Tips On How to Hire a Contractor to Remodel Your Restroom
When it comes to remodeling your bathroom, you’re almost always better off hiring a professional than trying to remodel your bathroom by yourself. Think of all the other types of professionals you would hire in a heartbeat to fix your problems or complete a difficult task – doctors, lawyers, mechanics. A home remodeler shouldn’t be treated any less important. These people are specialists who know the ins and outs of their fields, able to handle possible tricky situations such as those related to plumbing, electrical wiring, and demolition.
Not all home remodeling contractors have the same abilities and skills. You’ll want to be selective in your choice of contractors. You can narrow down your choices by looking at contractors that specialize in bathroom remodeling. In fact, you can look in your yellow pages (hard copy or online) under “Bathroom Remodeling.” Or, ask your friends, family members, and co-workers for a referral. Invite each contractor of interest to your home to look at your bathroom. At this point it is helpful to have a good idea of what you are wanting to do with your bathroom. Having some clippings from magazines and brochures, as well as sample tiles and countertop materials, will be extremely helpful. This way, you and your contractor will have a better understanding of what is to be expected. I highly recommend that you start with only the contractors that will provide free estimates. Ask for the numbers of his last ten customers and call them to see what they thought about his work.
Once you’ve picked out and hired your bathroom remodeler, you’ll want to have as much as possible the materials needed to do the job. For example, get an estimate of how much tile is needed for the floors and walls. If you are installing a new shower stall, what dimensions should it be? How big should the sink counter and sink bowl be? What types of cabinets are you installing and in what dimensions should they be? You might want to ask him to come along with you to around town so you two can discuss and pick out exactly what is needed. Now, he should be the one providing all the tools, not you. That is an expense for his business. Now, if you must purchase a special tool that is needed to get the job done, you should retain the rights to ownership. That way, you can possibly use it in the future or sell it to recoup some of the cost.
It is important to know your final budget. Be upfront about what you are expecting to spend. It is the contractor’s job to use his skills and abilities to do the work desired by you, and at the same time meet or go under your budget. Now, don’t expect him to be a miracle worker and do something like $10,000 worth of work for only $1,000. He’ll probably label you as a lowballer and tell all his friends it’s not worth taking on work from you. Be reasonable and ask him what he honestly can and cannot do with your budget. If you can’t afford all the things you want done, just start with doing the most important things first. Wait until you can save up enough to get the rest of the work done. If possible, don’t pay your contractor all upfront. Have him break down what it would cost to remodel each section of the bathroom (i.e. shower stall, toilet, sink, etc.) and pay him as he gets each of them done. This protects you from getting scammed (unfortunately it does happen to a few unlucky folks) out of all your money, and keeps him motivated to complete the work. Most importantly, get all of this in writing to make it concrete.
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