Even if you have the excellent skills for home repair or maintenance, sometimes, it’s better to call in professionals. However, the problem with hiring service experts is that sometimes, you may not know exactly how to check for their experience and skills. Here are some guidelines to follow when hiring a service expert for your home.
In addition, if you’re interested in reading more about service experts, home repair and home maintenance concerns, do go to the Florida Service Expert’s Blog. You’ll find out more about specific home concerns and how service experts can help you with them.
Different Strokes for Different Folks – and Specialists
Contractors and service experts usually have specific areas of specialties. Some of them may be good at more than one type of project, and in that case, you should look for work references, additional licenses, and proper documentation.
- General contractors are best hired when you have a large-scale project, such as landscaping or roof replacement. That way, they will take care of all the legal paperwork, subcontracting, and inspections. They will also be the ones to coordinate with you and other specialists like architects or designers.
- Special service contractors can do specific phases of the project well, such as insulation, integrated furniture installation, and other similar work segments.
- Architects and designers are more involved with major renovations, additions, and additional design work for your home. If your roof replacement or landscaping job requires major structural changes additions to your house and its environs, you will need their services.
- Build or design contractors are unified service teams. They usually have many kinds of service experts on the team, and can be in charge of a project from start to finish. Think of them as specialized general contractor teams.
Don’t be swayed by suspicious offers
Do take note of the following checklist to find out if you are getting your money’s worth – and at the same time avoiding possible scams and low-quality contractors:
- Licensed and experienced contractors rarely solicit door-to-door.
- They rarely offer discounts if you can refer other customers.
- Cash-only contractors, particularly those who ask for a big up-front payment or ask for all-in payment at the start of the project, should be avoided.
- If they need you to get all the required permits and paperwork for the home project, then look for someone else. If they are properly licensed and have no legal issues from past projects, then they should have no problem with legal paperwork.
- If the contractor doesn’t have a listed number, or isn’t listed as a contractor with the local government offices, then you should look for another one immediately.
- If they say that your home project will be a “demonstration” project, or if they are pressuring you to accept their services immediately by offering a “limited-time discount,” walk away immediately.
- If they suggest that you borrow from a lender whom they know personally, don’t accept them as a contractor, since you may lose your home due to a home improvement loan con job.
Do check out FSE’s Blog for more about maintenance, repair, and improvement of your homes. You can also read more about contractors and service experts in the blog.
