Are you planning on a new renovation project in your home? Do you plan on breaking down that separating wall to create more space? Or create a completely new sun room or patio? Well, the husband being the handyman that he is, might decide to do all the renovation on his own.
However, wouldn’t it be more reassuring if you hired qualified house renovations contractors for the job? Yes, that might be the best move in such a situation. If you have never gone through the hiring process before, below are some tips you should look into when hiring house renovation contractors.
Referrals
In the service industry, most contractors can attest to the fact that word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools. Therefore, when looking for the best house renovating contractors, you should start by asking for referrals from people you trust. Ask your neighbours, friends or family for contacts for the best renovating contractors in your locality. While doing so, you should ask whether their experience with the particular contractor was positive or whether the maintenance issues were handled perfectly. If you land an exceptional contractor at this stage, well and good!
Credentials
You might have the best referrals from people close to you but you must also check the credentials. Start by visiting the contractor’s website or contacting them to ask for specific certificates or licenses that indicate their qualifications to handle your home renovation project. Expert house renovation contractors should have the required licenses to offer their services in a particular locality with continued memberships in different associations in their service industry.
There are a few contractors who take the extra mile to engage in course work and tests that award extra certifications. However, all the certifications awarded to specific contractors might not be similar. Therefore, it’s imperative to do some research to identify the requirements for each certification before making your hire.
Interviewing Prospective Candidates
From your prior research or referrals awarded to you, it’s possible your list of prospective contractors might be longer than usual. However, try doing an elimination procedure to narrow it down as much as possible. If you don’t require a large renovation project that might take some time, you definitely don’t need too many prospective contractors. With a list of 3 exceptional contractors, you can arrange for interviews and determine the best person for the job. However if you have a big renovation such as a new extensions, altering the indoor floor plan or combining the kitchen and lounge into a big open plan space, then you definitely need to hire expert Auckland house renovations building contractors.
References
Once you have narrowed down the list, you should ask each contractor to provide references for previous jobs. Most contractors will always have a list of 3 references ready upfront. These might be the 3 best contractors who have had the best experience with the contractor. It’s a guarantee that contractors might try to hide their worst clients. Therefore, to prevent any bias, ask for the 3 recent clients and 3 earlier ones. The recent clients will help you determine how the house renovations contractor handles himself during a job. The 3 earlier clients will help you assess whether the contractor handles follow up issues that regard to maintenance.
Service Management and Experience
An exceptional contractor usually has the following:
- A permanent physical address and contact address (email, fax, phone number etc.)
- Insurance to protect the client against any liability issues that might arise during the job. There are many accidents that might happen during a normal renovation job. As such, the contractor should have insurance policy in place to guarantee that the client is protected from such incidents.
- Good reputation and presence in the community. Naturally, this comes from experience and quality service. Therefore, ask the contractor how long he/she has been in business to determine the level of experience.
Prices And Renovation Costs
Renovating a house can be very expensive for many homeowners. If you are working on a budget, ask the contractor to reveal the estimates and complete breakdown of all the figures. This site gives you some ball-park ideas of renovating houses. This way, it will be easy to determine what to avoid or include in the whole renovation. It’s common for contractors to incur extra costs when handling the project. Be prepared for these by stretching your budget a little.
If you want your home renovation project to be handled as easily as possible, use these tips to hire the best Auckland house renovation contractors.
This article was brought to you by Repair and Restore Ltd, a top Auckland house renovating contractor. See the video testimonial on this page. Click for more details.