Technology

Hiring a contractor for your bathroom remodel

The process of hiring a professional contractor to handle your bathroom renovations can get your head spinning pretty fast.

First of all, there are many bathroom renovation companies. Look under ‘General Contractors’ or ‘Bathroom Remodeling’ in the phone book and you will see what we mean … there are hundreds of bathroom remodelers and general contractors in every area. On top of that, there are hundreds of other great bathroom remodeling contractors but they’re not in the phone book.

Second, it’s easy enough to call yourself a bathroom remodel professional. People don’t necessarily need an office or a lot of fancy equipment or tools to start a business. Therefore, people who have done some home or room repairs may try to fool you into thinking they are a highly trained and experienced bathroom remodel professional. If they have a truck, a tool belt, and a business card, they could fool a lot of people!

Finally, there are many different types of contractors who remodel bathrooms. There are handymen, general contractors, builders, construction companies, and companies that specialize only in bathroom renovations.

So what do you do when looking for a contractor to remodel your bathroom?

We recommend:

o Ask your friends and neighbors if they have had good or bad experiences with local contractors. Simply knowing that someone else has had a good experience with a contractor before calling them reduces your chances of contracting a problem.

o Call 3 or 4 companies to bid on your remodeling project. This will help you determine the fair market price for your work. This does not mean that you should always go for the lowest price. You should choose the company that you are most comfortable with and that you think will do the best job. If an individual is offering a really low price, they must ask themselves “why?”

o Decide exactly what you want to do to remodel your bathroom. At the very least, you should have some general ideas before calling a contractor. They can help you make some final decisions, but you need to be able to explain your basic needs before letting them convince you.

o Try to decide if your job can be done by a handyman or if it is more complicated. If you are simply laying tiles, painting, and changing some fixtures, you need to be sure that a quality handyman could handle this job. If you’re talking about breaking things and changing the whole bathroom, then your best chance of success is hiring an experienced general contractor.

o Make sure the business has insurance. There is the possibility of injury and destruction of your home when remodeling a bathroom. As mentioned above, there are many makeshift contractors that may not be insured. Ask them for the phone number of their insurance company and give them a call to prove they are insured. If you skip this part, you could be responsible for the injury of an uninsured worker while working at home. You could also be left with the bill for tons of repairs if an uninsured contractor leaves you with a destroyed bathroom or house!

o Ask if the bathroom remodeling contractor will be able to handle all the work you require himself, or if you will have to outsource some of the work to other companies (such as a plumber). If they are replacing jobs, make sure their contract states that they are still directly responsible for all the work. In other words, you will not have a situation where a plumber incorrectly installed your new toilet and the contractor is telling you that it is not their problem. What if you can’t get in touch with the plumber they hired after completing the job? You want a person to be responsible.

o If your bathroom remodel requires a general contractor, or you just decide to hire a company that claims they are general contractors, make sure they have a valid general contractor license

o Always get a statement of the work done in writing. Keep this on file. Make sure the statements clearly indicate what work is to be done.

o Ask if the bathroom remodel comes with guarantees. These are factors to weigh when looking at the total cost estimates left by different contractors.

o Some contractors require an advance payment. Accept a payment schedule (which is a written document that clearly indicates how much and when payments are due). Make sure your payment schedule is discussed and documented in your contract before starting work. Stick to this program even if the contractor requests an advance payment. You don’t want to get into a situation where you’ve paid for most of the bathroom remodel work, but most of your bathroom remodel hasn’t been completed! … these situations often end in unfinished or poorly finished jobs.

o Check the progress of your bathroom remodel regularly; try to spot potential problems or misunderstandings before it’s too late.

Good luck with your bathroom and remodeling needs!

For more information Raleigh-Durham Kitchen Cabinets

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *