Advice for the new homeowner about contractors
Today, I met a contractor who will do a “contractor’s inspection” for people who are about to be homeowners, but don’t own the house yet. Great service! This is not a pre-purchase inspection; it is more a life-of-the-house estimate.
Because he is a contractor, he can give estimates on work he may do. He also gave what I thought was great advice on how to think about working with contractors. I like his advice, what do you think?
1. When renovating a room, do it all at once. For example, don’t change the counter, then the cabinets, then the appliances over time. If you can do it all together, you will be happier with the results. You avoid one part drawing attention to what is wrong with the other parts.
2. Workers get paid about the same amount for their time. Most of the time, if a contractor is more expensive, that contractor is doing more labor. (This applies to workers doing the same job.) You can save money by doing some of the work yourself or hiring coordinating the schedules of your own electricians, plumbers and carpenters. In this way, you save management money, but you do the management. The general rule is “you get what you pay for.”
3. To figure out how responsive a contractor is, ask for a copy of their insurance certificate. This should not take more than a few days. If it takes longer, or you never see it, watch out!
What else do new homeowners need to know?
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all true.
THey should also know that the standard third/third/third model of payment leads to difficulties often. To the extent you can pay a contractor by the week for work done that week, and only pay upfront for materials orders, the interaction is likely to go smoother.
at least triple bid every job. make sure that they are adequately insured. demand all work and materials conform to all applicable codes. get very specific about materials used in the contract. there's a right way and a wrong way to do just about every aspect of the work your hiring and 9 out of 10 contractors will choose the cheapest way unless they believe you know the difference and can create future business for them. set tight time guidelines and make explicit the monetary penalty for failure to perform in a timely manner. when times are busier contractors routinely overbook themselves and are running multiple jobs at the same time and there are many moonlighter crews that have full time day jobs for the benies and can only work nights and weekends. educate yourself about construction as much as is practical. it's also often helpful to delay final payment until a disinterested third party inspects (often local building inspector).
If you have a good local hardware store, ask there for contractor recommendations. They often know who is buying the good stuff and who is looking to cut corners.
A new homeowner should never general-contract their own renovation. If you have never done renovations before or can't do your own basic stuff, you're only asking for trouble.
Still Waiting has it right.
Charles - how does a neophyte know what the value of work on a week-by-week basis is? Yes, the interaction will go smooth - for the contractor milking the homeowner.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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