Ahhh, the age-old question—how to find a good contractor. Whom do I trust with my home? How do I know I can trust them? What happens if something goes wrong?
These questions can be daunting for a homeowner, especially a new homeowner. Foundation and Waterproofing Repairs can be quite expensive at times, and it is vital that the contractor you hire is trustworthy (duh).
So, how does one find a good contractor they can trust? We’ve heard about them, but no matter how good we believe someone is, or how nice the sales rep is, we always seem to get fooled! Lucky for you, you live in the digital age, and it is getting increasingly easier to find good contractors and spot the bad ones.
Online Reputation
We all know all we have in this world is our reputation. Previous to the internet, our reputation was carried by word of mouth only. Maybe some newspaper articles and radio spots, but the ways for customers to research YOU were quite limited. We were reliant on what the contractor told us.
Luckily, with the coming of the digital age, we can do much more research into these companies before we even give them a call. There are many places online to do your research, read reviews, and evaluate ratings:
- Better Business Bureau- The most well-known, but not used as often anymore. The BBB came about before the digital age to try to solve the topic of this blog, but more and more younger generations are forgoing the BBB for newer means of reputation tracking.
- Reviews Sites- Review sites can be a good place to see how other customers’ experiences were with the same company in the past. Depending on your area, some are more prevalent than others.
- Yelp– By far the most sensitive barometer to how a business treats its customers. If they have a good Yelp rating with lots of reviews, it’s a good bet they will work hard to maintain that.
- Angie’s List– Also not used as much, as the membership is now free, but still a good resource to find previous customers’ experiences and determine who you want to use.
- Home Advisor– A growing company that is trying to focus on customers’ specific needs while taking the work of finding a contractor out of their hands.
- Google - Anyone can write a Google review, with any made-up email address. While these can’t be trusted as much as the other sites, comparing this to the others will help to create a picture of the company.
- Next Door - Fairly new, but being used more often, this is an app/website that allows neighbors to share who they have used in the past. They can give recommendations or warn you to stay away from certain contractors.
Referrals
Maybe you know somebody who has used the company you are looking at in the past. Maybe someone you know has had the same issue and already did all the research! Might be a good idea to ask your friends, put a post on Facebook, and see what comes up.
Social Media
Social Media has become the way to communicate to the world your opinions, ideas, experiences, and cat photos. There are different platforms, and reputable companies often times have these set up so they can share their story, projects, and inquiries with as many people as possible. Some of these include:
Be sure to do your research before calling a contractor out to your home. A large billboard or fancy tv ad does not express the trust and reputation of a company. DO YOUR RESEARCH and be sure you have somebody who will put your home first out to do the work. For more tips on how to find a good contractor, feel free to contact us. Thanks for reading, and as always:
“Not Everything’s Better When Wet!”
