. Ivy Baker Avatar

    This is some really good information about home contractors. I liked that you talked about how it would be a good idea to pick the best contractor for the project. I wouldn’t want to hire a cheap one that couldn’t handle anything.

  45. Lauren Jones Avatar

    Now that our kids have started to bring their friends home, we thought it would be good to remodel our kitchen and living room to better accommodate their guests. It is good to know that one should ask friends and family members for referrals when it comes to finding a contractor. I appreciate what was said about how word of mouth is still a powerful form of advertising. We will keep this in mind as we look to hire, thanks.

  46. Annika Larson Avatar

    My husband and I are hoping to start remodeling our home this fall. We want to make sure we choose a good contractor to help us with this large project. Like you said, we will want to check with the BBB to scope out potential companies reputations.

  47. Max Sayer Avatar

    Great advice about not paying in full till the work is completed. My parents are looking to remodel and a couple of the options are asking for money up front. I’ll have to share this with them.

  48. Ivy Baker Avatar

    This is some really good information about hiring a contractor. It is good to know that I shouldn’t hire someone who has poor communication skills. It is good to know that because I don’t like communication errors. It does seem like a good idea to check something like that before hiring a contractor.

  49. Callum Palmer Avatar
    Callum Palmer

    I do like that you remind readers to not pay in full until the work is completed. After all, you want to make sure you get the work that you hired them for before you pay them. By holding off payment until the end you can ensure that they did a satisfactory job.