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As I get time I will be adding more Help and Tips to this Section, The first and best Help and Tip is the following:
Never, Never, pay anyone until they have started the work and have many of the Materials on the site and Never, Never, Never, pay a contractor the final payment, until they are completely finished and you have all those little things completed or hold back 10%. Once you pay them, if they weren't finished, you will be waiting and waiting for that completion.
I can't tell you how many times customers have offered to give me money, before I even started. I would turn it down and ask them to pay me a week after I started the job. Remember, the money is what they are there for. Any reputable Contractor, does not need, that money up front, unless you know this person and you feel completely secure in doing that.
Get a Detailed Contract, of what the Contractor is going to do. Material list, approximate completion date, a break down of what they are doing and not doing, who's responsible for the subcontractors, permits, plans, cleanup ( how often will that be done, every day, week, what?, in remodeling you may want to insist they clean up daily, a remodeling project is stressful enough for customers, you don't need to be walking around in mess every night), I have worked for and heard of a lot of Contractors say they will Bid a Project Low, get it, with a really vague contract, then start with the, well I don't have this figured into my bid and it's going to cost you an arm and a leg. Your stuck ) : and they know it. That's how they make the money, get a detailed break down of what they are going to do, it protects you and it protects them. Some Clients will flat out lie, well you said you would do this, when you know you did not, if it is all in Black and White there can be no disputes. So if a Contractor hesitates, tell the Contractor it is for his protection too!
Get that material list, they are going to tell you, they're is no need for you to have that, bull, just say, well I know that you receive a discount on the materials because you buy in volume, I do not wish to receive that discount, I would like to be able to verify what materials are bid and what are being put into the actual building. If you don't get the material list, half of them will bid one quality and install a lesser quality ( cheaper) product. We were setting up a basement poured wall and my Employer, told me not to put the rebar in, even though it was bid into the job. This goes on, all the time. Also in Remodeling, the materials it will take to complete a Project is an Educated guess as is the Total Bid, so the Contractor may have materials left over, those are his or hers, it could very well go the other way for him or her and they may have to buy more materials then they figured, you want to make sure they hold true to the quality.
Make sure they are Insured and have the proper License, for what they are proposing.
Make sure they get a Building Permit and it is Inspected at the proper intervals.
Inspect the work and ask, if you feel something looks shoddy or wrong, this is you money being spent and your Home, a good Contractor will give you complete answers.
Well that's a start, be adding more Tips as time permits, if you all, have any Tips to pass on, them to me and I will post them and credit you for the Tip.
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