When it comes to making home renovations, hiring a contractor is easily the most important decision in the process. The main goal is to hire the contractor/company you believe can best take your vision and make it a reality. Not all contractors can do that, and it’s up to you to decipher who can when you’re in the hiring stage.
So how do you know if you can trust a contractor before hiring them? They talk highly of their own work and what they can do for you, but who wouldn’t?
There is one tried and tested way to get a preview of what it would be like to work with a contractor before even signing a contract — customer reviews!
Reliable customer reviews are the best way to find out about a contractor’s work quality and what it would be like to hire and work with them.
Here are a few tips for using customer reviews to find the right contractor for you:
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Look For the Right Reviews
When searching for customer reviews, it’s important to find reviews on projects that are similar to what you have in mind. The review should not only be recent, but it should include:
- Pictures of the work
- What it was like working with the contractor
- The quality of their finished work
Not all reviews will be in-depth, but a reputable contractor will have at least a couple of reviews that are a couple of paragraphs long edifying their work.
Look For These Common Red Flags
If you aren’t careful, taking reviews at face value can be more harmful than not using any reviews at all.
Steer clear of the following types of companies:
- They have lots of five-star reviews with nothing written
- Reviews that were made years and years ago
- Pictures that do not match up with the review; stock images
Evaluate A Contractor Online Without Customer Reviews
What if you can’t find any reliable customer reviews? Or if there are no reviews at all? Luckily, there are other ways to evaluate a contractor outside of reviews.
Using a contractor’s website and social media can also give a better look into their work ethic. A contractor might feature personal reviews on his website, including images of previous projects that have been completed.
Social media is another place where you could see images of previous work and possibly find comments on how it was for them to work with that contractor.
The Better Business Bureau’s website is also another way to get information on contractors and businesses. By checking with the BBB, you’ll be able to get the scoop on previous complaints made against that contractor, if there are any. Asking how they could resolve those issues could reveal a lot about your potential contractor.
Final Thoughts
Whether you like to interview your contractors the old-fashioned way or you run straight to customer reviews, Bela Development can help you make your home improvement vision a reality.
Call us or message us via our website to schedule an in-person appointment.
