Planning a home addition? The most important decision you’ll make about your project is who you choose to do the construction. Your choice of a home addition contractor could make the difference between a home you’re proud to show off and a laundry list of regrets and broken promises. In this blog, we give you five key questions you should ask your home addition contractor.
Can you Provide References?
Talk to at least two of the previous clients that the home addition contractor has done work for. Here are some questions you can ask them:
- Did you have any problems with the contractor’s work or professionalism?
- Was the work completed on time and on budget?
- Would you hire this home addition contractor again?
- Were you able to communicate with the contractor easily? Did they respond to your calls and messages in a timely manner? Did the home addition contractor explain things to you in a way that you could understand?
- Was the contractor comfortable with you visiting the worksite and asking questions of them or the other workers on site?
- Did the workers leave the site tidy and organized at the end of each day?
If possible, ask if you can see the work yourself. You may feel uncomfortable asking to do a walk-through of their home, but people are generally helpful and accommodating where this is concerned, especially if they were pleased with the work.
What is Your Estimate for the Work?
A professional home addition contractor should provide you with a detailed estimate of how much each element of the project will cost, broken down into materials and labour. The estimate should include allowances for fixtures and materials that vary in price, such as flooring, plumbing and lighting fixtures, cabinetry, and windows.
Do you Have Tradespeople on Staff or Reliable Subcontractors?
Skilled tradespeople are in short supply at present, and the lack of a qualified electrician, plumber, drywaller, or HVAC specialist can delay a project by weeks or even months. Much of this work is done in serial fashion, meaning that a delay in the electrical work pushes the drywalling back, and so on.
Check to see if the home addition contractor you’re considering has these professionals on staff or if they have dependable tradespeople they can schedule when they’re needed at the worksite.
If your home addition contractor plans to use subcontractors, ask for their information so that you can look into their reputation and get a sense of how dependable they will be. Ask your contractor how often they have worked with these subcontractors in the past.
What is Your Estimated Timeline for This Project?
An organized home addition contractor should be able to give you a reasonably accurate timeline for the starting and completion date of the project. However, some delays are to be expected.
Ask for the timeline of significant milestones in the project, as these will affect the completion date. The contractor’s confidence in meeting these milestones on schedule will also indicate their certainty that they can bring the necessary workers on site and have the right materials delivered when they are needed.
Here are the milestones to watch for:
- Site preparation.
- Foundation work.
- Framing the walls, floor, and roof of the addition and installing windows and doors.
- Roofing and siding.
- Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC rough-ins.
- Insulation and drywall installation, taping and finishing drywall seams.
- Flooring, cabinetry, and trim work.
- Fixture installation.
- Final inspection and handover.
What Types and Amounts of Insurance Do You Have?
A reputable home addition contractor will be happy to discuss their insurance policies, which should cover the unique risks present on a construction site. These risks include injuries to workers, damage to or loss of equipment and materials, third-party claims of injuries or death, and damage to a third party’s property.
Your homeowner’s insurance will not cover these potential losses, especially if you’re not living in the house during the home renovations.
Starting with these questions will give you a sense of how professional and reputable your home addition contractor is, as well as how transparent and straightforward they are in their communications.
About Frameworks Renovation
Frameworks Renovation would be pleased to meet with you to answer these questions and any others you may have. As a top home addition contractor, we have completed projects both large and small, and we can provide numerous references to homeowners we’ve worked with in the past.
We are happy to provide you with a detailed quote that gives you all the information you need to make an informed decision about hiring us as your home addition contractor. Give us a call at (519) 216-5507, email us, or use our online contact form to talk about your ideas and get a no-obligation quote. We look forward to hearing about your project.