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PAINFUL PROCESS
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ROOF SHINGLING |
HIRING A CONTRACTOR
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Hiring a Contractor
When hiring a contractor, here are some questions to ask:
1. How many men in your crew?
2. How many men in your crew can you guarantee to have on the job every
day?
Our framer said he had four men. The day he started he had two. Often
times he had one.
Many times his crew showed up, however, he did not. They wouldn’t work
without him
3. What would be your reasons for not working a
day? Oh, you won’t believe the reasons!
4. Do you work on weekends?
5. If you miss days mid-week and do not normally work on weekends, will
you make-up for lost time by working on a weekend?
6. How many hours do you work each day?
I won’t name names (call me!) but one of my contractors showed up most
days at 10:00 A.M. left for a 2 hour lunch by 11:45 A.M. and worked
until 2:00 P.M. It is no wonder I am behind schedule!
7. Will they agree to a penalty clause?
Try to get a penalty clause in the contract. If they don’t finish by an
agreed upon date they pay a penalty for each day they go past said date.
It is tough to get a contractor to agree to these terms in this strong
building market. With one contractor behind schedule, most others that
are following him will fall behind. From there it snowballs! I strongly
urge you to try for a penalty clause!
8. Can I look at 3 examples of your latest work
and/or 3 names of the homeowners from your LAST three jobs?
You don’t want any 3 references as they could be friends, customers from
5 years ago etc… conversations from the homeowners of their last 3
projects should tell you what their current work habits are like. If I
had looked at some of the jobs my siders had done, I’m sure I would
never had hired them. (That is another story! )
9. Do you pick up after yourselves and your
crew?
You will not believe the mess a few men can leave! Wood, nails,
cigarette butts & packs, bottles & cans, food & food packaging, paper,
anything they may have cleaned out of their car etc… You should put it
in writing that they are responsible for their own mess and money is
held back until they clean up after themselves. One day I offered my 10
year old son 5 cents a shingle to pick up after the siders. In 2 hours I
owed him $46.00 and had to re-negotiate my agreement with him.
I hope this helps. If you are thinking of building a house, please call
me. I have experienced so much. I would love to answer any questions you
might have. I have names of some great contractors, good contractors and
those to avoid. I thought that after selling hundreds and hundreds of
houses, a good amount of new construction, having a father & 3 brothers
in the industry, that I could build a house rather painlessly. WRONG!
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PAINFUL PROCESS
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ROOF SHINGLING |
HIRING A CONTRACTOR
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