Friday, January 4, 2008

For The Most Part,

Make sure that anything that is important to you is in the contract. ASK FOR A LIST OF HIS REFERENCES. That is not a bad thing, but I am a down to earth common sense kind of a guy and realize that most of us, me included, am not going to ask a contractor 50 questions.For the most part, none of us have ever gotten a job without at least a cursory interview. Trust your internal alarm system. We were asked questions about our experience, work ethic and/or references before being hired. The number of payments vary depending on how big a job is. Besides asking about the quality of the contractor’s work, ask questions that are important to you specifically.I have seen many suggested questionnaires on the internet. You can decide what the consequences for the violation of this rule will be and put that in the contract as well.4. Why is it then, that most of us do not interview the people that we hire to work on our houses? It is remarkable how many jobs I have gotten without even being asked if I had any experience. ASK YOURSELF IF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THIS CONTRACTOR.Be sure you understand the payment schedule and what should be in place for that payment. These are not all the questions you should ask, they are the minimum questions you should ask!1.3.Good Luck!. ASK HIM TO PUT IT IN WRITING. If something just seems off, then don't use him/her. It is better to ere on the side of caution. ASK HIM HOW HE EXPECTS TO BE PAID. ASK IF HE IS LICENSED AND INSURED., then ask those questions.This may seem obvious, but I have never been asked to produce a copy of my license and/or insurance while giving a customer a bid. There should be specific tasks completed for each payment and you should know what they are.When you have done all your home work, ask yourself if you feel comfortable with this contractor.2.Get a list of his references, and actually call the names on the list. Therefore I would like to offer a “down and dirty” list of questions you should ask your contractor and a brief description of each.. Some had 50 questions or more.There are no guarantees in this life, but asking the questions above should cut the odds of getting a sub standard contractor considerably. If you want to know if he smoked in the home, or did not clean up well etc. Asking your contractor to produce a license will probably cut the odds of getting an unqualified contractor in half with just this one question.Make sure that you get everything in writing. (An expanded version of a “contactor interview” can be found on my web site listed below). For example if you don't want the contractors smoking in your house, put "no smoking.

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