If you are looking to hire a siding or roof contractor nearby, then here are 7 things you should never say to them. And when you follow these rules, you can be sure you won’t get screwed over by one.
1) Don’t tell a contractor they’re the only one bidding for the job
Always get a minimum of three bids. But the more the merrier, so go for 5, 7, 12. Just make sure that they are apples to apples comparisons and that itself can be a challenge. Each contractor will present maybe a little less or the same number. Or, the next one will break it all out. You need to at least separate materials from labour and that alone will help tremendously and you will be able to compare apples to apples. Remember to always get three bids minimum.
When you think you’ve got it all figured out and you’ve got the perfect electrician, the perfect HVAC, still get three bids as a minimum.
2) Don’t ever reveal your budget to the contractor
You may want to tell them, but don’t ever tell a contractor what your budget is. Don’t say, “Hey, I’m hoping to get this job done for a total of twenty thousand dollars.” No. They’re gonna figure out how to make their bill twenty thousand dollars if they know.
Instead, tell them that you have hired them to give you the best bid because you need to know what it’s going to cost you. You want them to do all these things, so break up materials and labour cost also. Now on the subject of materials, this is an immense point for many contractors. They will charge you for the cost of materials. So when you do get a bid back, you want to freely verify the cost of materials.
3) “Can I get a discount if I pay you the entire amount upfront?”
This is not a smart thing to say because if you pay a contractor upfront, they’re just not gonna do a good job. If they do any job at all! They’ll just take your money and disappear. That’s how it works in the world of contracting; they just laugh about deals like that. Pay somebody upfront, they won’t finish the job. Make sure you don’t give them the entire amount until they are finished otherwise they won’t. It’s that simple and it’s how contractors work. We know you must be thinking about reviews of these contractors on Review Portals like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, and don’t they want to serve the customer well? No. You usually can’t look at the past, and typically what they’re doing is going from job to job. They don’t think through all the consequences of screwing people over, they just do it. We know that could probably offend a lot of people, but that’s the real world. This is what happens when you pay upfront.
4) Don’t tell them that you are not in a hurry
Never tell a contractor that you’re not in a hurry. Because you know what? They aren’t going to be in any hurry then and you’ll discover that. You always have to set deadlines. What’s gonna happen is, if they miss this deadline, they start to lose money. Give them a buffer zone so you don’t set too sharp of a deadline, but you make sure to set a deadline. It’s the only way to get them to get to work fast enough to get the job done.
If it’s a remodel on your own home, nothing is more frustrating than a construction project that gets delayed and delayed and delayed. So set timelines and hold onto them.
5) Don’t tell them to choose the materials themselves
You may tell the contractor to go ahead and choose the materials.
“You take care of it because you are professionals.”
Here it’s about the choice of the exact materials themselves. It is so important that you get an education from them. What the differences are, are there high-end variants, or low-end options. Is there gonna be a middle range? You need to educate yourself about this even if it takes time or is a bit of a hassle. Figure out what needs to be done with those particular materials. Figure it out and you choose it specifically, the manufacturer and everything in between, because if you don’t they will cheat you, use materials from other jobs, and the material will change all of a sudden.
Remember to always specify the material they are to use.
6) Don’t agree with contractors if they are not registered for insurance for their company and their manpower
The general contractor says that they have got so and so group that can come and do a great job but they’re not legal and they’ll just kind of come in and out. But, what you think is, and you should never say this, that you don’t care who does the work as long as it gets done.
You do not want to be a part of that. Not just because of the patriotism and legal alien kind of talk but also because of the gigantic amount of liability that could be on your shoulders. If one of these people gets hurt, you need to be very diligent that anytime a contractor does work on your job, that they have evidence of an insurance policy. It usually says ‘co Rd’ at the top like a cord. Then at the bottom you have additionally insured and the company name. There, you need to be named as additionally insured or whoever the owner of the property is. In case anybody gets hurt, and you need to be very diligent about it, make sure that even the subs brought in are all covered as well. Or at least make sure they’re covered underneath a blanket/umbrella g c– policy. You need to be diligent especially on dangerous jobs like roof work, painting with ladders anything where there’s a huge amount of risk that could potentially go into what happens. Make sure that you are working directly with the right people and you’re paying them directly and they’re insured correctly.
7) All agreements should be written & signed.
A gentleman’s agreement aka a handshake deal, don’t ever do that. Always put your arrangement in writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple one-page or a little piece of paper. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Use real simple and real easy ways to assure you can have it all put in writing with mutual understanding. If for nothing else, do it so that you both don’t forget what you agreed upon. Tell contractors and allies that this has nothing to do with trust. It’s really because you want to make sure that you and they are on the same page.
We want you to be tough. We don’t want you to put up with anything that causes you trouble or costs you time and money. We want you to save even the least amount possible and make sure you get these deals done and that the contractor follows through on their promises. I hope you learned quite a bit and if you are looking for a reliable deck contractors & roofing contractor near your location, you can contact Hynes Roofing and Siding as we serve in Ardmore and various other locations in Pennsylvania.
(President, Hynes Roofing and Siding)
With over 35 years experience in the roofing and siding industry, Michelle Hynes has built a business from 2 people into over 45 people and 19 trucks!