The internet has become the ‘yellow pages’ of our world. We use the search bar to find local restaurants, dry cleaners, and home improvement professionals. We turn to Social Media channels for recommendations and resources, and sometimes you get good information and other times the names you get are the ones with the most friends, the most savvy search engine algorithms, or the time to make their presence known on all channels.
Other good starting points are people you know your friends and neighbors have used and been happy with as well as local professional groups.
But wherever you get the names, be sure to check them out in other ways:
- the NC Secretary of State’s website will show if they are a registered business
- trade association listings will give you an indicator of how serious they take their industry. Home Builders Associations, Chambers of Commerce, and even the Better Business Bureau can all give you a glimpse of a company that’s invested in on-going improvement and our community;
- license boards for the particular contractors will tell you if there are current complaints or actions against them. If there’s no local license requirement, then check to see what industry certifications the contractor might have;
- ask about their process – how long typical projects take, what other similar projects they’ve completed, what’s their warranty process, are their materials sourced locally, what kind of experience do their employees have;
- what standards or methods do they rely on for their work? (Hint: doing it the same way for the past 10-15 years doesn’t cut it in today’s ever-evolving construction industry)
- On their last 3 jobs, how much did the final billing amount differ from their quoted price?
Hiring a home-improvement professional is an investment in your home’s future. Make sure your research is as extensive as possible. #Professionalcraftsmanship #HireAProfessional #LocalCraftsmanship #ProfessionalTileInstallation #NeuseTile
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