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Is it just me or do others have problems with their house contractors?
I hope you find what you need.
We've had mixed results. In 2000, the company that did our gutters left things worse than before they were here. Several years ago, the company that repaired our front stairs and put in a railing never finished the job, but also never billed us (worked out okay, IMO!). More recently, we've had excellent and reliable contractors, including a plumber and a drywall/finishing person.
This is a pet peeve of mine. "Licensed contractor" seems to mean little or nothing around here. Finding one who is honest, competent, and who actually does what he says he will, more or less when he said he would, is like finding hen's teeth.
I do my own work when at all possible for that reason. And I'm really glad I've found an competent, reliable and reasonably priced electrician (THAT was hard!), siding/painting contractor, and a plumbing and heating contractor.
When I lived in NJ, contractors would arrive on a site at 6 a.m. and stay until dark. They'd work as quickly as possible so they could move onto the next job.
Here, I've had contractors take weeks to do something that probably should take a few days. Once earlier this year I was working from home when our contractor came to put wainscoting up in our downstairs bathroom and paint the room. It's a pretty small bathroom. It took him four days. I'm guessing it took that long b/c he'd work for 1/2 an hour, get a phone call, leave for a few hours, come back, take a lunch break, leave to help a friend, etc. He is a friend and I felt taken advantage of.
Interestingly, he's been whining lately about having to get a day job b/c he can't get enough independent contracting work. Hmm. I wonder why.
This is a pet peeve of mine. "Licensed contractor" seems to mean little or nothing around here. Finding one who is honest, competent, and who actually does what he says he will, more or less when he said he would, is like finding hen's teeth.
Yeah, contractors aren't licensed in Vermont. Word of mouth is the only thing you can rely on.
Word mouth, I think, is usually the way to go. But you still have to be careful, and it helps to have leverage if something goes wrong.
Back in Brooklyn, I was let down by at least two people who were recommended to me by people I knew. One, a plumber, never showed up, so no harm was done. The second, a used car dealer, sold me a car with serious problems. Fortunately, I had leverage, since the person who recommended him was part of a network. I only took the risk of buying from this guy because I knew I had leverage if things went wrong. Things turned out fine, but only because I was able to use that leverage.
The first time I got a house contractor, I was very naive and used the Yellow Pages. The contractor turned out to be a crook. I learned my lesson.
Even a high BBB rating, or BBB membership, is not enough.
Last I looked, Angie's list did not have ratings for contractors in my area. But that was a while ago.
So I tend to go with recommendations from people I know who are knowledgeable and trustworthy. Ideally, it helps to have leverage, but that isn't always possible.
Most good contractors should have references and letters of recommendation by customers. Many already have word of mouth reputations if they have been established in business for a while.
Plumbers, electricians, boiler techs etc should be certified and licensed. Others, like drywall contractors, well, you're on your own. And since businesses change hands so often, even a recommendation from a trusted friend may not mean much.
It goes both ways as well, a good friend of mine is a contractor in the NEK where we spend the bulk of our time. In the past year, he has been screwed by two homeowners which put him in debt to the tune of $10K with the local lumber yard and another friend who is an electrician. He ended up building a deck for the electrician for free and having to pay the lumber yard back slowly from his own pocket
Now that things are picking up for him life is better (although his hunting season is quickly disappearing).
We also were friendly with another contractor who we have heard through the grapevine has turned into a giant fraud case. He called me a while back with a “business proposition” to which I never called him back.
I would say there are a good # of good contractors who are horrible businessmen and that leads to them doing shady things. If they are organized, ready with references (that seem to check out, not friends), good equipment etc. I would give them a shot. Based on how I know things work, I would ask the contractors where they purchase their materials, and give those places a call for reference as well, if something is fishy with their business acumen it will most likely show up there first. Late paying for materials etc. is not a good thing.
I am literally here to get some word of mouth names since everyone else has failed. The problem is I have a time sensitive job. Ant damage on siding that needs to be repaired before the winter sets in. I really want it sealed up and safe otherwise they'll try and get back in the spring. This week is ideal because a nice spot of warm weather is coming back. I've been strung along by the current guy who gave me another earful of lies this morning. I just want the job done. We always buy the materials up front so there is no quibbling about costs. We've tried paying them daily, tried paying them in cash, feed them a good lunch and snacks...nothing works!
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