Al Heavens is a Haddonfield, N.J.- based, nationally syndicated, home-improvement writer and author whose newspaper columns, magazine articles and books have been the first word on remodeling for 50 million readers for more than three decades. He is the author of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home and Remodeling on The Money: Fifteen Innovative Projects Designed to Add Value to Your Home, and was “The Gadgeteer” on Discovery Channel’s Home Matters program.
I had the pleasure of joining Cindy and Jay Cipriani on Zoom in January for a webinar to discuss the top five fears homeowners have with remodeling.
It is a topic that has played a major role in two home-improvement books and an endless number of columns over the last five decades.
No matter how often you address these issues, it never seems to be enough. The COVID-19 pandemic, now in its 11th month, has led to a huge increase in demand for the services of remodeling contractors, stretching the supply to the limit.
Bloomberg News, citing sources at the National Association of Home Builders, reported that some builders and remodelers are facing a shortage of workers despite the high level of unemployment created by the pandemic.
Eighty-five percent of NAHB members surveyed said they anticipated future problems with labor costs and availability. Thousands of construction jobs have remained unfilled during the pandemic because they require skilled labor, not entry-level workers, Bloomberg News reported.
The higher demand and limited supply also have led to an increase in the number of fly-by-night contractors entering the market, a situation not unlike what happened at the Jersey Shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Scams are not limited to the remodeling industry, of course. When the financial crisis of 2008 resulted in massive foreclosures, scam artists claiming that they could help you save your house from sheriff’s sale proliferated, often doing their dirty work in multistate operations.
The victims of these foreclosure scams were hamstrung by fear resulting from insufficient knowledge of the process. They had gotten into trouble because they had not read the fine print on their original mortgage loan documents. When red flags appeared, they were willing to accept the pat answer that “everything will be OK.”
It did not work out that way, not by a long shot.
So, if you take anything away from this blog post, it should be: DO YOUR HOMEWORK because knowledge is power, and power is a great antidote to fear.
Failure to follow this advice 40 years ago actually got me started writing about home improvement.
Our first house needed work, we had $10,000 to spend, and a friend recommended a contractor who, we later found out, was the friend’s brother. We were confused because they did not have the same last name. We later found out that the contractor kept changing his name to avoid creditors.
Two lessons for you right there. First, get more than one recommendation. Second, never tell a stranger how much money you have to spend. (The reason why my wife puts duct tape over my mouth when we buy a new car.)
In our defense, we were young, it was our first house, and we had just become new parents. In retrospect, not much of an excuse. We were journalists who spent our lives asking questions and being suspicious of every answer.
As a member of a generation that had been told to go to college so you would not need to get your hands dirty, however, I had little construction experience. My seventh-grade shop teacher took early retirement when he saw my bookends. The bookcase I built for a former girlfriend had so much dark stain on it to hide the imperfections that it looked like an ink blot in a Rorschach test.
Since the work we wanted done was not a life-or-death situation, we had no excuse for not doing due diligence. If I knew then what I know now, and we got a do-over, we would have first come up with clear proposals outlining the work that we wanted to do.
We then would have contacted more than one contractor, and settled on at least three, even if it meant calling 20 until we were able to get three to call us back.
I have never really known why the number three was chosen. I assume the thinking was that one estimate would be high, one would be low, and one would be “just right” – the Goldilocks and the Three Bears School of Remodeling.
It is rather flawed thinking. First of all, contractors, as Cindy and Jay emphasized during the webinar, do not present estimates but “guess-timates.” What this means is that no one can know what lurks behind the walls until he or she drills a few holes to investigate.
Say you want to replace an old deck, and the contractor estimates the cost of the job at $5,000. When he and his crew arrive and begin demolition, they realize that the sill to which the deck is attached is rotted and needs to be removed and replaced. Thus, $5,000 becomes $6,000 and perhaps more.
Reliable, experienced contractors are those who provide a list of “ifs.” They also provide options in the event what you want may not be available or may not really fit the project.
All houses are not the same, even in a cookie-cutter development, and not all estimates are the same, either.
The contractor with the lowest estimate might not be using the same quality of materials as the middle or highest bidder, and thus is not giving you the same value for your money as the other two.
You really are not saving money and, in fact, may be wasting a lot of it.
That is why you ask for a breakdown of costs. Many contractors will give you more than one choice of, say, kitchen cabinets, flooring, lighting, and the like, with different prices and descriptions of each component of the project.
If all three do this, it will offer you a clear picture of the choices you need to make to get the most value for your money. You must be able to compare apples to apples to make educated decisions.
My first contractor said we did not need a written contract and was actually offended when we insisted on signing one. At that point, we were smart enough to hand him his walking papers, but then he showed up the next day with an acceptable document and a detailed list of materials for the job.
Against our better judgment, and because my wife was leaving for a 10-day business trip and wanted the matter settled, we agreed to a lower level of assurances than we had requested. In other words, we got stupid again.
It was a mistake. Promises of “whatever you want” became “not available.” Delays multiplied. Sketches and photos of what had been agreed to looked nothing like the finished work.
The timeline for completion was violated again and again. In the end, the job was completed by the contractor’s brother, who was overwhelmed by guilt, and me, armed with Time-Life books I had borrowed from the public library.
Here are some critical things you need to remember when hiring a contractor:
Ask for the names of past and current clients so you can check out the contractor’s work. Contact your local building official to uncover any problems or complaints. If you have to use the Internet as a tool for vetting a contractor, make sure the site is reliable.
Demand a contract that completely spells out the details of the project, including exact descriptions and costs of the materials, a detailed payment schedule, and a timeframe for completion of the work.
Remember, stuff happens, and sometimes there are delays that can throw off a schedule. Top-notch contractors will let you know of delays immediately and will even post schedules on site so you can check progress.
If changes need to be made, make sure there is a written procedure for doing so. Ensure that the contractor has the proper licenses and insurance coverage, and that his subcontractors are reliable and experienced and are properly insured and licensed as well.
Make sure warranties for work and products are detailed in the contract. Anything you do not understand, ask for an explanation.
Make sure that the contractor is responsible for all permits and will work the local building department to make sure the work passes inspection.
Quality contractors are members of professional associations that often have established procedures to settle disputes if matters go awry. In addition, some of these groups have funds set aside to complete projects that members, for a variety of reasons, might not be able to finish.
I know I sound like a parent but be sure to do your homework. Remember what happened when you got to class when you hadn’t done it and the teacher called on your first.
Now THAT’S fear.