It’s December, which means Christmas and New Years are right around the corner. We know many homeowners who choose to invest in a kitchen renovation or bathroom remodel as a gift to themselves at this time of year. Others set resolutions to complete those projects they’ve been putting off for some time, such as basement finishing.
We want to help you get your project started off right—we want to help you find the best home remodeler for the job. Here are the top 10 questions we believe you should ask before hiring a remodeling contractor to work in your home:
1. Are you properly licensed by the state of Minnesota? If the answer is “no,” walk away immediately. You do not want to get involved with someone who refuses to follow basic industry standards.
2. Are you a member of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry? This membership matters, as remodeling contractors who join this agree to abide by NARI’s strict code of ethics and business professionalism.
3. Can you show me your certificate of liability and workers’ compensation insurance? Make sure the certificate is still valid, and confirm the total amount of coverage available. If the amount is anything under $1 million, the contractor is likely underinsured. This could lead to problems for you should anything go wrong during the remodel.
4. How much experience do you have? Once you have confirmed a contractor’s valid license and insurance, you should next confirm his or her experience in the field. This experience not only includes years in service, but also total number of projects completed.
5. Do you offer in-house design services? Any answer aside from “yes” means you will need to work with different companies to create your vision. Details can often get lost in translation between a designer and remodeler that are not in continual contact with one another. Working with a Minneapolis design-build remodeler such as Excel Builders helps you alleviate potential issues.
6. Do you provide a fixed-price proposal in writing? Some remodelers out there only provide ballpark numbers before starting a project. This can cause major financial headaches for you as unexpected costs arise while construction is underway. Make sure you find a contractor who will give you a detailed breakdown of all costs and work prior to starting the full remodel.
7. Do you complete a daily walkthrough of the site? This walkthrough ensures the project is moving along as needed and avoids issues at the finishing phase.
8. Do you complete a weekly update meeting with the homeowner? Not only should such a meeting take place, but it should always occur on the same day at the same time for the convenience of the homeowner.
9. Do you provide a comprehensive walkthrough at the completion of the project? No remodeler can consider his or her job complete until a full walkthrough of the project has occurred with the homeowner, and then homeowner has signed off of every last detail. If a remodeler is not willing to commit to this, then he or she is not worth bringing on.
10. Do you provide a two-year warranty on installation and workmanship? Most Minneapolis remodelers only provide a one-year warranty. Taking this warranty to the next level proves that the remodeler you choose is willing to stand by his or her work.
Our Gift to You
We have created a 33-point remodeler checklist of basic Yes-or-No questions that we encourage our potential clients to ask every home remodeling contractor they interview. We are offering this checklist to you now. Feel free to download, share and use. We hope you find it helpful!
If you use this form, we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment on this post, call us at 952-361-8664 or contact our home remodeling contractors by email. We’d also take feedback as to questions you feel could be added to make this list even better. Thanks, and happy holidays!