There are few things more exciting for a homeowner than deciding on a home renovation project. Whether it’s a full renovation or a partial remodel, transforming your house into a visually appealing and highly functional one can satisfy all of your needs. However, for it to proceed as you would hope, you must hire a highly reputable and reliable contractor who can carry out the project and turn your home vision into a reality. For this reason, there are a few steps you can take to find the right expert.
In this article, we will share our guide on how to find a reliable contractor for your home renovation project:
1) Start with a Robust Search
The first step is to actually search for the right contractor. If you don’t know how to proceed, here are a few tips to consider:
– Consult with your realtor: One good source if you are new to an area is to ask your realtor for prospective contractors. As an expert in the field, your trusted real estate agent will know the right people and will refer you to the best contractor who has your best interest in mind.
– Get recommendations: Another option is to get some advice from your trusted family member, friends, colleagues, or neighbours. If they’ve recently undergone a home renovation project and you like what you see, you may consider hiring the same contractor.
– Check for prospects online: This is now the most popular method. With the many options that appear, you will be able to check their website, reviews and comments from previous customers.
2) Ask for Quotes and Payment Schedules
After your initial search, you will likely have a list of prospective contractors in your area. Try to narrow them down to 2 or 3 so you can meet with them face to face and get a feel if you would like to work with a company for weeks or months or longer for really large projects. If you project isn’t designed yet you will only be able to get rough estimates but this is a good place to start to see if your budget will allow you to move forward. Next you will need to figure out all of the details before you can get a quote. Without the details, any quote is nothing more than a guess. That’s not what you want! The best contractors will help you with the design work but will charge something for all that time. Once you have a design with all the detail figured out you can ask for quotes.
– Compare the quotes: Armed with a proper detailed design, you will be able to request detailed quotes. Two or three is plenty. If you are looking for ten quotes, you will be using up a lot of time for 9 contractors and you are guaranteed to get one or two low ball bids that you should run away from anyway.
– Assess their payment schedules: It’s also essential to know their preferred payment schedules to see if they fit your finances. For instance, a big project may require a down payment and several subsequent payments until the project’s completion. In Alberta, contractors are not allowed to take advance payments unless they have special bonding insurance. Very few have it and the ones that do probably aren’t the ones you need to worry about running away with your money anyway.
3) Narrow Down Your List and Decide
After comparing quotes, personalities and payment schedules, you can then decide on the best contractor for your home renovation project.
Conclusion
You now know how to find the best contractor for your home renovation project. All it takes is to start with a robust search, ask for quotes and payment schedules, and then narrow down your list and decide. Be sure to follow our best recommendations discussed above so that you can get the right contractor to kick your home up a notch!
We provide interior and exterior home renovations, such as roofing, siding, and gutter services, as well as basement, kitchen and bathroom remodelling projects. If you are looking for expert home renovation contractors in Red Deer, AB, connect with us today for a free consultation and estimate!