No matter how high the quality of the material used is; the right contractor is needed for a quality finished project. Always research your contractor before signing a contract. Be sure they are licensed and insured. Ask if they have ever filed bankruptcy. Ask for referrals. Ask the local building department of the town the contractor is located in if they know anything about the contractor both good and bad.
A one man operation where the contractor says he is the tile guy, plumber, electrician, carpenter, ect. We like to call them a “Jack of all Trades but Master of None”. Each one of our employees is a specialist in their trade. In other words our tile installers are not doing plumbing work. All plumbing and electrical work needs to be done by a licensed plumber or electrician.
A reason to check into seeing if your contractor has ever filed bankruptcy is to make sure you don’t give them a deposit and never see them again . Other warning signs are contractors that insist on you buying the material. The reason they do is usually because they cannot afford an outlay of money because they don’t have credit with suppliers. One needs to ask themselves if a supplier will not give the contractor credit why should you. By giving them a deposit in essence you are giving them credit and putting trust in them. We are both the supplier and the contractor. This means one stop shopping and a savings for our customers.
Be wary of a contractor without a place of business. Contractors operating from their homes are much harder to track down if you need to find them for reasons such as took off with deposit check or didn’t finish the job. We have been at the same location since 1982 and in business since 1918. We own our building so one will always know where to find us.
Ask what kind of warranty the contractor offers many contractors once they are done with your job and paid you will never hear from them again. Thus the saying the warranty lasts until you can no longer see their tail lights as the drive off. We provide a 2 year warranty on all labor and material. The warranty ties back into all of the above suggestions. A non-licensed plumber who installs plumbing that leaks will not be covered by any insurance be it theirs or yours. A contractor who lives job to job won’t be able to afford to warranty problems. And if you can’t find your contractor any warranty that you were told you had is going to be hard to collect on. A kitchen or bathroom remodel is a big investment that should last and should bring happiness for years; but it all starts with selecting the right contractor.
