If you’re in the market for a remodeling of your home bathroom, choosing a contractor can prove to be a tricky hurdle. Ideally, you’ll want to find the best balance between value for money and quality while also finding someone you can trust and, eventually, build a working relationship with. With that in mind, we’ve gathered a list of some important considerations to make when trying to pick out a contractual worker to redesign your bathroom.
We’ve organized it according to how you should go about trying to find a contractor, so keep reading to find out everything you need to know when looking for a bathroom remodeling contractor!
Bathroom Contractor Reffers
Word of mouth happens to be a pretty effective tool, so you’ll want to ask around among your social circles to see if anyone has had similar issues in the past. If they have, you can discuss how they solved it and potentially find a contractual worker who has some credibility. Moreover, it’s the most ideal approach to finding someone in your locality. Ask friends and neighbors and additionally, find out what made their experience a positive one, how the temporary worker took care of issues, and whether the individual was credible and trustworthy.
Credentials
Once you have a small list of contractual workers, you’ll want to verify their credentials. List down all the referrals and suggestions you’ve got, and start looking into their backgrounds and stories. This is a fairly straightforward process, as all it takes is a quick telephone call or a visit to the contractor’s site.
Make sure the contractor question holds all the required licenses from the state and neighborhood districts, as well as any certifications from any nationwide organizations, like the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) or the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB).
These are extremely reputable institutions with stringent certification practices, making them very trustworthy. Look for a bathroom remodeling contractor that is associated with such institutions for a safer, more credible contractual worker.
Quality, Service, and Price
Make sure not to look for the cheapest contractor possible. It is quite likely that they’ll end up doing a shoddy, unsatisfactory job. That being said, it isn’t hard to find a great contractor for very reasonable prices, so be patient and take your time in finding the contractor that works best for you. This is particularly important, as established contractors stand behind their work. This means that if something is obviously unfinished or poorly done, they’ll re-do it for no extra cost. Cheaper, low-scale contractors, on the other hand, will refuse to accommodate any extra requests or do a comprehensive job, so keep that in mind. You’ll have to be on the lookout for scammers, who’ll try to levy additional hidden charges or extra fees, so try not to be too stingy when it comes to finding a quality contractor. We guarantee it’ll be well worth it. Once again, use your network and your social circle to help find a credible contractor – You might even get some additional discounts based on referrals!
Meeting Candidates
Once you’ve got a list of your top-choices and have narrowed down your list, you should look to set up meetings. There is no perfect estimation as to how many you’ll need to meet with, as the first contractor you meet could end up being the perfect one. Al Pattison, past leader of NKBA, suggests meeting up to three or four different contractors. However, he prescribes conversing without any than three.
NARI offers a rundown of inquiries to pose to potential contractors. You’ll want to make sure both of you are on the same page and that the contractor understands your vision for the project. As Sara Ann says, “One of the most significant things [a homeowner] can discover in a contractor is someone who tunes in to them.” “This is a longstanding relationship,” according to Al Pattison, so ideally, you’ll want to find someone who you can trust with your home, ideas, and vision for many years to come.
Check Bathroom Remodeling Contractor References
Once you’ve settled on a bathroom remodeling contractor, make sure to go through some of their past work. See if it appeals to you and is in line with what you’re looking to do to your own residence. This isn’t hard to do, as the best contractors will openly show you their work and put you in touch with some of their clients from the past.
Take advantage of these resources to further build confidence and cement your decision. Some themes to cover include how the contract executed the client’s vision. Is it safe to say that it was on-schedule and on-spending plan? Is it true that they were satisfied with the result? Was there a more cost-efficient or aesthetically better way of doing things?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you’re all set to get involved with the contractor.
Contractual Agreements
The final step you’ll want to take before hiring a bathroom remodeling contractor is to thoroughly go through all contractual obligations. Work with your social circle and past clients to try and find a template for a contract. If you’ve engaged a contractor with years of experience, it is quite likely that they might already have pre-established contract templates. If that’s the case, go through these contracts extremely carefully, making sure to get any concerns cleared immediately.
Once again, coordinate with past clients and referrers to make sure the contract has no hidden charges or any unforeseeable legal complications. If you’re totally new to this sort of thing, we’d even recommend getting a lawyer to look over the contractual agreement. Moreover, you’ll want to make sure that certain factors are addressed;
– Total offer and price, with any possible long-term payment, plan clearly fleshed out. You’ll want to include any and all specifications to avoid any sort of overdue or extra fees.
– The contract will also have to clearly define the scope of the job, for both your sake and the contractors’. For example, the contract should include specifications of the changes you want to be made, not just say that the contractor is responsible for the bathroom remodeling. Keep this in mind, as unassuming clients can easily be taken advantage of.
– You’ll want to attach a blueprint or plans of the site with your contract, highlighting the changes you want to see. It’s also a good idea to get a schedule written into the contract, as this legally binds the contract to finish the job before a certain date.
– A lien waiver is a good idea, but you should consider getting some legal advice when implementing such a clause in the contract. This keeps subcontractors and providers from putting a lien on a house should their solicitations go unpaid by the contractual worker, but is a complicated legal aspect of the contract, so make sure there are no errors in case you’re adding a lien waiver.
Once all these areas have been addressed, you’re good to go. A contractor that satisfies all of our aforementioned requirements can be trusted, as they have demonstrated credibility, trust, and a willingness to work with the client. Their versatility and flexibility should not be understated, resulting in the perfect bathroom remodeling for your home!
