Your home should show off your personality and be cohesive with your lifestyle. But sometimes, things get outdated or just need a touch-up. This is when you call up your contractor to help turn your home into your oasis.
When you start working with a contractor, you don’t want to have just anyone doing work on your home. So, here are five qualifications your contractor should have.
1. License
One of the first qualifications your contractor should have is a license. A contractor’s license may vary from state to state. But you want to make sure that your contractor knows what they’re talking about. And having a license lets you know that they took the time to study and pass a test to become a contractor. Some contractors can’t even do certain types of building work without licenses.
If you ever decide to sell your home in the future it’s important to work with a licensed contractor. Home inspectors and real estate agents can usually tell when work on your home was done by unlicensed contractors. And low quality work can hurt your chances of selling.
2. Great Reviews
When you start looking for someone to do work on your house, you’ll probably start by asking friends and family. It’s much easier to hire someone when you know a friend trusts their work. You can even go to their home and evaluate the work for yourself before hiring.
If you don’t have friends and family that have a trusted contractor, you should always take a look at any reviews a contractor has. If they have their own company, their website should have reviews that will help you make your decision.
Reviews and recommendations can also help you figure out if your contractor has certain specialties or strengths. These might come in handy if you have more specific projects you want to be done.
When you check out reviews, you may learn that the company showcases past work. Or they post content surrounding the work that they do. If you see a blog on a website like this one from FMP Construction, you’ll know your contractor is serious about their work and wants to share their knowledge with their customers.
3. Insurance
While you may think every contractor would have insurance, that might not always be the case. When your contractor has general liability and worker’s comp insurance you won’t have to worry about liability.
Since other people are working on your property, you want to make sure your contractor is covering the risks that occur with working in construction. If your contractor doesn’t have the proper insurance, you could end up being liable if anyone gets injured on your property.
4. Concrete Timelines
When working with a contractor, it’s important to make sure your timelines line up. If you need a project done by a certain time, you won’t want it to keep getting pushed back. Make sure you can get concrete answers from your contractor about your timeline. And if they say a project is going to take longer than what you would like, you may have to be a little more flexible.
You can compare the turnaround times of your contractor and others in the area. If it seems like your contractors’ turnaround times are very fast, they may be sacrificing quality for speed. And if it seems like way too long, it might not be a good fit for you either.
5. Communication Skills
You and your contractor are going to be working together on your home. Not only will they be there a lot, but you’ll want to understand the progress they are making. It’s also important to have open communication with your contractor in case there are any delays or hiccups throughout the project.
Working with a contractor with good communication skills can make the whole project a great experience. It can be stressful to have work being done on your home while you’re still there, so being able to talk with your contractor can make the whole process go smoothly.
Conclusion
Working with a contractor is the perfect way to turn your home into your dream dwelling. So make sure you look for these qualifications when deciding on which contractor to work with. Whether it’s the turnaround time, references from friends, or crew they have, it’s important that your contractor has some of these qualifications. And when you find the right fit, happy renovating!
