FAQs
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
I was watching the news, tonight, and they were talking about another bad (allegedly) contractor. The customer had hired someone to build her shed/storage building in her back yard. She gave the man a down payment, to get materials, and he did, and began working. Seems the job took too many months, to complete, which I don't blame her, but I'm not here to judge. It seemed like a fairly small building. She said it took forever to finally get the exterior doors hung, and when he did, he hung interior doors. She didn't know any difference, so she paid him in full. Of course, the doors did not last long. The weather demolished them. She called the news, and with the newscasters and cameras knocking at his door, he finally made it right, and gave her new doors. My point to this story, is to inform customers, that sometimes you pay, for what you get. I would suggest that when a contractor gives you a quote, and is to furnish all labor and materiaIs, you might want to get an itemized list of how and what all is included. Could there have been a misunderstanding (in the story above) on who was to furnish these doors? Maybe, maybe not. I give many free estimates, some I get, some I don't. It seems that $dollar$ amount is all some want to hear, and then hesitate to discuss anything afterwards. Sure, the $ is important and I do think it's wise to do your shopping. I once gave a quote for a basement finish. The customer walk me though, as I noted all his ideas, and I gave him a price. The next day he called and said that he really liked our conversations about his visions, but that I was about $1000 over another. I asked him if the other guy was going to furnish everything, including the light fixtures. He didn't know. He called back and said the other contractor would, if he could ad an addtional $1500 to the quote. Compare apples to apples, when getting those quotes. Know what the numbers include. You just may want to pay a little more, if you realize details of quotes. *Is one painter including sanding?priming? or not? *Is one carpenter using nails? galvenized screws? on that new deck? *Is one electrician running the right wire size to that new outlet? Is he running exposed romex outside, stapling it to the wall? Or plan to install pipe? I would encourage everyone to compare construction estimates very carefully, looking at the total package. It may avoid those extras that seem to get tacked on later.