the Price of General Contractors

We had a house fire and we used a local clean up contractor. They used our insurance to buy new paneling, new floors, new paint, chemicals to clean all the exposed surfaces as well as replacing furniture in the rooms that were affected. We replaced all the ceiling fans as well and all the bedding and clothing had to be specially cleaned by a dry cleaner specializing in fire and smoke damaged items.

The overall service was not great. The company contracted all the services to a four man crew to clean, paint and replace the flooring in the home. Many days there would only be two men working and some days they would not show up. I had to make surprise visits to make sure that there were adequate amount of workers there to make progress on a daily basis.

The contractor started screening calls after I made inquiries about the low number of contracted workers on site.I had to go to the office to get answers about questions that I had.

It took forever for us to get back into our home.

When selecting a contractor to do work on your home, I would take time to review their credentials, ask them for four references over the last two years that you can call. Check with the better business bureau in you area. Ask the contractor if any services will be subcontracted and what specific services will be subcontracted.Make sure that they do a background check on the men that will be doing work in and around your home. Before you sign a contract get an attorney to look at the contract and explain the fine print to your. Make sure that you do not give them any large sums of money up front. Make sure that you break the payments up in three payments as the job progresses. Make sure that you and the contractor have a understanding of what is to be done, where it is to be done, specific facts and details that you want done, how long it will take for the job to be completed. If the job is not completed in the time frame given, then what concessions will he give. Because everyday that they are over the deadline is money being spent from your pocket. Maybe you can ask that a clause be put in the contract that if they go a week over the deadline then the money agreed upon can be renegotiated or the price of the overage of days can be cut in half. Just DO YOUR HOMEWORK.