Hire Professional Contractor Or DIY

Every time you need a handyman work around the house, you face a dilemma: hire professional or do it yourself. Some people prefer hiring  a professional trademan or contractor to save time. Other people consider hiring contractor a hassle, mostly because they had bad experience when the contractor didn’t show up or didn’t complete the job and varnished. They consider they are handy enough to complete their projects. Nowadays, you can find a video on almost any home-renovation project in Internet, or watch home improvement shows on TV, it looks really easy task to paint the wall, or set tiles, when you watch. 

However, DIY is not always fun. There is a lot of  hassle and extra-costs associated with purchasing and delivery of materials, tools, cleaning, disposing trash. You have to make solid investments in proper tools, then keep them till next occasional project. You’ll definitely spoil some material before your hand gets proper grip of handtools and your mind figures the best way to complete the task. There is certain probability, that actual result will differ from expected, and you’ll have to remake it from scratch. Who covers the risk of property damage or injury during your do-it-yourself operations? There’s a big deal of hidden issues that DIY videos or shows don’t tell you.

Pros for  DIY

Do-it-yourself is a good idea when you are hands-on professional in trade, required for your project, you have major tools in your garage, free time, and professional accounts in Home Depot, Lowe’s, or other home-improvement stores to access discounts for materials and expedited delivery. The main risky zone left is insurance coverage of your project.

Pros for hiring general contractor.

Hiring a general contractor, you transfer the risk of insurance coverage, materials and tools hassle, managing the team to his side. Experienced contractor will always consult you about feasibility of your home design idea, proper materials, latest trends in home remodeling world. He will advise you about the deals in home impovement stores, schedule the delivery, workers, inspectors, designers, permits. Professional general contractor is a professional project manager. He will manage the wastes, dispose trash in environmentally friendly manner, allocate and supervise the resources to finish the project within the schedule. If current operations reveal additional issues, your general contractor will call professional trusted trademan to your site. It will save you time and future hussle. This is the least you should expect from your general contractor, and this is worth the money you pay. 

How to find your perfect match in home-improvement world?

To detect professional general contractor from the crowd of self-named uneducated and inexperienced guys you should check the following:

First, documents: request the COI (certificate of insurance) issued on your name, check business and trade licenses.

Second, projects portfolio and referrals: photos of the projects shall look real. You shouldn’t buy for glossy staged photos from google. When contractor makes a photo of renovated bathroom, there’s a little chance there would be hairdryer, towels, perfumes, or candles in post-construction bathroom. You can also request photos before, during the construction and after the construction.

Third, reviews, referrals, recommendations. The major source of reviews nowadays is Google, Facebook, Yelp, BBB, HomeAdvisor, Amazon. It’s hard to find a company that doesn’t have a digital imprint. Some contractors may be members of trade associations, like ABC Chapter, but this is not the criteria. Membership adds expenses to contractor’s wallet. Some contractors may have single negative reviews, but still be well-established companies with 20 years of experience. It happens when the contractor’s major clientelle is sourced by insurance claims or elder people who don’t consider digital contribution important. Online reviews may tell you a lot but not all. Better trust documents and your gut feeling.   

The last, price and availability. You can always get several quotes to compare, just make sure to compare apples to apples. As a reference, you can find construction costs benchmarks at the websites like HomeAdvisor. You should always request your contractor a written estimate as detailed cost breakdown to any misunderstanding. Don’t try to cheat yourself and choose the lowest price, or, on the contrary, select the highest. Apples to apples is a major factor here.   

To resume, it’s good to watch DIY videos and home improvement shows but trust your home renovation to the professional local contractor who will take care of you. Make your research to find the proper contractor you can trust, follow his instructions and recommendations, and enjoy the professional care. You really deserve it!