How To Find A Good Contractor Home Improvement

This past spring I had been thinking about some home improvement projects. I was going to be having a little bit of extra time on my hands. I had a child on the way and my work had granted me some time off. I had envisioned a larger deck, and maybe an addition to the living room which would inevitably require some new roofing. I have some rudimentary carpenter skills, but I knew right away that my dreams were well above what I could do myself. Plus, I had no experience with the legal paperwork involved. I knew I needed to start looking for some professional help.

Go online and do some digging

Thankfully we live in the era of the internet which has opened opportunities everywhere. I used it to research contractors. I started with a basic search by typing "How to find a good contractor for home improvement", and went from there.  Here are some tips I used to help find a contractor.

• Don't just pick the one with the best advertisement. Sometimes these ads are created by good marketers, but poor carpenters. Do a little digging and find a contractor with good experience, a proper license and insurance.
• Know what type of contractor you are looking for: General Engineering, General Building, or Specialty contractors.
• Get several quotes. Contractors are usually happy to give a rough estimate based on the information you give them. Compare the quotes and do some price shopping.
• Find a contractor with a solid reputation for good honest work. They will almost always have a permanent office location. This shows stability and can provide you with some assurance your job will be done right, because they have nowhere to run if it's done wrong!
• When you decide on a contractor get everything that will be done written down in the contract. This will include the prices for labor and materials as well as estimated time on the job. By having everything in writing you will be covering yourself in the event of a problem.

               

Ask around

Finding a good contractor was an interesting experience. After taking down a few names, numbers and addresses, I asked around among-st friends and colleagues if anyone had experience with certain companies. With the advent of review websites you can also look online to see if there have been any bad reviews about companies. For my needs I felt that I'd need to find a general building contractor and perhaps one that knew where to find a roofing contractor. I made several calls and spoke briefly about my projects. I had a few guys stop by the house from a couple different companies I liked and they took some measurements. Within a couple days I had some quotes to go on and I made a decision I felt comfortable with.

Be detail oriented

I had a contractor come over to go over the details. We sat in my living room for about an hour and wrote out a contract covering everything he would need to get started and how long it probably would take. This guy seemed like a straight shooter. He wanted to be covered as much as I did. Although this detail was definitely reflected in his quote, I knew exactly what I was paying for and felt the price was fair considering the project could be done within a month.

If you want to find contractors in your area, visit Real-Estate-Yogi.com for the best advice on home improvement and real estate. I was able to get some great help through a contact by calling 1-800-987-1397. Start your search today.