How to choose the BEST contractor for your project

There are a lot of different types of contractors and each come at different costs and provide a different level of service. Choosing the right one is not always about choosing the most affordable one. Let’s talk through what we do when matching the right contractor with the right client. It is important to know yourself, your project and your goals, how involved in this project do you WANT to be? How involved CAN you be? 

If you are on a tight budget and you are willing to be VERY involved in managing your project then a smaller outfit could be a perfect fit. I personally like them the best. They are the most likely to truly care about their work and your happiness. That being said, they are frequently the guys who love to work with their hands. These contractors are not always the best at scheduling, communicating, design services, invoicing, or sourcing materials on time. 

A larger outfit will typically be able to start work quickly, may have a project manager and design services. These outfits are typically more organized with invoicing and managing changes. This usually comes at a higher cost. These teams are normally running multiple jobs and may be overly optimistic about their timelines. There is often less personal interest in your project and they are unlikely to give out any “freebies”.

So how do you find a contractor?

Ask friends and locals for recommendations, google or yelp can be helpful. If you are out of town, you can ask your real estate agent or local designers for recommendations. Get a minimum of 3 estimates for your project. Use a defined Scope of Work (see the SCOPE OF WORK POST) to ensure your estimates are consistent. This is a document that organizes your thoughts and communicates the project needs clearly. Have it emailed to the contractor and physical copies ready for the walkthrough. This ensures they have it when they sit down to write up a proposal. 

Let’s talk about comparing estimates. This can be a little tricky…

Ask the contractors how they write estimates. There are two typical options that contractors do. Time and Material (T&M), where labor and materials are tracked and then charged to you. And Fixed Bid where they include materials, labor and overhead into the proposal and give you one big number to swallow. 

Let me cut to the chase… I hate T&M bids. I have used them, but they take A LOT more oversight and organization. They are the number one reason we get consulted by homeowners to help with projects that have gone awry. But let’s go over this idea.

Time and Materials or T&M has become a very popular term and often makes home owners feel like they “might come in lower” than the estimate. I have NEVER seen this happen. I hope you are the one this happens to. Contractors like this option because the cost of materials right now is WILD! It fluctuates daily by large amounts that will affect the cost of the project. Contractors can adjust the cost of materials based on the cost at time of purchase which protects their profit on a project. They can also just charge more time and more materials for changes without having to update the proposal. This usually starts out great. 

Some of the important things to know about when deciding on a T&M bid are; who handles project management, how often do you invoice, how much are materials marked up, how are changes handled, how do you track the labor hours, do you save receipts, will their be purchase agreements?

These estimates are typically substantially lower because they often don’t include materials and any overhead. They frequently underestimate the amount of planning, client communications, designer communications and materials sourcing that will need to be done and you will pay ~$200/hr for the time they spend doing this. This will all be on top of the estimate. I have seen these projects come in around double what the original estimate is. Now, this is not all on the contractor! A large amount of these cost differences come from poorly communicated changes to the proposal. 

The Fixed Bid Proposal is typically a substantially larger number up front because the contractor includes their mark ups and overhead. They need to make sure they can complete the project and have profit. This larger number almost always comes in less than the time and materials projects end at and takes a lot of stress out of managing the project. You can have them break it down into set payments, usually 3-6 payments depending on the length of the project.

When changes come up the contractor and you can agree to a cost before work is done and there will be no surprises at the end. I highly recommend this option for a homeowner not using a Renovation Guide and wanting to use a smaller outfit. Make sure there is a clear design and strong Scope of Work, have both parties sign the document and you are set up for success.

Ask all of your contractors to do their estimates the same way, preferably broken down into line items. This will allow you to compare estimates and help you identify which projects are driving your costs. You can ask contractors how they handle changes in the scope of work, if they include any level of design, and if they guarantee their work, what their timeline is (now double it in your head), and what days and times they will be working on your project. These answers will help you select the best contractor for your job. 

If you have any questions, as always please reach out!

Happy Hammering,

A.Woods