Renovating your home is an exciting, yet intimidating project to take on. Most people choose not to waste time and money and take the risk of damaging their own property, and instead opt for hiring a home improvement professional. But which one should you hire? In just about any city, you’re going to have at least a few to choose from.
Here are some reasons why it’s important to read reviews on the home improvement professionals you plan to hire.
Make sure they’re trustworthy
Home improvement professionals have extensive access to your personal property, and are a crucial link between the house of your dreams and the house you have right now. If you want to have a satisfying experience, it only makes sense that you should hire the best-suited professional for the job, and one who has a great track record.
Trustworthy professionals don’t overcharge, show up when they say they will do the job they were paid to do, and clean up after themselves. If you can’t trust your home improvement professional, it’s going to be a long few days or weeks of renovation!
See the quality of their finished work
You might get a great feeling from meeting someone, and you might even trust them on the spot, but “friendly and communicative” doesn’t always mean “technically skilled” when it comes to renovation jobs. A painter who can’t stay within the lines isn’t worth hiring, no matter how much he banters and makes you feel comfortable with him being in your living room for the day.
You also can’t immediately tell the quality of someone’s finished work before you part ways. You might love some work for the first year and find that it breaks far more quickly than it ought to have, and by then, your home improvement professional could easily have moved or changed their business name.
Get a second, and third, and fourth opinion…
If you don’t have friends and relatives who have hired the exact type of professional you’re looking for, it’s hard to find someone out of the blue who’s worth hiring. Other people who have been in your shoes often want to help fellow homeowners out, and thus leave reviews to save them heartache or to recommend someone who did fantastic work.
Not all reviews are accurate, and some have a “spin” by either a friend of the contractor or an enemy, but by looking at the overall numbers and reviews, you can often get a good sense of the work they do.
Before hiring home improvement professionals to upgrade your home and make your dreams come true, read some reviews online and make sure past clients have been happy with their services. You could just save yourself money, time, and frustration.
Guest post contributed by Victoria on behalf of My Builder – a new way to read through reviews on tradesmen. The reviews have been posted by the customers that have hired the tradesmen. To find out more visit them on their website at MyBuilder.com
