Comments on: How Do You Find Good Home Improvement Contractors?

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:43:00 +0000

I love this post. Excellent question.

I have a few answers.

For a roofer, I got estimates from three name-brand sounding places and three locals, and picked a guy who sounded good and was charging less because it was during a drought (low demand, because no one knows if their roof is leaking). He seemed to do a good job (after the first rain, you can at least tell if it's a horrible job) and did everything he said and cleaned up, so I recommend him.

For a plumber, the first guy I asked wanted to replace my faucet with something I hated but which was all sparkly and expensive, so I asked my old apartment manager to let me contact his repair guys so I could talk to them. They agreed that this new faucet was stupid (the kind where turning up the volume is the same as turning up the heat). So I got another plumber out and he did just what I wanted--replaced what I had, even though he had to make an extra trip to the warehouse. So I was recommending him until I could no longer contact him.

I'm still looking for a good plumber, electrician, and appliance repair guy--the ones I've worked with have been horrible.

One idea I heard was to ask your doctor, lawyer, or other highly-paid person you sort of know because they're likely to at least be able to afford such things!

By: Clivus Multrum

Clivus Multrum — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:56:00 +0000

Go to three lumberyards, three banks, and three realtors and ask them who is good. That will eliminate the guys that don’t pay their own bills.

By: jimslade

jimslade — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:43:00 +0000

"How do I find this one guy in the trade whom I can trust?"

Again, not a mystery. Ask others you know who have had work done . Ask your real estate agent. if the agent is worth anything, then he/she should be able to help.

You gotta know people, and you have to ask. if you aren't willing to do that, then i'm afraid you are stuck.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:10:00 +0000

Contractors and mutual funds are not a fair comparison. In labor I find you usually get what you pay for, so trying to minimize costs is usually going to be a bad idea. Besides, tfb, someone like you should never sweat anything less than $1,000 more than doing basic due diligence. By that I mean find someone with a good reputation that can get the job done right and gives a reasonable price (this can be easily checked).

By: Ducks

Ducks — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:34:00 +0000

We did a major remodel on our house two years ago. We found our contractor through the “Home & Remodeling Expo” — one of those large trade shows. We also found a guy to get rid of the moss off our roof at that show. So that may be another place to pick up some names.

We had a gem of a carpenter on our project, and all of the subcontractors they used were fantastic. We’ve since hired their subs for other smaller projects as well.

If you live in my area, I’d be happy to share names.

By: Don

Don — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:48:00 +0000

And this is precisely why I did my last remodel myself. Admittedly it was a $1500 remodel, not something large. It took me 3 weeks to complete, although the grapevine tells me that I’d have been lucky to find anyone locally who could have even started in that timeframe.

It really gave me a clue about the corners that were cut when the house was constructed.

By: TFB

TFB — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:12:00 +0000

Anon, Jim – Thank you. How do I find this one guy in the trade whom I can trust? That seems to be the key …

2nd anon – Service Magic is like Lending Tree. It’s a lead generation service for contractors. Contractors don’t have to be good or fair-priced. They only have to pay Service Magic for the leads.

Maybe I’m just too suspecting. Where’s Consumer Reports for contractors? I know it’s impossible because contractors are so fragmented and you can’t really have two guys come in and do the same job twice and compare. It just seems odd to me so many people are spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars pretty much on faith. Are there general contractors community forums where they talk about which plumbers or electricians they use?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:16:00 +0000

servicemagic.com?

I’ve used them for getting bids and reviews for about 3 small home projects now with great success. For no cost, you get an idea about the work and available bids out there.

By: jimslade

jimslade — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:12:00 +0000

It’s not magic… same way you find good employees or anything else. You ask someone who would know and double check your source when possible with someone else who would know. So in our case we used our real estate agent, who knows lots of people in the business doing remodels. She heard about a great contractor and gave us the referral. We checked his references (3-4 people he did jobs for, and also the guy who he buys cabinets and fixtures from). We also got 2 other bids as ’sanity checks’ to make sure he was within ‘range’. He wasn’t the lowest bidder, but we were willing to pay a little more to use him. As anonymous said, I can now go to my contractor to ask for specific recommendations on people he works with (although I have his flooring, electrical, painter, granite/tile, and plumber now). This was for a ~80k remodel. It’s not magic, it just takes a little work. You might not go through as much effort for a small job, but then the risk is lower then as well…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:03:00 +0000

I have a friend, who does flooring. When I need a contractor (plumber, electrician, etc) I ask him. He works with all of them on a regular basis and they all know each other. The professional reputation of a contractor is much more visible within their own community. All you need is one person you can trust and who is in business of general contracting.