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Avoiding Home

Remodeling Nightmares What You Need to Know Before You Begin

Entry Point KW

Avoiding Home Remodeling Nightmares - What You Need to Know Before You Begin

There are a great many reasons that homeowners decide to commission larger

home improvement projects, from improving the look and function of their homes

to actually increasing the real AND perceived value of their property. People's

motivations for choosing to improve their home through home remodeling and

home renovations but they all have some wants in common - they want a good job

done at a reasonable price.

Unfortunately every year hundreds of homeowners who decided to entrust their

hard earned money to a contractor to execute their home improvement vision end

up disappointed, heartbroken even and way out of pocket because they contractor

they choose was not quite up to the job.

In this white paper we are going to share just what you should be looking for when

you are choosing a home improvement contractor and how to avoid becoming one

of those heartbroken homeowners whose home improvement dreams become a

nightmare.

What Can Go Wrong?

If you were to speak to any home remodeling and home renovation specialist who

has been in business for a while no matter where they are based they will be able

to tell you at least a few home improvement nightmare stories, often because they

were the ones who had to step in to and fix the chaos.

Here are a just a few real life stories

'from the trenches' as told by

contractors who had to right the

wrongs of others and homeowners

who lived through the nightmares;

"The homeowner had requested that the contractor replace an old fashioned popcorn ceiling with a light

textured finish. The problem was that the contractor assigned the task to a sub-contractor who

completely failed to understand the brief and applied the texturing to the ceilings, the walls and

practically every surface in the kitchen. Rather than agree to fix what the subcontractor had done the

contractor simply walked off the job, leaving a huge and costly to fix mess behind for my company to

deal with."

"We hired a local contractor to put a small addition on the back of our home to serve as a sun porch. He

poured the foundation and did begin to frame out the structure, but then, without a word, he simply

disappeared. Unable to track him down we lost our deposit and when we hired a new contractor they

discovered that the new foundation was not at all sufficient and it had to be redone, adding thousands to

our original budget."

"We wanted to completely remodel our kitchen, but the construction company we hired suddenly said

the crew could only work in the evenings. They showed up for two weeks, and then one day, they just

didn't show up anymore. They left behind a complete mess and we had to hire a new company to finish

the job. We had paid the first firm as they went, but next time we will get an agreement in writing to

make sure the job is done. Lesson learned. "

Why Does This Happen?

It may be very hard to imagine that a remodeling

contractor would simply abandon a job and yet it

actually happens a great deal. Most consumers

are savvy enough to know that they should never

pay a contractor in full up front, so often a

contractor that is in over their head has little to

lose by disappearing. Deposits are usually

nonrefundable so they simply take what they can

get and leave. It's a nightmare for the

homeowners but very hard to litigate.

Inexperience and lack of care is a real problem in the construction and remodeling

industry. In this day and age anyone can set up a website and all too often a person

who considers themselves to be a great DIY expert decides that this means that

they can also be a great remodeling contractor.

Therefore, the onus shifts to the consumer to do some due diligence before they

hire a remodeling contractor for any project.

What Does a Good Remodeling Contractor Look Like?

You do a Google search for a kitchen remodeling contractor in your area and lo and

behold dozens of results pop up, all in reasonably close proximity to your home.

Now what? How do you even begin to start? Let's take it step by step:

The Website

Most people's first point of contact these days with almost any company is their

website. Do not be fooled though. While a nice looking website can be a good sign

you should not be blinded by a very fancy one. Being able to build a nice website

(or to pay to have one built) does not mean that you can build a great kitchen!

There are some things that you should be looking for though. Clear contact

information should be prominently displayed and not just a contact form either, a

real telephone number and a real address should be easy to find. If a remodeling

contractor does not list such things that should be a red flag (remember the

contractors who ran away? It is easy to do if your only point of contact is an email

form.)

Experience

Not all contractors are jacks of all trades. Some are far better at certain projects

than they are others. During your first discussions you need to determine what

their level of experience is with your specific project. For example, a company may

be able to show you dozens of examples of their great kitchen remodels but how

does that skill translate to the deck you are hoping to add to your home before the

summer comes?

The Human Touch

Letting strangers spend days, weeks, or even months come and go in your home is

a big leap of faith. If a contractor is not willing to arrange a face to face meeting

then even more alarm bells should start going off in your head. You are also

entitled to ask questions about why the company is in business. It may sound a

little silly at first, but if a contractor is not passionate about what they do - and

about great customer service - then they are simply not going to do the best job

possible.

Any good craftsman is proud of their work and that is especially true of any home

remodeling contractor. Most great remodeling contractors will want to flood you

with examples of their great work, sometimes until you beg them to stop. That is

not a bad thing though, it means they are proud of what they do and will carry that

passion onto your project.

The Legal Stuff

Another huge headache for a homeowner is an improperly insured contractor.

Hiring a contractor who is not properly insured can be more of a problem than you

might think. Contractors of any kind - but especially remodeling and renovation

contractors - need to carry two types of insurance; liability and worker’s

compensation.

For you, as a homeowner, this protects you in two ways. Liability insurance will kick

in in the event the contractor causes damage to your home. For example, what if,

during a bathroom remodel something goes wrong and the bathtub goes crashing

through the floor? It would be very, very unlikely that your homeowner's insurance

will cover you.

Worker's comp is important to protect

you from being liable if a worker is

injured while on your property

undertaking the job as specified. Your

own homeowner’s insurance policy may

help cover some of the costs to pay that

worker’s claim but that will usually result

in a hike in your rates and make it harder for you to get a new policy in the future.

Before you sign anything, ask the contractor about these issues.

A Listening Ear

You may not have the technical knowhow to pull of your desired home

improvement project but you do know what you want and that usually is not

exactly the same thing as your neighbour, and the people down the street have.

Some companies, usually the larger ones actually, will offer you set options for

standard remodels. You can have A, B, C (or maybe even D) floor plan with X, Y, Z

counters, flooring and cabinets. Any deviations are considered 'custom' and will

cost you double the price. That is not the way a home remodeling project should

work. Look for a contractor who will listen to your vision and then tell you how

they can execute it, explaining any challenges they foresee in getting you exactly

what you want.

An All Seeing Eye

There is more to most

remodeling projects than

just the technical aspects of

laying the floor in bathroom

or installing the cabinets in

the kitchen. Most people

are remodeling for form

and function and so how a

remodel looks when all is

said and done is very important as well. Ask the remodeling contractor you are

considering what their interior design experience consists of as well. Good

contractors will either have a qualified individual on staff or they will have a solid

working relationship with a reliable and trusted associate who can help ensure that

all of the design bases are covered as well as the technical ones.

Get it all in Writing

After you have made your decision on just which contractor you want to use make

sure that there is not only a written contract but a written plan of action as well. In

the course of a larger remodeling project this may need to be changed over time -

as in 'oops I do prefer blue over white for my ceramic tile after all' and other such

changes - and for the protection of both parties these requests should be made in

writing as well, rather than simply casually mentioned to the foreman of the crew

when they show up for work one morning.

Tips for a Smooth Working Relationship with Your Remodeling

Contractors

Once work actually begins you are going to become very well acquainted with your

remodeling contractor and there are some things you can do to make the whole

process smoother for everyone. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Set Some Ground Rules

If there are certain areas in your home you would prefer that your contractors not

go state so politely up front instead of getting mad when a worker unwittingly goes

someplace where you did not want them to.

Remove Kids and Animals

Whenever possible

children should not

be present anywhere

near a remodeling

job and the same is

true of pets. There

have truly been one

or two horrible cases

in which a beloved

family pet has ended

up sealed behind

drywall because the

homeowner forgot

to tell the contractor that they existed :( In addition, all the banging and crashing

and the influx of strangers will scare pets half to death so if they cannot be sent to

'pet daycare' at least make sure they are kept in a secure place away from all the

action and that your contractors are aware they are there (so that no one lets

them out accidentally.)

Communication is Key

If something is not quite proceeding as you like then you should speak up

immediately rather than grumbling to other people. A good contractor really only

wants one thing - to please their client - and will be happy to listen to your

concerns and go about coming up with ways to solve the issue. But they can only

do that if they know that something is amiss in the first place.

In conclusion, a home remodeling or home renovation project of any kind is a big

undertaking and will affect your, your family and your home for years to come.

Therefore take the time to implement and follow these suggestions and get the

great job you are looking for done right the first time.

Thanks for downloading one of our White Papers. Please feel free to email, tweet

or otherwise social bookmark out this report to your friends and colleagues. If you

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About Entry Point KW

EntryPoint KW is a construction company located in Waterloo, Ontario,

that takes pride in offering quality projects for the home at an affordable price. We

understand how important it is to get things right and put ourselves in our

customers’ shoes to make sure that we are offering the solution that is right for

them.

Our experienced staff is very experienced in many areas of home remodeling and

renovation as well as interior design. Please feel free to contact us at any time at

226-988-3696 or via http://entrypointkw.comto discover just what we can do for

you.

Aron Pinto, Owner and General Contractor