When you have any project that needs to take place in your home, from a new bathroom to a full extension, or simply replastering of walls, you may want to hire a contractor to do the work for you.
This makes a lot of sense; unless you are an expert in residential roofing or carpet laying, it’s far better to get someone who knows what they are doing to carry out the work. Although it will cost you more money than if you tried to do it yourself, it will take a lot less time and effort, and the end result is likely to be much better.
Yet the last thing you want to do when you hire a contractor is to hire one that isn’t as good as they seemed at first. Nor do you want one who doesn’t work hard or keeps coming up with excuses as to why the project isn’t finished. In other words, you want the best contractor you can get. This is why it’s crucial to speak to the contractor before you hire them and to ask specific questions; a good, honest contractor will have no problem answering them. What are those questions? Read on to find out.
Have You Completed Similar Projects Before?
This is perhaps the most important of all the questions you should ask a potential contractor. If they have completed a similar project to the one you’re asking for, that will be extremely helpful; they know what they’re doing.
Don’t limit the question to the work in question either. Installing a kitchen in a studio apartment is very different from installing one in a five-bedroom mansion. Make sure you get specifics.
How Long Will It Take?
It’s good to get a fair idea of how long a project might take a contractor to complete. If they have, as mentioned above, done something similar before, they might be able to give you a more accurate timeframe, but if they haven’t, or you’ve not passed on too many details just yet, and they can still offer an exact completion date, this could be a problem. They could be over-promising just to secure the work, and in the end this will lead to rushed jobs, or you will be disappointed when the work drags on longer than it should have.
If a timeframe seems out of alignment with what other people have said, or the contractor hasn’t had a chance to even think about the work involved, it might be best to steer clear.
What Warranties Are In Place?
You might not have considered this question in the past, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it. The services and materials of a good contractor should be under warranty, and there should be certain guarantees in place to ensure that, should something go wrong, you as the customer have some recourse to getting it put right again.
Asking to see the contractor’s insurance is a great question too – without this, and without any warranties, you should look for someone else to carry out your work for you.
This makes a lot of sense; unless you are an expert in residential roofing or carpet laying, it’s far better to get someone who knows what they are doing to carry out the work. Although it will cost you more money than if you tried to do it yourself, it will take a lot less time and effort, and the end result is likely to be much better.
Yet the last thing you want to do when you hire a contractor is to hire one that isn’t as good as they seemed at first. Nor do you want one who doesn’t work hard or keeps coming up with excuses as to why the project isn’t finished. In other words, you want the best contractor you can get. This is why it’s crucial to speak to the contractor before you hire them and to ask specific questions; a good, honest contractor will have no problem answering them. What are those questions? Read on to find out.
Have You Completed Similar Projects Before?
This is perhaps the most important of all the questions you should ask a potential contractor. If they have completed a similar project to the one you’re asking for, that will be extremely helpful; they know what they’re doing.
Don’t limit the question to the work in question either. Installing a kitchen in a studio apartment is very different from installing one in a five-bedroom mansion. Make sure you get specifics.
How Long Will It Take?
It’s good to get a fair idea of how long a project might take a contractor to complete. If they have, as mentioned above, done something similar before, they might be able to give you a more accurate timeframe, but if they haven’t, or you’ve not passed on too many details just yet, and they can still offer an exact completion date, this could be a problem. They could be over-promising just to secure the work, and in the end this will lead to rushed jobs, or you will be disappointed when the work drags on longer than it should have.
If a timeframe seems out of alignment with what other people have said, or the contractor hasn’t had a chance to even think about the work involved, it might be best to steer clear.
What Warranties Are In Place?
You might not have considered this question in the past, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it. The services and materials of a good contractor should be under warranty, and there should be certain guarantees in place to ensure that, should something go wrong, you as the customer have some recourse to getting it put right again.
Asking to see the contractor’s insurance is a great question too – without this, and without any warranties, you should look for someone else to carry out your work for you.
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