It is not unusual for you to receive estimates on your remodeling project that vary in price substantially.  At this time, it is prudent to clarify whether all of the remodel firms are equal. The following are some guidelines our past customers have found useful in making this determination.

Qualified remodelers should not hesitate to provide the answers to these questions. The answers do not call for the company to divulge proprietary information. All requests for information should be time phased. In other words, now is the time to see which contractor works well under timelines.

Experience

Ask for three references of three projects that are very similar to yours. Ask these references:

• Did you work off a fixed price contract or a cost-plus/time and material contract?

• How did the final price compare to the original estimate?

• Did the scope of the project change much once the job started?

• Could the project be better planned up front to minimize changes along the way?

• Was the quality and service what you expected?

• Are the referenced projects in a similar neighborhood to yours and have similar levels of finishing?

• Did any problems arise during the job and if so, how was it handled?

Scheduling

• Was the job scheduled from the start to the finish? If yes, how close were they to the finish scheduled date?

Remodeler Qualifications

• How long in business? (Is this important to you? Do you see any benefit to a contractor having some sort of history of projects? A history of servicing projects during the warranty period?

• Is the contractor a member of any trade organizations or the National Association of the Remodeling Industry?

• How well will the contractor handle your money during the project?

• Most contractors ask for some money up front. Quality contractors have good working relationships with suppliers and can purchase material on an open account with 30 days to pay. Supplier relationships should match length of time in business to a certain extent. How can you check out your contractor's credit worthiness?

• Where does the contractor bank, who is the contractor's bank officer, how long has the contractor banked there?

• Who are three suppliers the contractor buys from?

• How long have they been buying and do they buy on open account?

• Ask for a sample lien release.

Written Contract

• What does the contract look like? Is it all inclusive? Does it list what is included as well as what is not included? How are disputes resolved? What is the payment schedule?

One single item will not make or break a contractor, however, by getting answers to all of the above questions, you should see a pattern develop. Are you comfortable with the pattern?