Walk a block in this city and you’ll hear stories about bad contractors, people who took the money and ran, didn’t file necessary permits, low-balled a quote and then kept adding costs. There’s no way to steer clear of the bad eggs, but one litmus test has served me well is - pick Eeyore, and stay away from Tigger.
Tiggers are charismatic and say, ‘Yes, I’ll do it’ to all of your crazy ideas. Run far away from uncritical enablers on your job. You want a team that feels comfortable saying ‘no’ to you sometimes. Not everything on your wish list is a good idea (or something you can afford), and a grounded, realistic person will tell you.
On my first renovation, my contractor came back with a quote that was higher than I budgeted so I had to cut out part of my plan. This forced me to prioritize what I really wanted. When it was completed, I realized that the extra things I cut out would have been a bad idea anyway.
Get Three Quotes
Don’t go with the first contractor you meet. Interview at least three people (and get quotes). You’ll learn something new from each person and even if you don’t know much about building, you’ll get a sense of who’s more knowledgeable. In my first renovation: one person told me I could remove the window molding and replace it, which would be less work than stripping and refinishing. When I mentioned that to the next contractor, he said, ‘No, these are made of metal, not wood and they are built into the structure of the building. You don’t want to remove those.” And that’s the Eeyore I hired.
My contractor is such an Eeyore that even when he has good news, it sounds like bad news. “We’ll be finishing up here next week.” he said at the end of my first renovation, as if diagnosing a terminal illness. This is his normal speaking tone.
