A Guide to Hiring the BEST Contractor | What to Know

Are you looking to hire a contractor? Want to make sure you hire an experienced person, who will get the job done right? As a general contractor for 30 years, I'm going to share with you all of my tips and tricks to help you navigate the marketplace, find a good contractor, and be comfortable signing that contract. Let's go!

Got a comment or question? Leave it below and I'll get back to you!

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Produced by: Home Renovision DIY 2020
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Disclaimer:
Videos produced by Home Renovision are provided for informational purposes only. All material provided within this website is for informational, educational, & entertainment purposes only. Some of these projects, materials, and techniques may not be appropriate for all ages or skill levels. The DIY instructions used here are used to simply breakdown projects to their simplest steps. Please use a clear mind and use all safety precautions while following the tutorials provided by this site. Home Renovision does not make any claims of the safety of the projects, techniques, or resources listed on this site and will not take responsibility of what you do with the information provided by this site. Viewers must be aware by doing projects on their homes they are doing it at their own risk and Home Renovision cannot be held liable if they cause any damage to their homes. With different codes around the world and constantly changing standards, regulations and rules, it is the sole responsibility of the viewer to educate themselves on their local requirements before undertaking any sort of project. That being said Home Renovision cannot claim liability with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project. Be safe, have fun renovating and ALWAYS stay informed with your local building code.

[LostCannuckSailor]

Going through my Reno now. It’s huge, and doing 80% DIY. It the last 20% using contractors for things that are too specialized or complicated for me. It’s been very stressful trying to get quotes, or figure out which companies are reputable. Really am starting to learn that the companies with flashy brochures are usually either too specialized or about to scam you. Best thing I ever did, and got from this channel, was hire an engineering firm. It costs a lot, but has already saved me $30k. I had three foundation companies convince me I needed all sorts of foundation work and underpinning. My engineer came out did some soil checks and was like absolutely not. Thankfully I found a pretty good company that the owner was very upfront, and worked with the engineer to figure what needed to be done, and even made recommendations to save me money on things in his experience were not needed that the other companies were trying to get me to do.

I think hiring an advisor while it’s an extra cost, if you are doing a major major Reno (like full gut job level) then it is money in the bank!

[teddybeardesigns]

I would gladly hire a contractor recommended by you.

[ozziestrom]

Hey Jeff, one of a million, you betcha. As a now-retired contractor, I find that you, the Essential Craftsman, Roofing Insights, and of course The Handyman-bus are well oriented to the details and making an effort to understand. It's like going to a University on a free ride. Great

[AngryLibrarian]

Finding a contractor is 90% why I've been delaying my home projects ☹

Long Island, NY - have had a few projects done on my house. I feel like I have to quickly become an expert on the project to be able to catch all the mistakes while work is being done.

[cmwriternboro]

Yes, Jeff there's a need for a guide to get help with anything you know about home improvement. I have watched you for several years and love all your videos. They have educated me. Need more guys like you.

[JimMooreVirginia]

As a former contractor, this is the most concise and valuable contracting advice I've ever seen--especially "check their current job progress."

[TheDkbohde]

As a contractor myself I’m tempted to send this video to potential customers. This speaks true for foundation of a working relationship. I always do my best to make sure my client has an idea of what the process will be like and what to expect and this could help shed some light into it for them. Thanks Jeff!

[nitinmistry]

Hi Jeff. Great video. Wish I had taken the time to watch some of your videos so that I could learn how to manage my expectations.

My reno is almost done. Maybe 2 more weeks left.
Had the complete main floor done.
Kitchen, family room, living and dinning rooms, powder room.
Tiles from hallway to kitchen.
Wood floors in family and living room.
Stairs re-finished to match the floors.
Paint, trimmings, baseboard
Replace gas fireplace with electric.

We did our research and picked I think a good contractor.
All was good, until he signed 2 more contracts after mine.
Then things started to go wrong.

Disaster #1:
The kitchen design experience was very poor. He used a kitchen company.
They hurried us and we never got to see a proper design of the kitchen. They did not even want to give me a copy of the design. I had to take a photo of the printout in their office.

Two critical things we should have been advised for the kitchen -
Pick your appliances
Pick your FAN
Pick your Kitchen Sink

Of course we all know about picking appliances. That we did.
But a good contractor should be there to ADVISE you of these things before
he goes and signs off on the kitchen.

Disaster #2:
We wanted to support local Canadian companies, so we decided to purchase
wood floor from a Canadian company. It was expensive, but this is going to be our forever home, so we want to have a good floor.
The contractor uses another company to install the floor.
He promised these guys were the best and he had used them for 12 years.
after installation, we inspected the floor. It was not perfect, but they used wood filler in some joins and some joins were not level. Had a dip. Some joins were not parallel.
The same team refinished the stairs. The color match was good, however the finish was very rough.
We pointed this out to my contractor and he asked me to come to house and point that out to installer company - which I did. They didn't like and they took the stair iron spindles and posts, and just LEFT because they go upset with me for asking them to fix what we saw.
I think my contractor should never had me talk to the installers. He should have handled the situation.

Disaster #3:
I think this is probably the worst incident in the whole experience.
Just last week, we decided to pop into our house to pickup some stuff.
It was 9:15PM.
We arrived at the house to find the Garage door fully open with all equipment and products (Toilet, sink etc), so we thought someone must be still working inside the house. So we went to front door. It was FULLY opened. All the lights were off and NOBODY WAS THERE.
I texted my contractor and he gave me so much abuse it was emotionally upsetting.
He had let his workers into the house. Then he went to St. Catharine's for another job
and TOTALLY forgot bout my house.
Then he had the audacity to say, stop complaining you are insured for $5M, so even if you got burgled, it's no big deal. I live in a 1800 sq. ft. home. And my house insurance policy is your average house ins. policy.

There are many other things like, breaking my bug screens, leaving all the windows and lights on.
Even leaving my back door open. And now my step ladder has gone from the garage.

Let's put it this way, it started off very well, but now it's a nightmare we just want to be over.

Summary...
We were lucky, we moved into my wife's parents house, so that the reno could be done quicker.
We were promised 5 weeks - major reno done. Then we could move back.
Plus 3 weeks to finish off.
It's been over 2 months already and we are still at the inlaws.

Hope this helps your subscribers.

[kentoakley]

How about a video on how not to be a bad homeowner, do's and don'ts? thanks love the videos

[topofmindwithterri]

I got scammed by a GC last year. Some of what you said made sense, but others were off the mark. I was grateful to have 2 subcontractors of my own on the job, as my advocates. As a female, I was constantly told throughout the project that I did not know what I was talking about when asking questions. One of my subs would ask the EXACT SAME QUESTION and were listened to and validated, as well as justified in making changes. It was a nightmare. I'm in Northern California.

[oxfletch]

I would think the main gap that needs bridging is a payment escrow - when the work passes inspection, the contractor is sure he'll get paid.

[jms]

I know this is an older video, but I just saw it for the first time. There is definitely a need out there for an intervention rep, or a go between. It is a great idea to keep potentially bad situations from escalating, and a way to keep things from possibly becoming litigious. Your videos are always helpful - thank you!

[kingofkings]

Love the honest straight forward attitude Jeff. Every home owner and DIYer needs to watch your vids

[rmuy]

So basically a dating app for homeowners and contractors!

[nakiastreet]

Yes, it would be great to have an intervention...

[JustOneRedSoloCup]

Jeff, I've lived at the same residence for over thirty years and have contracted for four renovations/additions on my property. This is one of the most valuable 11-minutes a consumer can watch; sure wish you had this channel during my first three renovations! Thank you for sharing your professional insight. I especially liked the _"manage your expectations", "referrals (are) a waste of time"_ and your discussion on the cost-benefit ratio of negotiating the price (so very true!). And YES, Jeff, if you had the time and resource to manage a liaison/referral service between consumers and contractors, I'd throw money at it - the value alone of finding an agreeable foundation for reasonable expectations between the two parties would be... well, invaluable.

[MrTravelnutin]

Jeff, I think you have a good idea with the referral service but at the same time I think you could really end up stepping in a big pile of it. You even said it yourself a person you refer for one job could mess up the next one and your reputation pays the price for it.

[angelaossa]

That is a great idea especially for single women Homeowners.. Having issues with trying for detail contract s. Hopefully you can reference Miami, Florida. Look your videos.. great job.

[alexanderpietralla]

I have a suggestion. Copy the German apprentice model where you can’t open your own business unless you worked with a master of trade for 10 years. That way you eliminate shitty contractors which deliver poor quality and undercut the good ones to even win the job.

[HellStingOzunit]

the answer to the question at the end is yes