REMODEL GONE BAD!! ....

.....a Story of the Unlicensed Contractor

A young woman, let’s call her Jan, called our office to see if I could help her with her kitchen renovation.  When I arrived at her house, it was not hard to look around and see what the problem was.  There was a large crack in the ceiling (apparently where a load bearing wall used to be located), the floors looked terrible, and the cabinets even worse!  After asking a few questions, I found out the contractor did not pull any permits and none of the electrical, plumbing, or HVAC was inspected.

Jan told me she had saved for three years to do this project and she has used all that money to pay the ‘contractor’.  The contractor said he was finished.  I looked around and there was probably $20,000 worth of repairs to this project.  

It seems like Jan is stuck with a terrible project because she does not have $20,000 to make the repairs at this time.

 

There is a lot more to this project (like worrying if the house will catch fire because of poor wiring, etc.).  But what is it we can learn from this bad experience?  We need to do our homework when hiring a contractor. 

1.  Use only licensed contractors.
2. Get a permit and have EVERYTHING inspected.
3. Make sure the contractor has General Liability insurance AND workers compensation insurance. 
4. Check the BBB for a report on the company.  www.bbb.org
5. Interview the contractors carefully, after all, most people are getting ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars with the contractor.
6. Make sure the contract is detailed and covers every aspect of the project.  Make sure there is a lump sum for how much it will cost. 
7. Try being a little bit of a detective.  Call around to the suppliers in the area and ask what the contractor’s reputation is. 
8. Call your Local Home Builders Association to find out if they support the Company. http://www.hbaws.net/  http://www.nchba.org/wp/ 

I have one silver bullet that pretty much guarantees a good contractor.  If you find a contractor that attends lots of national meetings in the remodeling or building industry, you have a good contractor.  The good guys make the effort to learn more.  Now, I am not saying that there are not good contractors out there who do not go to these types of meetings, but I can tell you those that do are some of the best around.

Starting Saturday November, 26^th @ 11am

Erik Anderson of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen will be hosting a Home Improvement Talk Show

Join us for discussions like the one above and many others! 

  

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