BadContractor.
1. Permits – While not all work will require permits, such as paint, carpet, flooring, or other cosmetic work, many remodeling projects will require permits. Any contractor who says he doesn’t need permits for things like plumbing, electrical, or otherwise does not have your best interest in hand. This is a massive red flag for any contractor. Permits should be pulled for all work, even if not necessary, just to ensure that you are protected from shoddy work. In addition, if you ever want to sell your home you will be able to show that all the improvements you made were done up to par which will help you fetch a higher sale price!
2. Inspections – A bad contractor will want to avoid inspections at all costs. The reason for this is that the inspector will force them to fix their shoddy work. Unfortunately for the home owner, if they are unprepared for this the cost for this will be added to their bill for that contractor, or worse he may even leave the job unfinished. This means you need to go out and find another contractor who can not only do the work but fix the bad work done in the first place. In any situation this will cost you a lot of money
3. Lack of flexibility – many contractors get stuck in their ways and are not open to doing the work the home owner wants but rather doing the work they are familiar with. Nothing is worse than having a contractor finish some work and then finding out they didn’t do it the way you wanted. It becomes very difficult to have them fix the work without additional cost. This problem can be handled by having systems in place to manage your contractor. These types of contractors should always be filtered out before they ever make it to your home to do work.
4. The Low Cost Leader – many home owners will be tempted to go with which ever guy provides the lowest estimate to do the work. You should however be aware that the lowest bid is often “the bad contractor”. You will find one of two things to be true when hiring this person most of the time. Either you will be hit up with change orders that increase the cost of the project, or the work will be subpar. Low bids with change orders is a strategy that many contractors use to get their foot in the door and then make their money once you have already hired them. If they don’t hit you up with change orders though, then there is a good chance they are cutting corners or doing subpar work in order to save money. Either way is bad for you, the home owner and will cost you more money in the long run.
Hiring the right contractor is one of the most important choices you will make during any remodeling project. Know your goals, know your renovation, and most importantly make sure you have systems in place to dominate your renovation. Check out http://blog.redheadrehabs.com/
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