The U.S. home remodeling industry is stronger than it’s been in more than a decade right now. In 2018 alone, Americans spent almost $350 billion remodeling their houses. It’s a trend that’s expected to continue well into 2019.
If you don’t like the way that a portion of your house looks or if a part of your home doesn’t function well for you and your family, a remodeling contractor can help you with this problem. They can remodel any space to look better and fit your family’s specific needs.
But before you begin a remodeling project, it’s important for you to find the right remodeler for the job. There are more than 400,000 remodeling companies across the country at the moment, which can make that a lot harder than you might think.
Take a look at tips that will make finding the right remodeling contractor easier on you.
List Remodeling Contractors in Your Area
If you’ve never done any remodeling work to your home, you might not be familiar with the remodeling contractors in your area. Change that right away by Googling “remodeling contractor in YOURCITY” to see what pops up.
You might be surprised to see how many companies in your area specialize in performing remodeling projects. There are going to be at least a dozen different options, if not more.
You should never choose the first contractor you find, regardless of whether you’re doing some remodeling or tackling another home improvement job. Instead, you should do your homework on contractors by taking a look at their websites to see which services they provide and what kind of experience they have.
Call on Friends and Family for Referrals
While listing remodeling contractors in your area is a good start and will give you plenty of options to consider, you might feel overwhelmed after generating your list. All of the names on it are going to look promising at first glance.
To help narrow down your search, call on your friends and family members to provide you with referrals. Reach out to anyone you know that has had remodeling work done in their home and ask about their experiences with a particular contractor.
You can try talking to your neighbors as well. You can learn a lot about contractors based on what others have to say about working with them.
Read Online Reviews
If you call on friends, family members, and even neighbors for contractor recommendations and don’t get anywhere with it, there is another way you can see what people have to say about specific contractors.
The internet is filled with online reviews for just about every business that’s out there. Read through some of the reviews that have been left for the contractors you’re considering.
It’s a good idea to read both good and bad reviews for contractors to give yourself a decent overview of what each name on your list is all about.
Speak with Remodeling Contractors
At this stage in the game, there should be a few contractors that are standing head and shoulders above the rest. It’ll be time to start reaching out to those contractors to speak with them about the remodeling job you want to do.
Interview each contractor left on your list and ask them a series of questions. These questions should include:
- “How long have you been remodeling homes in the area?”
- “Which remodeling services do you provide?”
- “Do you perform all your own work or do you hire subcontractors?”
- “Are you available to perform a remodeling job on my home?”
- “What is your remodeling process like?”
Your goal should be to find out whatever you can about each remodeling contractor that you talk to. This useful site might help you come up with more questions to ask.
Ask to See a Business License and Insurance
A remodeling contractor might offer all the services you need and seem like the absolute best person to take on your project. But let us make one thing perfectly clear: you should not, under any circumstances, work with a contractor who doesn’t have a business license and business insurance.
A business license will show you that a contractor has gone through the right steps as far as registering with your city or town. It’ll also show that the contractor is legit and isn’t going to be able to just up and disappear on you halfway through your remodel.
Business insurance, on the other hand, will protect you and your home in the event that an accident occurs during your remodeling job. You’re going to be asking for trouble—big trouble!—if the contractor you hire can’t show you proof of insurance.
Consider the Cost of Remodeling Contractors
Before you allow anyone to come into your home and start working on your remodel, you should ask for an estimate. In fact, you should ask several remodeling contractors for estimates on the job you’re looking to do.
This will allow you to compare the costs of going with different contractors. You can make an educated decision as far as cost is concerned when you have quotes in hand.
You shouldn’t just go with whoever offers you the cheapest price. You might not get the best home remodeling contractor when you take that approach to save yourself money.
But you also shouldn’t blow your budget right from the beginning. Make sure the contractor you settle on offers fair and affordable rates on their services.
Hire the Right Remodeling Contractor Today
Hiring the wrong remodeling contractor to work on your home could turn into a nightmare for you. You might have to end up hiring someone else to fix all the new problems that your first contractor created.
With that in mind, you should strive to find the right contractor the first time. This will prevent you from running into big issues along the way.
Check out our blog to see some of the different updates you can make to your home once you have a contractor in place.
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