Episode 1423
How to hire a contractor! How to find that right person for your project
Hiring a contractor can be a scary time. How does a homeowner go about it? What should a contractor be doing? What should you expect to see with a proposal or even a contract? We talk about all of it in detail so you have a better chance of finding that contractor that can work for you. If you are a contractor we also give some great tips on what your proposals should include and look like. All this and MORE in this episode of Around the House.
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Mentioned in this episode:
A new kind of decking and siding from Millboard
For more information about the latest in decking and cladding head to https://www.millboard.com/
Baldwin Hardware
Transcript
[00:00:34] Eric Goranson: Arrange delivery, they have to check it in. There's a lot of time involved in bringing those materials in and quite frankly, it gets taxed through their books one way or the other. However, their business is set up when it to remodeling
[:[00:00:54] Intro: House
[:[00:00:59] Eric Goranson: Every [00:01:00] single week. Thanks for joining us today. Well, I wanted to tackle something that was gonna be kinda a huge subject, and so we're gonna do this whole hour about this, how to hire a contractor. And in today's world where we have so many challenges out there with a shortage of contractors, a shortage of people in the trade.
[:[00:01:41] Eric Goranson: First before we get going, I wanted to say you can track me down over to around the House online.com, where you can hit me up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, even LinkedIn, uh, around the House Show is the best place to find us there. Well, today I wanted to talk about, you know, this hiring, how [00:02:00] to hire a contractor and find the right one for your home.
[:[00:02:28] Eric Goranson: I am not an attorney or an insurance agent, but I can tell you what these are some of the problems that can happen. First off, if you hire somebody to come over and clean out your gutters, Clean off all the leaves off your roof or something like that, and they fall off the ladder and get hurt or killed.
[:[00:03:17] Eric Goranson: So that's why this is really important on how to get these people hired correctly. Now, first off, you know, your goal here is just to find somebody that's trustworthy, that's gonna come to a great job for you. And more importantly, it's gonna be in your budget too. And so here's how I recommend that. Take a look and find them.
[:[00:04:15] Eric Goranson: So for instance, you know, you've got all these, uh, unlicensed contractors trying to sell on next door, but they won't give the state of Oregon access into the program to police these illegal contractors. And so that can be a problem. Facebook, all those can be tough. Facebook's a little easier, but Nextdoor actively is a problem with that.
[:[00:05:08] Eric Goranson: Maybe the day world of Contract company hired 'em through. If a contractor would be, isn't busy and they're on all these different programs trying to get leads, I question if they're new or if they've got expense. You know, prices, or more importantly, they get fired off of jobs pretty easily. So these are all things that I'm concerned about because most of the good contractors right now are just dialed in, busy.
[:[00:06:06] Eric Goranson: And here's why. In my state and even up into the state of Washington next to us, they are state licensed places. But if you go into plenty of places on the East coast, these are city. Township, county, any of those areas are who the licensing through. So the state might not be involved in at all. It could be a local thing.
[:[00:06:57] Eric Goranson: So find out what those are in your area. [00:07:00] That is also a warning sign for me. If you do your research and they are failing to give you the proper notices, I wonder what other things are they gonna skip. If they're not getting the, the regulations right there, I worry about them doing other problems. And then the other thing I want you to do is, even though you're hiring it done, I want you to fully understand what the project's being done.
[:[00:07:48] Eric Goranson: This guy was out putting his tile work up saying he does bathrooms and stuff like that. I could tell you what, looking at the pictures that he was so proud of, I could tell that he didn't waterproof that correctly. [00:08:00] All he did was waterproof the seams, and so that shower was not going to last like it was supposed to because guess what?
[:[00:08:30] Eric Goranson: This guy here was skipping a very important step, and by the time you noticed it was failed, he was long down the road. But he didn't know any better. So I, there are so many good contractors out. Most of them are great, but what I want you to do is by the end of this show, I want to be able to make sure that I have led you down a path so you can find the right contractor and find somebody that's gonna be really, you know, do the job right for you.
[:[00:09:17] Eric Goranson: Now when we come back, we are gonna continue the discussion on the right ways to find that great contractor. There's so many good ones out there. I just want to help you weed out the bad ones so your project doesn't go sideways like so many peoples have out there, and we'll make somebody, a new friend around the house will be right back after these important messages.
[:[00:09:43] Eric Goranson: He said, Should I be loud? Be so hot.
[:[00:10:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to Around The House Show. Now we've been talking about how to hire a contractor. How to find that perfect person to be working on your project. Now, one of the things that are, uh, it's always a, a common debate is referrals. Now referrals are not the end all, be all for anything, finding a contractor, and here's why.
[:[00:10:51] Eric Goranson: One, you had homeowners that felt guilty for the contractor that they were going through hard times and gave 'em a good referral when they shouldn't have. [00:11:00] Or two, you can run into where they have family and friends that are the referrals. So when it comes down to it, I don't wanna just get on the. Here's why I want to be able to maybe have them send me some pictures before and afters.
[:[00:11:38] Eric Goranson: Then you should be prepared to give them later on for that same contractor because you're gonna be his next referral or her. So that's one thing to consider. Now one, One group that I am not a fan of, which is the Better Business Bureau, I do not personally trust them. Back when I had my own kitchen, a bath business [00:12:00] up in the Seattle area, I was.
[:[00:12:25] Eric Goranson: And they fired back and said, Oh, it's because you're not an accredited. But if you want to pay the $750, we'll give you an A cuz you'll be accredited. It was a good old fashioned shakedown. And you know something, if I would've had a couple complaints, I still would've had an A because I at that time would've still been able to pay that 750 bucks or whatever it was.
[:[00:13:15] Eric Goranson: Do you want us to bury those for you? If so, let me get your credit card number and uh, pay the service fee and we'll hide. That doesn't help anybody. And so be very careful that I do not like that type of business, so I'm very careful of that. So referrals are a big one, and you just gotta be very careful.
[:[00:13:54] Eric Goranson: And now here's another thing too, and this is where you want to get ahold of your state or [00:14:00] local contractor agency and take a peak too, because this is where your little bit of research can go a long way. Have they had any complaints against their license with the licensing agency, you know, and sometimes a business in 30.
[:[00:14:36] Eric Goranson: These guys have really worked well to do it, and they will give. Some advice on what's a good contractor and what's not. Cuz before I do an endorsement for a contractor, I actually call up my local licensing agency and say, Before I put my Eric Jean name on it for their ads or their commercials, I wanna make sure that these guys are good.
[:[00:15:22] Eric Goranson: There are preferred trained contractors from that manufacturer's website, so you can go on to roofing material, website, pick a brand, and many of them have their certified contractors. Sometimes that gives you a better warranty and it shows that these guys have been through the training program that they provided and that they will do a informed or better job than others that are just gonna go up and put that product up.
[:[00:16:18] Eric Goranson: So that's not a bad place to be because guess what? If those people are having warranty issues down the road and they're certified, that roofing company doesn't want their brand put out there by somebody that's doing a bad. So that's another one. Now, another place I like to follow up with is where are they buying their materials from?
[:[00:17:02] Eric Goranson: That's a warning sign, and that's something to really be careful with. Now, one of the things I want you to do too in the front end of this project is find out what their payment structure is. Because what can happen is, is if they are floating a bunch of projects out there, then if they don't pay their bills, they can put a lean on your house and nobody wants.
[:[00:17:46] Eric Goranson: And I'm not gonna be giving legal advice here cuz that's not what I do. But understand the lean process in your area before you get onto a big project. Because many times you want them, when you pay for 'em to sign a [00:18:00] lean release. Know. Hey, you've been paid and they can't put a lien on your product, on your project because the product wasn't paid for.
[:[00:18:26] Intro: returns.
[:[00:19:26] Eric Goranson: Now, here's the thing. When contractors are out there working on your home, you honestly want them supplying the materials because that way it's covered under their warranty. Now here's the thing, if you have somebody doing a kitchen or a bathroom remodel for you, You want them to buy the faucet, buy the stuff that they're doing, because then they have to come in and cover it.
[:[00:20:17] Eric Goranson: So that's where that becomes a big deal. So I want my contractor to go out and buy the materials and have to cover that as part of the warranty. Now here's the thing, and this is where a lot of people get hung up on contractor markup. Well, that the way our tax system works in the United States. when that product, let's say they go out and buy $2,000 worth of flooring for you just as a round number.
[:[00:21:10] Eric Goranson: So I would expect to see 10 is probably really low. 25 is almost pretty average these days just because of what it takes to get materials here. It's a lot harder to get materials here, so there's a lot more work involved, but that contractor is gonna mark that up, probably 25. But here's what you gotta think about this.
[:[00:21:59] Eric Goranson: [00:22:00] Now there are contractors out there that say, Oh, I don't mark it up at all. I have zero markup. But you know something, They're paying, You're paying for that someplace. So now if they're pitching to you that, Oh wow, we don't mark our stuff up, it's, it's all part of the deal. It's in their labor budget. It's hiding.
[:[00:22:45] Eric Goranson: And then the cost of materials. So this is really, I want you to not be scared about that markup because that's just part of business out there for them. They're gonna have to put it in there someplace. And I'll be honest, I'd much rather have those [00:23:00] numbers out there where I can see them versus hiding into a labor budget.
[:[00:23:29] Eric Goranson: That is one of those things that you really need to be careful with. Now, quotes when they give you an. I don't wanna see kitchen remodel, $66,000 cabinetry, countertops, flooring, appliances. Usually if I see a remodel number like that, I advise you to walk away, run. That's how you handle that. Just go away, because I [00:24:00] wanna see a multi page, detailed out estimate from that contractor.
[:[00:24:33] Eric Goranson: Be very careful that I'm very concerned about not having that detailed out, because now you can go through and go, Oh wow, they have budget for knobs, countertop flooring, a new vent hood. You know, maybe the electrical upgrades, plumbing upgrades. You can go through and see what those line items are, and there's gonna be a number associated with it.
[:[00:25:15] Eric Goranson: So that detailed estimate is key. Now, here's another one. I am not opposed, and I think this is actually important. I'm not opposed for a remodel contractor. To charge you a few hundred bucks to put that together. They're gonna spend hours putting that estimate together, and I have no problem if they're gonna charge you a couple hundred bucks and they give you that money back when you sign with them.
[:[00:26:08] Eric Goranson: They can spend eight or 10 hours with you and that just to get you numbers. And I think it's perfectly fair to compensate for that. So I have no problem with estimate. Are paid for. And I know contractors out there that used to do it, but because of the level of detail and all the things that have to go into it, it's, it's a smart way to go.
[:[00:26:49] Eric Goranson: What is the minimum in your area? Who is the one regulating that? So I would find out that, and then figure out what the warranty is. Because [00:27:00] sometimes you might have a one year warranty, that's the minimum, and that contractor's gonna do, Oh, I'm gonna stand behind it. I'm gonna give you a two year warranty.
[:[00:27:36] Eric Goranson: And now that warranty that they did before is gone because guess what? They're at a business. We've had that with small window companies for years. They go out and have a seven year run selling a lifetime window, and as soon as the windows start failing, oops. They've closed up. They're gone. , then you have no warranty, and that can be a big problem because now all [00:28:00] of a sudden there's nobody there to stand behind it.
[:[00:28:22] Intro: returns.
[:[00:29:00] Eric Goranson: welcome back to the Around the House Show. Now if you've been following us on social media, make sure that. Over on Facebook, our member of Around the House Nation, that is our closed group over there outside of the, Around the House Show Facebook page, that, uh, we have a bunch of new members and a lot of good times over there.
[:[00:29:44] Eric Goranson: This all needs to be documented and it needs to be really documented. Well, first off, in the contract, I wanna see. All the required stuff that has to be there, and that's where you [00:30:00] do your research to make sure there are, In my state for instance, there are specific contract language that has to be in that contract.
[:[00:30:32] Eric Goranson: If it's a certain roofing, I wanna see it on there. If the replacing things, I want to see it on there. This needs to be a detailed account, and here's why, Because technically, if it's not in the contract and you're writing a check, they don't have to. So this needs to have a step-by-step. You know, cabinets, poles, countertops, sink, faucet, all needs to be there and make sure that you're [00:31:00] doing it.
[:[00:31:24] Eric Goranson: I wanna see this all spelled out. Warranty. These are all details that should be all written out and spelled out within this whole thing because this is important. Now, the thing I wanna do, let's say, I'll give you a hypothetical guys. If you have a contractor coming over to sign a contract that afternoon hours before, here's what I want you to do.
[:[00:32:25] Eric Goranson: So you wanna make sure all these things are in effect the day you do, because that way when you sign it, you know it's covered. And so you're better off that way. That is one of the most important steps. Along the way with this. Now here's another secret. I see people get away with this in the contracting world, but I wanna make sure that you see that this is covered for your sake.
[:[00:33:13] Eric Goranson: So make sure in your state, again, follow these rules or township or county. Many times they have to be paying insurance for those employees, so make sure they're covered. I have caught many times in certain states, Contractors that say they're exempt where they don't have any employees. So they're not paying any of those worker compensation payments for that insurance.
[:[00:34:01] Eric Goranson: I don't mind having a framing inspection by a third party inspector that's making sure you are good. Because if many times, And here's one thing that I wanna say about building code. Building code is great for health and safety welfare. The people inside the building building code does not address quality workman.
[:[00:34:48] Eric Goranson: So you need to keep that into mind. That is one of those things to do that and then make sure that that quality is going throughout the project. So having that second, you know, level of of inspection going through there is good. [00:35:00] And then again, like we talked about earlier, knowing that you have things ready to go with the building department, who's pulling the permits?
[:[00:35:32] Eric Goranson: There are so many good contractors out there that do a great job, but there's also ones out there that are your low bid winners. And what I mean is, is they come in and give you all the details. Let's say they're at a hundred thousand dollars and everybody else is at a hundred and thirty, a hundred forty, a hundred fifty, and you're like, Man, these guys are gonna save me money.
[:[00:36:13] Eric Goranson: There are contractors out there that nail you on change orders, and that is part of their business plan when they see the, the damage that was in a wall from, you know, maybe it was a rodent, maybe it was, um, carpenter, ants, termites. A lot of that, quite frankly, can't be seen until you get it open, and that's a legitimate change.
[:[00:37:03] Eric Goranson: So make sure that's spelled out. Now there are things in there that the contractor should have caught. You know, I've had many times that I've had to go on, on projects where they're like, I had no idea that load that wall was load bearing. Well, it should have been if you knew as a contractor what that should have been, and you assumed it wasn't, and it was, Hey man, that's on you.
[:[00:37:55] Eric Goranson: So I wanna make sure that they have documented. The demo process [00:38:00] and how they're getting rid of stuff. Is there, is there lead paint testing? Is there asbestos testing? If you're, uh, you know, an older house, and trust me, you can have asbestos into the two thousands on a project. So make sure that they're doing that correctly, cuz the last thing you wanna do is to have that.
[:[00:38:33] Eric Goranson: How are they getting in? Are they having to get parking passes? Do they have to have protection in the elevator? These are things that are all really important. They wanna, I wanna make sure that you are dialed in. And last of all, before we go out to break, make sure that you don't go with the lowest bed.
[:[00:39:08] Eric Goranson: Don't be that nightmare. Homeowner yourself. That way they can get the job done and let 'em do it correctly. All right everybody. Thanks for listening to Around
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