If you have become a homeowner recently, you probably haven’t found a home repair contractor yet. If you are lucky enough, you haven’t had any problems that required fixing, but sooner or later, something will break, and then you will need the phone number of a trustworthy home repair contractor at hand. In this article, we are giving you some advice about what to do when trying to find a reliable contractor.

One thing you should keep in mind when doing this is that the price is not the most important factor. When hiring a contractor that you haven’t met before for the first time, it is best to do some research, to avoid having an unpleasant experience.

The first thing we are going to talk about is how to make a research and make a list with possible contractors. After that, we are going to teach you how to screen that list in order to choose the perfect contractor.

You can make a list with possible contractors either by asking for advice from neighbors, friend and family or by searching online or going to sources like the Yellow Pages or newspapers. However, we recommend the first option, because it increases your odds to get genuine information. If your friends or neighbors have had great experiences with their home repair contractors, chances are you will too.

After creating the list with possible contractors, there are a few things that you can do too choose the ideal contractor for your repair work. One thing you could do is verify their background by going on sites like Yelp or the Better Business Bureau site, where you can find their feedback score, complaints and opinions from former customers. Also, if a certain contractor does not have insurance coverage, you can consider that a major deal breaker, because if they damage a part of your property, you will have to pay for that damage.

Other things you can do are: verifying if they have all the licences and permits they need, checking if their employees have past criminal records, checking for bankruptcy, getting in touch with their former clients and asking for opinions, checking their past projects and asking and comparing their bids.

If you are planning to take on a home remodelling project, the first thing you should do is figure out what are the changes you want to do, make a budget and choose a contractor. Choosing a contractor is a very important and delicate issue, especially if you are planning to invest a large sum of money in the project. Many people had unpleasant experiences with certain contractors. They have fallen for contractors with the smallest bids and ended up making upfront payments without receiving any work in return or receiving poor quality work. In order to prevent such an experience, we are providing, in the following article, the ten steps you should take when looking for a home remodelling contractor.

1. Get references! In order to choose, from the sea of home remodelling contractors, the one that will best suit your needs, you have to get as many references as you can. The best source to get your info is from friends, neighbours and family. If they have done similar remodelling work in their homes and they were satisfied with the contractors they hired, you should ask them for contact information.

2. Before calling them, you should make a short background check. You can do this on social media sites or on the Better Business Bureau site. Look carefully and check the feedback score of the contractors, whether they have complaints and, even more important, if those complaints are unresolved.

3. Call the contractors you have shortlisted and get bids and other useful information. Also ask about past projects and for contact information of previous customers.

4. Carefully examine the information you collected and compare the fees. Look carefully at the quality of materials that certain contractors use, because the smallest bid is not necessarily the best one for you.

5. Before hiring the contractor you chose, see if they have all the licences and permits they need.

6. Call previous clients and check if they were 100% satisfied with the end result.

7. Meet with the contractor and carefully inspect the contract. Check if the work is covered by insurance and if the employees have workman’s compensation. Ask questions about everything you don’t understand.

8. Make sure to get a liability of insurance certificate. It’s common to get such a document and a trustworthy contractor will not deny you this right.

9. Discuss with the contractors all the building permits you will need and make sure that they can obtain them.

10. Once you have covered all these steps, you can feel free to sign the contract!