How To Choose a Reliable Contractor
Top 8 Pro Tips on How to Hire a Contractor
This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shares eight tips to selecting and working with a qualified contractor
Get Recommendations
Start with your friends and family and then check in with the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for a list of members in your area. You can also talk with a building inspector, who’ll know which contractors routinely meet code requirements, says This Old House general contractor Tom Silva, or pay a visit to your local lumberyard, which sees contractors regularly and knows which ones buy quality materials and pay their bills on time.
Do Phone Interviews
Once you’ve assembled a list, Tom recommends that you make a quick call to each of your prospects and ask them the following questions:
- Do they take on projects of your size?
- Can they give you a list of previous clients?
- How many other projects would they have going at the same time?
- How long have they worked with their subcontractors?
The answers to these questions will reveal the company’s availability, reliability, how much attention they’ll be able to give your project and how smoothly the work will go.
Meet Face to Face
Based on the phone interviews, pick two or three contractors to meet for estimates and further discussion. A contractor should be able to answer your questions satisfactorily and in a manner that puts you at ease. Tom says that it’s crucial that you two communicate well because this person will be in your home for hours at a time. On the other hand, don’t let personality fool you. Check in with your state’s consumer protection agency and your local Better Business Bureau to make sure contractors don’t have a history of disputes with clients or subcontractors.
Investigate the Facts
Now that you’ve narrowed your list, put your research to use. Call up former clients to find how their project went and ask to see the finished product. But Tom says you shouldn’t rely on results alone. Even more important, visit a current job site and see for yourself how the contractor works. Is the job site neat and safe? Are workers courteous and careful with the homeowner’s property?
Make Plans, Get Bids
You have your short list of contractors whose track records seem clean and whose work ethic looks responsible. Now it’s time to stop looking back at past work and start looking forward to your project. A conscientious contractor will want not only a complete set of blueprints but also a sense of what homeowners want out of a project and what they plan to spend. To compare bids, ask everyone to break down the cost of materials, labor, profit margins and other expenses. Generally materials account for 40 percent of the total cost; the rest covers overhead and the typical profit margin, which is 15 to 20 percent.
Set a Payment Schedule
Payment schedules can also speak to a contractor’s financial status and work ethic. If they want half the bid up front, they may have financial problems or be worried that you won’t pay the rest after you’ve seen the work. For large projects, a schedule usually starts with 10 percent at contract signing, three payments of 25 percent evenly spaced over the duration of the project and a check for the final 15 percent when you feel every item on the punch list has been completed.
Don’t Let Price Be Your Guide
“Throw out the low ball bid,” says Tom. “This contractor is probably cutting corners or, worse, desperate for work”—hardly an encouraging sign in a healthy economy. Beyond technical competence, comfort should play an equal or greater role in your decision. The single most important factor in choosing a contractor is how well you and he communicate. All things being equal, it’s better to spend more and get someone you’re comfortable with.
Put it in Writing
Draw up a contract that details every step of the project: payment schedule; proof of liability insurance and worker’s compensation payments; a start date and projected completion date; specific materials and products to be used; and a requirement that the contractor obtain lien releases (which protect you if he doesn’t pay his bills) from all subcontractors and suppliers. Insisting on a clear contract isn’t about mistrust, Tom assures us. It’s about insuring a successful renovation.
Finally, remember that as soon as a change is made or a problem uncovered, the price just increased and the project just got longer. The four most expensive words in the English language? “While you’re at it….”
230 COMMENTS
Ava Murphy
June 5, 2018, 10:22 pm REPLYIt’s nice that you suggested checking the National Association of the Remodeling Industry so you can see the list of home remodeling contractors in your area. This is a perfect tip for me because I want to remodel my house, and I want to find a home remodeling contractor that’s near my house. It’s important for me to be able to meet the home remodeling contractor that I will hire when needed, so I want to choose a local home remodeling contractor.
Arya Smith
October 6, 2018, 3:06 am REPLYIt really helped when you said that having a written contract ensures the customers that the project will be done successfully. With that in mind, I will make sure to have a clear contract when I hire contractors. I actually plan to hire them next week because I need to have my cabinets renovated. The original cabinets in this house that we bought have rotted already because they said that it was here for 10 years already.
Sharon Smith
October 13, 2018, 3:03 am REPLYYou got my attention when you said that you should consider calling the contractor that you’re interested in so you can ask them about the number of projects that they are currently working on. My husband and I are planning to hire a home builder because we’d like to start the construction of our house. We wanted to complete the construction based on our timeline, so it’s important for us to find a home builder that has all the time to handle our house project. Thanks!
Tyler Johnson
May 31, 2019, 2:43 pm REPLYThat’s a good idea to meet with a contractor face to face before you hire them. I would think that would be a good way to determine if they are professional or not. I’ll have to make sure that I do that before I hire someone if I decide to build an addition to my house.
Brendan Shelton
August 30, 2019, 11:42 am REPLYMy brother and I are building a big barn on his property to use as an office and workspace for our new business. I love the idea of meeting with the contractor in person so that you can get a good feel of them before hiring anybody. We will use your tips to find the perfect contractor to help us accomplish this dream of ours.