Ready to Remodel? Follow Six Key Steps to Find a Trustworthy Contractor

Finding a trustworthy remodeler is crucial. Learn six essential tips to ensure a successful home renovation and avoid common pitfalls.

When the home improvement and interior design online community, Houzz, released its 2024 U.S. Emerging Summer Trends Report, we saw home styles such as leisure spaces, reading rooms, and kid zones gaining popularity among home dwellers. Once the decision is made to do a home update, the critical next step is to find a dependable and honest remodeler.

In 2022, Christine Lukowicz and her husband decided they wanted to update the exterior of their Caledonia, Wis. home. The Lukowiczs partnered with Jordan Miller, a NARI Certified Remodeling Specialist from Allrite Home and Remodeling in Milwaukee to give their home a new color scheme, siding, trim, stone veneer, and improved insulation. The homeowners were satisfied with their decision and the remodeling process – in large part because of Miller’s honesty and transparency.

Many homeowners aren’t as lucky as the Lukowiczs. In fact, the Consumer Federation of America reports that complaints made to agencies about home improvement repairs and contractors were the second most common complaint category in 2023.

Here are six essential tips for finding and working with a trustworthy remodeler:

1. Take the time to research and interview multiple contractors. This could take several months, especially during busy seasons. Lukowicz and her husband started researching contractors in the fall of 2022, and the work didn’t start until May 2023. “Don’t expect anyone to give you a quote over the phone,” Lukowicz warns. “Requesting bids can move slowly because you are working with multiple schedules.”
2.  Look for contractors who are affiliated with or certified by industry associations like the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). For example, NARI offers an online directory of members, each of whom has pledged to follow NARI’s Code of Ethics.
3. Check references, violations, and complaints. Make sure to call past clients and ask if they would hire your potential contractor again. In addition, verify the contractor doesn’t have violations or complaints registered with your local Consumer Affairs Office and Better Business Bureau.
4. Consider factors beyond cost. The price tag is only one aspect of choosing a contractor. Other important factors in your hiring might include whether the contractor provides a warranty, the contractor’s specific product knowledge, and the ability to provide conceptual designs of the final project. For Lukowicz, choosing the right contractor meant examining the contractor’s experience and expertise — not just with the installation but with the product itself.
5. Be patient. Understand that unexpected delays and issues may arise, so be prepared for schedule changes and work closely with the contractor to resolve challenges. “You're entrusting them with one of your most valuable assets; so, you have to be prepared for bad news,” Lukowicz says. “However, the contractor should always be upfront and honest.”
6. Choose a contractor who is flexible, communicative, and willing to collaborate with you throughout the process. Lukowicz says initially the project scope was smaller because she and her husband didn’t understand the damage workers would encounter under the siding. But Miller explained to the couple that what they were proposing was just a “band-aid,” which would cause more issues overall. Miller educated the Lukowiczs as the project progressed. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world for a homeowner to be happy with the project,” Miller says.

By using these six essential tips to find a contractor, you, too, can be happy with your project and your remodeler.

  
Christine Lukowicz is happy with her home renovation and now enjoys pulling up to
her house each day. Photos courtesy: Allrite Home and Remodeling

| 11/7/2024 12:37:11 PM | 0 comments