How to Pick A Good Contractor [3 Steps]

Here are 3 steps on how to pick a good contractor. These are the tricks to picking a good contractor that will save you time and money.

Hopefully you’ve decided to hire a specialized contractor to fix your basement, if you’re thinking of doing the work yourself or hiring a handyman, please see our previous video: “Do I need a contractor for foundation repair?” for some good advice on that subject. So now, how do you find a good contractor? The problem is that there are a lot of scammers out there that will disappear with your money and never do the work, or they’ll do the work so poorly you’ll have to hire someone else just to fix it. Some contractors take months or even years to finish projects and overcharge you in the process. At Dry Guys, a big chunk of our work is fixing what other companies have messed up, and it really upsets us to see the way these con artists cheat homeowners out of their money and leave their house sometimes even worse than it was before.

1) You need to do an internet search on whatever contractor you’re considering. First, look on the company’s website. Do they seem to know what they’re talking about? Is there plenty of information on the website that gives you the sense they’ve been doing this for a while? Do they have a lot of photos from actual projects? Do they show you who their employees are? Can you contact them easily?

2) Look at the Google reviews for this company. Does the company have a lot of reviews? Do they have a 4.5 star rating or higher? If there are bad reviews, did the company try to reach out to the customer to fix things? That’s usually a good indication that they stand by their work. Pick the top three rated companies that you liked.

3) Once you’ve narrowed down the companies you like the most, find out their license numbers and certificates of insurance. You can call the contractors to ask them for this information. All contractors are required to have these, regardless of state. The license number lets you contact your local municipality to see if the business is legal, and the insurance proof means the contractor is covered if something goes wrong. Good contractors have workers comp and liability insurance. Also a business license number is not the same as a contractor license. The requirements change depending on location.