Spotting The Signs of A Bad Tradesman or Contractor

Choosing the right contractors or tradesmen to work on any remodeling or repair project around your home can be a bit of a daunting task. However there are a few dead giveaways that will help you spot a bad apple right away. Here are some of the most obvious:

They Show Up Late for Your First Meeting – Unless there is a very good reason they they can offer for failing to show up on time – floods, hurricanes and Godzilla attacks are all acceptable – then if a contractor or tradesman cannot make the effort to show up to a client meeting on time then just how reliable are they going to be if actually hire them to work on your project?

They Tell You That You Don’t Need to Sign a Contract – If you are considering any larger scale home remodeling project – anything from repainting the exterior of your home to redoing your whole kitchen from top to bottom – you need everything in writing, because a lot of your hard earned cash is at stake here.

If the contractor you are talking to says you don’t need to worry about a contract excuse yourself – fast – and start looking again. A good remodeler will want a legal contract every bit as much as you do because it is designed to protect their best interests as well.

They Were Tough to Get Hold Of – If it took four phone messages and three emails to get these guys to call you back why are you bothering? Any remodeling project’s success or failure depends in part on maintaining a great line communication between homeowner and contractor and if they didn’t even make that initial call back in a timely fashion than obviously this is probably going to be problem further down the road.

They are Reluctant to Give References – Any good tradesman loves nothing more than to show off their past accomplishments to new clients. If the one you are dealing with does not seem so keen to then there is probably something they are hiding.

These are just a few of the red flags you should be on the lookout for, there are more. Taking the time to make sure that you are really hiring the right person to handle your home remodeling or repair job pays off every time because getting it wrong can cause a lot of heartbreak, cost you a lot of money and even maybe devalue you biggest financial asset – the home you live in.