The challenge with home remodeling projects always remains. How do you get great help? With so many contracting horror stories, finding a great contractor for your project is probably the most challenging part.

Where to Start

HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, BuildZoom, and Google are all great places to begin on your initial search. Here you can read reviews from past clients. In today’s world, the internet is usually the first place where people will begin their search.

However you need to realize that not all GCs do their work online. Many find work locally through word of mouth.

Checking references and calling past clients is one of the best ways to get verified opinions. This will often tell you the whole “story” behind the remodeling project. Reviews often cannot be trusted completely as some of them can come from family and friends.

Verify Licenses

Once you’ve found someone that may be a good fit for your project, we recommend verifying their licenses with the city (or state). Especially in San Antonio, there are several contractors claiming to be licensed who are in fact not licensed to perform any work.

Look at Past Projects

Ask your potential contractor if they have any active or recently closed projects that you can review. This will give you the best “real-life” view on the contractors work.

Set Up a Draw Schedule

Do NOT give 50% down on a project! At SATX we never ask for this much. All work should be performed in a draw schedule. It is also ok to wait a day or two into the project before giving final payment

Sign a Contract

Once you feel that everything else has checked out, be sure that you have a written contract! A written contract with a detailed scope of work is the only way to prevent future disputes on deviations to what was promised.

Follow some of these basic steps and you can help ensure that you are hiring a quality professional Contractor for your project.