For a number of years, the home renovation industry has received a lot of bad publicity. This could happen because there are many unethical professionals who operate and prey on unsuspecting homeowners. They may give shoddy services and make unreasonable demands. Fortunately, there are things we could do to avoid working with home renovation contractors who may provide us with unsatisfactory results.

1. Ask for references: It is too easy to trust someone without even seeing proof of their work. This could be costly in the long run and may dangerously threaten our financial situation. If we want to have a peace of mind, we should ask the contractor for their last two clients. We should be able to contact them and see results of their work. After we receive contact details and names, we could call them and ask a few questions. If the contractor is reputable and reliable, they should be eager to provide us with a list of references. In this case, the contractor shouldn’t have anything to hide. This should be an indication of a genuine contractor. On the other hand, we should be suspicious if the contractor seems reluctant or even unwilling to give us past details. In this case, we should really be concerned, whether the contractor is honest enough.
2. Check their qualification: We should be certain that the renovator is completely qualified to carry out any procedure. We should provide the contractor with a list of things that they need to repair or improve. Home renovation is a regulated profession and there are benchmarks that we could follow to decide whether the renovator is professional or qualified. It should be very easy to get swayed by advertising. Some contractors could have fancy trucks and vans with nice logos and taglines. Whatever details the contractor has, we should be automatically convinced that they are professional and credible. We should ask about their qualification and find out how they achieve their qualifications. This is a vital step if we look for a professional, honest and trustworthy home renovator.
3. Choose the right quotes: One of the more serious mistakes is by choosing renovators based on the lowest quote. We may think that we have bagged ourselves a bargain. It should be noted that low quote could mean the use of materials with sub-par quality. Renovators may also deliberately cut corners and choose shortcuts to get the job done quickly. Renovators may also lack attention to detail and have very little interaction with clients. It is also possible that renovators deliberately use unqualified, low-cost labourers to reduce expenses.
4. Ask for written proposal and agreement: Many homeowners make a very obvious mistake by not asking for written proposal and agreement. It’s easy to try going ahead with our plan and forgetting things that have been said before. As an example, contractors may offer a discount, but it is not included in the contract. Every promise should be included in the agreement and written down properly.