If you’re planning to improve, remodel, or extend your home, then choosing the right home improvement tradespeople will play the primary role in the success of your venture. There are many other important considerations, such as budget, interior design, and project management, but everything revolves around the work your trades person is – or isn’t – doing.
A good home improvement tradesperson works with you to complete a project on time and within budget, to a high standard, and is an invaluable asset for a positive outcome. On the other hand, there are rogue home improvement tradespeople who give their profession a bad name and end up costing you money, raising your stress levels, or not completing the work; sometimes all three!
Shortlisting tradespeople
The first stage to finding the right person is to make a shortlist of home improvement firms from whom to obtain a quote. You should always get at least three quotes for any work that needs doing, not just to compare price, but to get an idea of the quality of the service your home improvement trades person provides and how professional and knowledgeable they are.
Recommendations
If you know anyone who recently had building work done, ask them for their recommendations – or information on who to avoid. Next, look at the marketing and websites of home improvement tradespeople in your area and see which ones impress you most. It’s best to go for a firm whose expertise is in the type of project you’re planning, as some tradespeople specialize in commercial work or extensions for example. Some home improvement firms only deal with projects of a certain size so that yours might be too small for them.
Once you’ve found a long list of potential home improvement tradespeople, examine their marketing materials in more detail. How well-constructed is their website? Is it informative, up to date, well-written, with examples of previous projects on display? Are there complete contact and location details – you don’t want to employ someone that you can’t track down if anything goes wrong. Can they demonstrate their expertise, and do they have customer reviews and testimonials to back up their claims?
Don’t take reviews at face value, because some unscrupulous people create fakes to make their business sound better than it is. Look for a home improvement tradespeople with a good, proven track record, a building firm which is a family run business that provides exactly the kind of information on their website that tells you all you need to know about them.
Meet In Person
When you have your shortlist prepared, contact each firm and make an appointment for them to come and quote for the work. This gives you a chance to see what they’re like, and whether you think you’d work well together. See if they offer advice on the project, and how knowledgeable they are on the types of work that need doing. Never go for the lowest priced option just because it’s the cheapest; it won’t work out cheaper if the trades person doesn’t do a good job or you suffer delays and extra expenses.
It’s essential to choose your home improvement tradespeople with care if you want your project to run smoothly and deliver the results you desire, so find one you feel happy with and don’t compromise on selecting the right trades people.
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