Life is so much easier when we can trust and rely on the people around us. We’ve all had professional contacts that feel trustworthy from the beginning, and always follow through on their promises. Unfortunately, most of us have also had experiences with contractors or service providers who turned out to be disreputable, and did not deliver as they should have.
Home renovation is one of those areas where having a trustworthy contractor is particularly important. Nationwide, the average cost of a full-scale home renovation is around $28,000. Granted, many renovation projects have lower price tags, but it’s rare for a contractor to undertake any kind of major renovation project for less than $10,000.
What this means is that the stakes are high when it comes to home renovation. Homeowners often have to refinance their homes, dip into their savings accounts, or secure bank loans in order to fund a major renovation project. When mistakes are made, it can be very costly.
Finding a contractor you can trust—who will give you the best advice and deliver as promised without cutting any corners—is absolutely crucial with this kind of investment. The problem is, it can be difficult to distinguish a trustworthy home renovation company from a contractor who spells trouble. When you set out to research possible contractors in your area, how do you know who can be trusted to handle your project with integrity, professionalism, in the very best workmanship available?
Focus on reputation
The internet can provide homeowners with a fairly good sense of a given contractor’s reputation. People are more likely to leave feedback and write reviews for important and significant investments and purchases, such as home renovations. Look for high average scores on objective platforms like Google, Angie’s list, and Houzz. Read the reviews and comments carefully to get a sense of how the contractor has performed on past projects, and how they have treated past clients.
Ask lots of questions (and pay close attention to the answers)
Far too many homeowners ask too few questions when considering who to hire. If you feel rushed, or that a certain contractor is too impatient to deal with all of your questions in a cordial and professional way—or if the answers you do receive are simply not very clear—you are probably not talking to a particularly trustworthy home renovator.
Look for written guarantees
It’s so easy to offer a verbal guarantee or assure a client over the phone that everything is going to work out perfectly. But unless those claims are backed up in the contract itself, the company in question is not serious about honoring them. Written guarantees are simply a must when dealing with an investment of this size and scope.
The search begins…
It’s tempting to rush into a home renovation project because you want to see results quickly. This causes some people to fly through the important process of selecting a company to perform the work. Avoid this mistake by learning to recognize the signs of a trustworthy and reliable contractor.