Home Contractor vs. Homeowner

I am not in the habit of endorsing contractors or contractor referral services, but I do like to make the public aware that they exist. I recently had a problem with a garbage disposal and contacted servicemagic.com. They responded with the names of three contractors in my area and I could read reviews of their services online. At least one or two called me right away. As it happens, I solved the problem myself, but I was impressed by how organized and efficient they are. A potential client had a similar experience with servicemagic when looking for aluminum siding and roofing contractors. They responded quickly and he was pleased with the service. I am going to follow their website and review their advice from time to time, but so far, I am happy to report that customers have been satisfied.

How many times have you been advised to check someone's references? How many times were those references less than glowing? References are only as valuable as the information they provide, so the burden is on the homeowner to ask good, specific questions that will let him know whether the proposed contractor is a good match. So, here are some questions to ask, in no particular order: 1. Did your job come in according to budget? 2. How often did the contractor come to your home? 3. How often did the crew come to your home? 4. If the contractor was not there, was there someone with the authority to answer your questions and make decisions? 5. Were change orders in writing? 6. Did the job finish on time? 7. If not, why? 8. How did the contractor leave the site at the end of the day? 9. Did you feel it was safe? 10. Did the contractor obtain necessary permits? 11. What hours did the contractor work? 12. Did the contractor have other jobs going at the same time that you k...

I have written about suing a builder for new construction previously, but I would like to spell out in more detail the remedies that a homeowner (or even commercial construction for that matter) may have when a dispute arises. As I have now stated over and over, the place to start is with a good contract. Particularly when new construction is involved, there are usually benchmarks for progress payments. Homeowners should be particularly vigilant regarding those benchmarks, and builders should be clear about which work needs to be completed and whose approval is required before the payment is made. On the builder side, it is nice when those payments are automatic upon inspection (bank or town should be specified). The homeowner may want to include a provision that he/she should be allowed to inspect before payment is issued, but the builder should be able to protect himself at that point so the homeowner cannot have full power to determine the definition of what constitutes completi...