Every home required occasional updates due to wear and tear property aging, or homeowner upgrades. While plenty of contractors can remodel your house, integrity of service, communication and workmanship are often key differentiators that can leave you feeling like you have chosen wisely, or have chosen poorly. Matching with a suitable contractor is essential in order to ensure a positive experience for all parties involved!
To properly screen contractors, here are a few questions you can ask prior to finalizing the contract.
Looking for a Home Remodeling Service in Silicon Valley? Your search ends here.
Specialization, Background & Experience:
Experience plays a vital role when handing over your home to a professional contractor. You need to protect yourself and your funds by asking the contractor for his or her license, insurance, and worker’s compensation policy, and to ensure these are active by requesting a proof or checking with the California State License Board (CSLB) website. Check that they have the required certificates based on the trade(s) they’ll be performing. Asking for proof is justified as their jobs may include significant personal and property risk.
You may also consider running a background check. Ask the prospective contractors about the inception of the business and what they specialize in. Ask for past references and establish a brief contact with those references to inquire about workmanship, professionalism, scope changes, communication, and trust.
Deadline Adherence & Timeline:
Remember that everything good is appreciated when it is delivered on time. The quality of work performed may be appreciated, but if delivered with a poor timeline and low professionalism, this will obfuscate the entire experience and may leave both parties disgruntled. Never a good way to end a contract. Timeline flexibility is important, however, given unexpected lead times for materials or weather delays. But communication is key and you must create a positive communication channel with your contractors so they feel comfortable communicating with you and setting, or resetting, expectations. So while it’s important to set a timeline target, keep the communication open for clear updates that may deviate from the baseline plan.
Pro Tip: To help facilitate performance to the timeline target, help to be a quick decision-maker. Avoid making delays in selecting designs, furniture, etc, when you are in the middle of a home remodeling service. Also, some plans and permits could take several months to approve. Be communicative, quick, and helpful!
Point of Contact:
There are concerns, questions, and changes in all agreements based on the circumstances. Learn beforehand who shall be your communication point if any of the above situations arise. Also, define a single individual to update you with the progress and coordinating site visits. This will help to avoid redundancy and miscommunication.
Work Routine:
Lastly, know the contractor’s work routine and their daily schedule. Your home may go through periods with just a couple workers or with an entire team. Occasionally, there will be no work depending on inspection holdups or other unforeseen issues. Build a relationship of trust with your team and make it a positive experience for all involved.
Other questions to ask may be:
- How do you handle scope changes?
- What is not included in the contract (e.g. materials, allowances, etc)?
- Do you have a baseline contract I can reference?
- Are my requirements achievable in my budget?
At Property Twins, we are Home Remodeling Service professionals in Silicon Valley who begin the process with a simple hello. If you have searched for a good contractor to help you, simply contact the Property Twins at hello@propertytwins.com and benefit from teaming with one of the best Home Remodeling Services, Bathroom Remodeling Services, and Kitchen Remodeling Services in the area!
