Many of us have a hard time finding the perfect mechanic to take our cars to or dry cleaner to drop our clothes at which pales in comparison to the anxiety about hiring somebody to work in and around your house. Finding a contractor can be a stressful ordeal but hiring the right one can actually be very rewarding for years to come. One thing is for sure, finding a contractor is not something that should be rushed in to and these tips on questions to ask and resources to take advantage of will aid immensely in the process.
Search Online Reviews
The first step in hiring a contractor in British Columbia is to weed out the riff-raff. If you’ve seen any YouTube video ever you’ll know that Internet reviewers are brutally honest but luckily this works in your advantage regarding contractor reviews. One rule of thumb is to not believe the best but also disregard the worst as the average user review is likely what you’ll experience. Checking out consumer review sites like may help narrow the cluttered list of potential contractors down to just a select few.
Ask Questions
Sparkling online reviews are only the first step in the battle as next you need to make sure they’re doing things by the book. It’s important to ask questions of all the contractors whose brains you pick. For instance, find out what type of insurance they have and if they are required to be licensed by BC Safety Authority (i.e. gas fitters).
Get Multiple Quotes
OK, so you’ve found a contractor that’s got great word of mouth references and is fully up to date on their paperwork like a knight in a shining tool belt. It’s still important to get multiple quotes for the job just to get an average of what the price should be. Red flags should come up if prices are too high or too low and although you should expect to pay more for premium service, at what point is it gouging? If you are using price as a factor in determining which contractor to hire, it is also important to remember the old adage of you get what you pay for. While choosing the cheapest option may work for some purchasing decisions, you do not want to shop in the bargain bin for home renovations.
Do Your Part As Well
Something that might slip your mind in the process of finding a quality contractor is that you need to have your ducks in a row as well. For instance, since you’ll technically be employing these workers you may need to have WorkSafeBC coverage to protect against lawsuits. Also, make sure all the terms of the project are agreed upon before work commences including price, scope, and deadline.
One thing to remember is that most British Columbia contractors don’t deal in some sort of seedy underworld where their only goal is to scam you out of money. Unfortunately though enough do so that it takes some meddling to sift through the weeds and find honest, hard-working individuals that do great building.