Hiring my first contractor - give me some tips!

[Anonymous]

We just bought a house and are hiring a contractor to do some work before we move in. Can anyone give us some tips?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Do NOT pay him up front. If the jobs are small, pay him only when completed, nothing up front.

[Anonymous]

Get proof of his insurance/license/etc

[Anonymous]

1. Have him estimate the work in writing. As detailed as possible. Becomes important when you go over budget and/or over schedule.
2. Make sure his address, phone number and licence humber are on the paperwork. You need this to track him down in the event of a dispute.
3. Look up his license number with the county or city to make sure his license is in good standing.
4. call the BBB to make sure he's got a good record
5. INSIST on references. You want at least one CURRENT one. Why? Because they are seeing him day in and day out. If he's overscheduled those people, he will do that to you too and you need to know.
5a. Try to find out how many he has in the queue. Our guy apparently got our job just to "fill in" the time when he wasn't working on jobs he considered more important. Try to get a start-finish commitment so he doesn't disappear on you for days at a time. One way to do that is to offer a 5% bonus for on-time/on-budget completion.
6. Pay in installments. I needed to pay for materials up front, and I think that is typical.
7. Do not give him a key.
8. Ask how much of the job he will be on site personally for. Sometimes these guys get the job and send their subs to your house and do not manage the work. Then mistakes happen which they try to charge you for. If there are on site and personally supervising their people, it is less likely to get off track.

If I think of other stuff, I will come back! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Get 3 estimates from different contractors, try to use someone who you personally know used the contractor before. Only pay 1/3 down or less, never pay all up front. Make them write down the details of everything included and also not included, a deadline date or time line, like "start to end will take 3 works days."