What to Look For in a Professional Contractor

Manual labor ain’t easy. Remodeling your house takes time and a lot of work. Unless you are a pro with a hammer and understand infrastructure like the back of your hand, it’s best to hire a contractor.

But, how do you know you have the right contractor?

There are many things to consider when hiring a contractor. Below, we look at some of the most important factors that go into getting the hard work finished.

Is Your Contractor Licensed?

This is the first question you need to ask yourself when looking at contractors. During your search, you’ll likely see a long list of people who say they are contractors.

But are they really? The easiest way to tell is to see if they are licensed.

There’s more to being a contractor than being savvy with tools. They need to know the building codes and the proper process to get certain tasks cleared.

Insurance Matters

You’re also going to want to make sure your contractor is insured. Hospital bills can be outrageous, so do you really want to pay all that money to someone else?

Finding a contractor who is insured guarantees that you won’t pay the bill if someone gets hurt while working. It’s also great if an accident happens that damages your neighbors’ property.

Don’t add another price tag to your remodeling bill. Get an insured contractor.

You can generally find licensing and insurance information about every contractor on a county website what details such information. This might require some digging but that information should be publicly available. OfferMarket recently got some data pertaining to Maryland contractors and can be viewed in the following links:

• HVAC contractors in Baltimore - License and Insurance Status
• Plumbers in Baltimore -
• Electricians
• Home Inspectors
• General Contractors in Baltimore

The information presented above has been acquired from Maryland's Department of Labor online Licensing Queries page. It's highly probably that your home state's Department of Labor also has a "Licensing Queries" page where you can look up and verify that your contractor is licensed and insured.

Find a Contractor That Specializes In Your Project

A passenger airplane pilot can’t fly a jet. Despite them both being airborne vehicles, they are two completely different tasks.

Your contracting project is the same.

Kitchen remodeling, staircases, roofing, it’s all different. When looking through contractors, try to find the person who knows how to get the job done. This is the best way to avoid good, but not great, work.

Afterall, we all want our dream home so don’t settle for anything less.

Timing Is Everything

You want the project done as quickly as possible. It’s understandable. Strangers walking around your home. Loud noises throughout the day. You need it to stop.

But, don’t pick the contractor who gives you the quickest time frame.

Proper construction takes time. That is just a fact. Something is wrong when a contractor tells you a project will take one week when every other contractor has told you 3-4 weeks.

Don’t sacrifice time for quality. Find the contractor who will not only work quickly, but also deliver on safety and great design.