How to hire a remodel contractor

Hiring is the sequence, not the conversation. You write the job, you collect bids on that same job, you check the person who would sign, and you have a contract before money moves. The questions for the meeting itself are in questions to ask a remodel contractor. The warning signs that should stop the meeting are in contractor red flags.

Write the job before you shop

A contractor cannot price a feeling. Write the rooms, what is being removed, what is being installed, and what is not included. That page is the scope of work. Send the same scope to every bidder. California's Contractors State License Board says to compare bids on identical plans, specifications, and scope of work (CSLB). If one bid drops demolition or the fixtures, it is a different job.

Find people you can still reach later

Start with people who have had similar work done and were satisfied. CSLB lists friends, family, local customers, material suppliers, and subcontractors as reference sources, and says you can also check a local building department, a trade association, a consumer protection agency, and the Better Business Bureau. The Texas Attorney General's version of the same step is practical: choose someone with an established physical address, because you need to find them if the work needs a fix after the last bill (Texas AG). CSLB says a license lookup shows the address of record. Use that, not only a cell number on a truck.

There is no national remodel license. Look up the rule where the house is, then look up the business that would sign. The steps for California and Washington, and the pattern for a state that licenses trades rather than every remodeler, are in how to check a license and insurance. A number printed on a bid is not the record.

Get more than one bid, then read them

CSLB says to get at least three written bids, and not to accept the lowest one automatically. A bid that is substantially lower than the others may be a mistake, or it may leave out work the others included. The Texas AG says most legitimate bids fall in a fairly close range, and that a very low bidder may be planning cheaper materials or leaving tasks out. How many to collect, and when a fourth bid helps, is in how many contractor bids to get. How to ask for a change in the number without thinning the job is in how to negotiate a contractor quote.

What a finished hire looks like

You can name the legal business, you have checked the license or registration where this state requires one, and you have a written contract before work starts. CSLB says a written contract is required in California for home improvement projects over $500, and that anything promised out loud belongs in that writing (CSLB, what is a contract). The Federal Trade Commission says to ask for a written agreement even if your state does not require one (FTC). What to put in it is in what to include in a remodel contract.

• You have not paid the full price up front. The FTC lists that as a scam sign. California's down-payment cap is one example in deposits and payment schedules.
• The payment lines name the work, not the calendar. A date with no finished work is a hard line to argue later.
• You know who pulls the permits. The FTC lists "asks you to get the permits" as a warning. See what to confirm about permits.
• You have a copy of what you signed, the day you signed it. The Texas AG says to keep those copies. The file you build after that is in how to document a remodel as you go.

If the job needs drawings before a contractor can price it, the split between an architect, an interior designer, and a general contractor is in architect vs. interior designer vs. contractor. A fee for drawings is not the construction deposit. That paperwork is in design fees and preconstruction agreements.

RenoBinder keeps the scope, the bid you picked, and the payment schedule in one project. One room is free.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; for a dispute, talk to a licensed attorney or your state contractor board.

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