Guidelines for Choosing a Home Contractor

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The following suggestions and guidelines for choosing a home contractor—which are based on my own experience as a craftsman and contractor—are intended to help you pick the right person to manage the building or renovation of a home.

If you’d like an expert to work on your home, here are guidelines for choosing a home contractor to avoid contracting problems.

Even the most ardent do-it-yourselfer is occasionally confronted with a task that exceeds his or her ability and/or time . . . and among the most common “too big to handle” jobs is the construction, major repair, or remodeling of a building. However, even if the work involved is left to professionals, an individual still needs skill, experience, and time to pull together the diverse efforts of a selection of specialists to guarantee that the results are sound, attractive, and economical.

The following suggestions and guidelines for choosing a home contractor–which are based on my own experience as a craftsman and contractor–are intended to help you pick the right person to manage the building or renovation of a home. What’s more, I hope my comments will assist you in developing a good working relationship with your contractor.

PICKING THE RIGHT HOME CONTRACTOR

Obviously enough, selecting the right man or woman to oversee the construction (for example) of a home is the most important step in avoiding post-construction headaches. But actually finding a person with the skill, integrity, and personality to work well with you may be easier said than done. However, you can start your search by contacting the local building inspector, who may be able to provide a list of reputable contractors. (Frank Mesaric–the inspector for my hometown, Montrose, Colorado–offered the following information when I questioned him over the phone: “I can’t recommend one contractor over another, but I can provide a list of five whose work has proved acceptable to the community.”) Another way to check on builders is to call local materials suppliers, who–at the very least–will tell you whether or not a particular individual pays his or her bills promptly.

  • Published on Nov 1, 1982
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