When hiring a home improvement contractor, it’s impossible to hire the right one without being a good interviewer. Focusing on product design is important, but you must also be inquisitive about matters relevant to the success of your project.
Be it a deck addition or an exterior painting job, Perdue Builders and Supply recommends asking these key questions:
1. What Work Is Involved in My Project?
Understand the job’s sequence. It’s never enough to know the start and end dates of your home project; it pays to have an outline of tasks to know if you’re falling behind the schedule. Since every day of delay means another 24 hours of stress and disruption, knowing the big picture helps you ensure everything’s on track.
2. What Concerns You About My Project?
You can’t plan your door installation or stonework project properly without taking unplanned occurrences into consideration. Be aware of the possible yet undetermined structural challenges before the construction begins. Although issues are hard to predict prior to the actual job, experienced pros generally could get a good sense of the unknown. The more you know the potential triggers of change orders, the better you can budget for your project.
3. How Will You and I Communicate?
Establishing good homeowner-contractor communication is a two-way street. To avoid misunderstandings and disputes, talk to your home improvement company’s representative about the best method to exchange messages during the project and after hours. Set a particular time of the day to meet to discuss progress reports.
If daily face-to-face encounters aren’t feasible, leave a job-site notebook where both parties could reminders and express concerns. Exchange numbers with your siding or window replacement contractor’s point of contact to reach each other whenever necessary.
4. What Do I Do When I Want to Change Something?
In many cases, many modifications to the original home improvement plan are essential to deal with setbacks along the way. The universal way to record change orders is in writing, where both you and your contractor must sign. The scope of work, price, and other relevant details must be documented for future reference. But to be sure, talk to your contractor about the most frictionless, but proper, means to note all changes along the way.
At Perdue Builders and Supply, we’re committed to demystifying your home improvement project and helping you plan everything from start to finish. To get your project in Kirkland, Seattle, or Everett, WA, started and request for a free estimate, call (425) 398-8609 now.
