10 Vital Questions to Ask Your Renovation Contractor

Cherishing our home is a given – and whoever you get to work in or on your home, you want to have the same level of commitment – RIGHT!

Whilst you may not voice those words, that’s exactly what you are thinking – RIGHT!

So before you embark on a renovation, irrespective of your budget, it is imperative that you locate a high-quality and high-performance contractor, who will work with you to achieve your dream result.

Locating a good quality contractor, is a vital part of any renovation – just like a good budget. In this article, we will explore what we consider some of the specific questions that you need to ask, any potential contractor. These basic questions, will help you to appreciate the ability, resources and technical know-how of the contractor, you are about to engage.

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Whilst price is important, it is not everything when it comes to achieving that perfect outcome for your home, so let’s delve a little deeper:-

Q 1: Who are you about to do business with?

It is vital you understand who you are dealing with!

The Contractor’s comfort in answering these questions, will allow you to understand the ease at which they can, not only manage your project, but if they hit a hurdle, how quickly they can respond.

If, the contractor is, vague or convoluted in their answers, then you must question the suitability of them to complete your project. There could be a high risk, associated with this contractor, that they could fail to complete the job on time, or worse, cause potential damage to your home.

Q 2: How and Who will work on my project?

This is an important question, to ascertain who and the number of professionals the contractor is going to involve in your renovation tasks.

Even though, it is your home, you may not always be open to the idea of overseeing the task yourself. Better, you consider a professional to oversee the complete range of renovations tasks being carried out in your home.

If no Supervisor or senior is assigned to oversee the job, then you may need to give it hard thought if you would like to oversee the task yourself, or speak with some other contractors.

Q 3: How often will they be onsite

Whilst you may not necessarily think this is important, you need to understand what other work they have on, and have a emphasise on understanding of the scheduling of your job.

This is what a Supervisor, should be doing for you to coordinating with other sub-contractors, suppliers and trades, keeping you regularly informed on your project.

Scheduling is a hugely important aspect of your home renovation, and your Supervisor and you need to be in complete know-how of the tasks being carried out, and in what order.

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Q 4: Can I have their mobile number?

Okay, so you have the name of the Supervisor, now you need to know how to get in contact with them, when the need arises.

This is vital, if you are not onsite when they are!

Imagine getting home from work and the task, you understood was going to be completed that day, was left untouched.

You guessed it, you would want to speak to someone to find out what was happening, so you need their number.. This is important, because you must have a legitimate channel to express your opinion about the work being carried out.

Q 5: Ask them – So what will you bring to my project?

Whilst, you may think this is a strange question, if will assist you in getting a feel for the confidence and experience of the Contractor you are about to engage. A confident contractor will answer you, without hesitation, pointing out their experiences in dealing with such assignments before, perhaps mentioning the strengths of their team, etc.

For an inexperienced contractor, the answers will be vague and lacking any preciseness. Warning: excluding the obvious potentials for delays, an inexperienced contractor will also not be able to fulfil your dreams in the way you have envisaged.

Q 6: So will you agree to share the responsibility on delivering this job with me?

It is important, that the Contractor you are going to engage, will share the responsibility with you the home owner to deliver a great outcome. Our homes are often a reflection of ourselves, there are some us, that take special interest in designing specific areas of our homes to reflect this personal uniqueness.

If you cannot communicate clearly to the Contractor your views, how can you expect them to travel the journey with you.

If there are areas in your home, you want untouched, then this must be clearly communicated – the vision of the outcome must be shared, and importantly you must both have the same vision.

Q 7: So what aspect will you be doing?

This really flows out of question six, although it is a question in its own right. These two questions, really are about clarity of the project. We cannot express understanding, the clarity of the project enough, this question provides you with even more clarity.

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Q 8: Will you be doing all of the work?

You need to understand where the contractors start and stops!

Will it be a complete contract, will this Contractor act as the principal contractor, engaging and coordinating other Sub-contractors, as part of their scope of the works.

Whereas instances show us, that a few contractors have completed the assignment by subcontracting the entire task, there are other instances too where contractors finished without any subcontractors being required. These types of contractors have their own manpower.

Sometimes savings can be made, by going it alone – but there are perils associated with this – so do your research and understand what is required – time is not something that many of us have much to spare of.

Breaking up elements, within your contract can provide savings, but in the end, someone has to be responsible for coordinating all of them – for you to get your dream result.

Maybe Q 8 B, should be, do I have the time to manage this project myself?

Only you can answer that one – but, warning be honest with yourself.

Q 9: What contractual documents will I be receiving?

You need to understand what contract you will have, documentation is an important part of any renovation assignment. Usually, it includes a whole lot of vital information including the signing of the permit papers, products and standard and warranty details.

As a homeowner, you also want a detailed list of any subcontracting services, who will be working on your renovation to ensure you have their details for warranties required in the future.

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Q 10: Is it feasible to achieve what I want on this budget?

You need to know precisely, what the contractor will deliver for the budget you have set aside – there is no point progressing further if you cannot both agree on the plan and the price.

While speaking to them, ask if there are any flaws in the plan that you have come up with. If they are an experienced, and a trusted contractor they should have no issues in articulating any challenges they see before they even commence onsite.

In the end, finding a contractor, that you can put your faith in, to deliver your dream project should be part of the success you expect in your renovation.

We wish you all the best in your search for an able and experienced contractor, we at Central Glass and Aluminium are here to transform all your dreams into reality!

Our supremely skilled professionals will offer you an ideal solution to your renovation assignment!

You dream it – We make it at Central Glass and Aluminium!

Contact us to find out how we can solve your needs!