Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Contractor

• What experience, expertise and/or certification do you have? Do you specialize?
• Who will be doing the actual work- you personally, your employees, or subcontractors? Who will oversee the day-to-day job? (You may really like the contractor, but that person may not be the one performing or supervising the work.)
• How many other jobs will you be working on at the same time as mine? (If there are several, yours may not get the attention you want. On the other hand, the contractor’s business may be large and he may be able to handle several jobs.)
• How long will the job take? What kind of mess, noise, and inconvenience should I expect? What problems may come up? (Asking questions before the job starts helps prevent surprises later.)
• Does hiring this contractor feel right? (Use intuition – if you do not feel comfortable, find someone else.)
• Do I have rapport with this contractor? Am I confident in his expertise and ideas? Does he care about my concerns? Will he be reliable, keep his appointments, and return my telephone calls?
• Can I work with this person for a period of time? (If you are having major remodeling done, this person may be in your home for weeks.)
• Can I communicate with this person? Does he seem honest and forthright? (The contractor may be top-notch at the trade, but if the final product is not what you expected, you will not be happy.)
• Can I be reasonable and let my contractor work without calling every other hour? Do I realize he cannot return my calls within minutes because he has other jobs and a personal life?
• Am I willing to be reasonable about unexpected costs that arise and to let my contractor make a profit?
• Am I ready for the unexpected, such as  finding asbestos in the walls, or termite evidence, etc.)? Can I be flexible when the job takes longer than expected?
• Are my expectations so high that I will never be satisfied with my contractor?