Advice from a Contractor
By Jason Sloane Enders
When choosing a contractor to work on your home, the one universal bit of advice is: Interview three contractors and choose the middle bid. The reasoning behind this theory is, supposedly, that the highest one charges too much for his services and the lowest one underbids and then asks for more money later. The middle bid, however, is just right.
 Maybe.
If this theory is universally accurate, all you have to do is follow its formula, confident that everything will be all right, and relax happily-ever-after in a newly remodeled home. The problem with the theory is its randomness. What happens if the three contractors you choose are all bad?
If you choose the middle low-performer, you still get poor performance. On the other hand, if all three contractors are excellent and charge fair prices, what makes the middle better than the other two?
You must rely on gut instinct. It may be prudent to interview three people, like the adage suggests, or it may be necessary to interview four, five, however many it takes to find the right one. Sometimes the right one may be the first one you meet, so why waste everyone's time? You will know who the right person for the job is after talking for five minutes.
This is how I hire subcontractors. When I need someone else's expertise on the job, I not only look for experience, I look for honesty, and a good work ethic. I want to be able to meet the plumber at the job site at 8:00 a.m., like we planned, not at 9:50, because he is running late. I want to be able to walk through the job with him and tell him what I need; he may offer a few suggestions, ask and answer relevant questions, then when I leave I can feel he is doing a better job than I could do. That is the contractor to hire and the contractor you will feel good about referring.
For some reason it always feels great to tell family and friends about someone who has done good work for you. It is akin to discovering a hip new band or dining at a great restaurant. You want to share it. Begin there. Everyone who owns a house has had some experience hiring out work. Sometimes you hear the stories of the roofer who pockets the deposit, tears-off the roof, and then never returns. Who cares what the circumstances are behind that nonsense? There are other roofers who are happy to look at the job.
On the other hand, there are tradespeople out there whom everyone has heard about because they are so good. They are the electricians who are there waiting for you when you arrive, the finish carpenters who can wrap trim around corners (seemingly) without a joint, the tile-setters who bill for the day's labor even though they estimated two. They are the contractors who do not track mud and dust across your living room floor on their way to the basement. The good electrician does not cut the sheet-metal guy's ducting to run a wire. He figures out a way around it. The good painter does not spray the windows closed. Any good contractor, no matter what his specialty, should keep in mind the overall cause, not just his subjective portion. In every case, you will be entirely satisfied.
Or not.
Sometimes the very best people make mistakes. There are times when the wood floors absolutely must be installed on Friday, and Friday morning the guy's wife goes into labor. Come on. What are you going to do about that kind of event? Even if the president of the universe is coming to examine the floors on Saturday, he will just have to wait his time. Do not be satisfied with shoddy work, and do not pay too much for a job; but on the other hand, remember that even though good contractors will try their best, sometimes things do not turn out perfectly. If the tile setter drops a hammer on the floor and cracks a tile, ask him to replace it; but if you drop a hammer on the floor, or some other contractor drops a hammer on the floor, do not expect the tile setter to replace the tile without an extra fee.
The best jobs are the ones that finish ahead of schedule, that can be billed for less than estimated, and that are beautiful improvements to a house. |
