Getting the most from your Contractor

Hiring a contractor can be stressful but what happens after you've hired them and the project is late or more expensive than planned? Find out with these tips for a successful working relationship with your contractor.


If you are considering a remodel to your home in the near future, you also may be considering hiring a contractor. Despite the television shows which make DIY remodeling look like a piece of cake, many jobs are just too complicated and/or time consuming for many of us to tackle on our own. There's no shame in calling in a little professional help and in many cases, it will save you a lot of time, energy, and perhaps even money. But how can you find a quality, reliable contractor?

We've all heard the horror stories of corrupt contractors who demand a lot more money than they originally asked for or who never finish the job. Some of them finish the job but it takes months longer than anticipated. Months that the homeowner is left frustrated and annoyed. But how can we avoid these contractor nightmares? The key to finding a great contractor, as with many things in life, is open and honest 2-way communication.

If you tell the contractor all of your ideas and your deadline but you never check to make sure your plans are feasible or even understood properly, you are unlikely to get the results you want. Likewise, if a contractor has a plan and their own timeline in mind but they do not communicate any of that with you, or you simply don't ask them about it, you are both likely in for some frustration.

Once you have decided upon a contractor for your home remodeling job, take the time to sit down with them and have an open and honest 2-way conversation. That means that you both have time to talk and you both take the time to actively listen to what the other person has to say. While your contractor will often be initially eager to please and they may agree to whatever plan or time frame you give them, just to get the job, it's important that you probe a bit deeper. Perhaps rather than just giving them your plan and deadline, discuss what you would like with them and then come up with a plan you can both agree upon together.

As far as the time frame, (which is often one of the major mishaps folks encounter with contractors), ASK the contractor how much time THEY need to complete the project. This is by far a much more effective approach that TELLING them when YOU want them to finish the project. Obviously, if you do need the job finished by a specific date, be sure to let the contractor know that. If it is a rush job, you may need to come up with some smaller, more manageable deadlines to help you both stay on track. For example, if you have 2 weeks before you need the project completed, you may need to set a deadline of 5 days for 50% of the project to be finished. That will help both you and the contractor determine whether or not you are on track.

If that first deadline is not met, have an open an honest conversation with the contractor. That doesn't mean you yell at them for missing the deadline. It means that the two of you take a moment to discuss how things are going and you come up with a solution. Perhaps the contractor needs to hire more labor to come in and help in order for the project to be completed on time.

Being proactive regarding any potential issues and establishing open and honest 2-way communication with your contractor are surefire ways to help keep your home improvement projects on track. Find out more now at entrepreneur en construction.