5 Questions To Ask Before Starting Any Home Improvement Project

1. What experience does your contractor have with this type of project?

How much experience does the home improvement contractor have in doing projects like yours? Does s/he specialize in this type of project, or will s/he be using your home as a learning project? Typically, contractors who have done several projects like yours will have a better idea of the actual costs and production issues involved in your project. Remember, however, that every remodeling project is a little different, and it is doubtful that any contractor has ever done a job EXACTLY like yours.

2. Who will be doing the actual work?

Will the individual you're talking to be doing the work himself, or will they be using subcontractors or employees? Each scenario has its own advantages and disadvantages, but make sure you know what to expect on your job. Who will you ask questions once the project begins? Should you talk to the subcontractors, a jobsite manager, or the owner of the business? It is very important you have one person who will consistently answer your questions and not give you the run around.

3. What happens if changes are required to the initial bid?

What is the contractors' process for making changes in the middle of the project? Most times you would like to avoid making changes mid-project but there can be unforeseen obstacles that arrive and it is good to know ahead of time how your contractor will deal with those obstacles. Most contractors use some sort of change order form that details the exact work and cost involved in changes once work has begun.

4. Am I prepared to be flexible when the unexpected arises?

Invariably, every job has something that wasn't planned on come up. Delays due to weather, unforeseen conditions which present themselves once walls are torn down, changes to design or material choices, and problems with employees or subcontractors can all upset the planned flow of the project. Are you prepared to be flexible and work with your contractor to find solutions when these problems arise?

5. How do I feel about working with this contractor?

What is your gut feeling on working with this individual? Do you trust him or her? How do you feel about their design ideas as compared to your own? Can you communicate openly and clearly with this person? If it's a remodeling project, how do you feel about this person being in your house for several days or weeks at a time often when you are not home? This is a really important factor to consider if you don't trust this person don't hire them.

This article was written by Gregg Hicks of http://www.reliableremodeler.com which provides Internet-based home improvement information and services. Offering homeowners a simple, quick, and free way to access, qualified home improvement remodeling contractors.

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President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.



President-elect Barack Obama makes remarks on the nations economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - President-elect Barack Obama urged Congress Thursday to work with him "day and night, on weekends if necessary" to approve the largest taxpayer-funded stimulus ever, warning in almost apocalyptic terms that a dire economic future was certain without it.



U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris is sworn in before testifying during the Illinois House Impeachment Committee hearing at the Illinois State Capitol Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)AP - U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris said Thursday he's never been involved in an improper deal in his two decades in government and didn't strike any agreement to become embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick for the U.S. Senate.



Fire and smoke is seen from Israeli miltary operations in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)AP - The U.N. suspended aid shipments in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and the Red Cross restricted its convoys after their trucks came under Israeli fire. The threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired two rockets into northern Israel.



Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff leaves U.S. District court after a bail hearing in New York, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009.  Prosecutors on Monday said Madoff violated bail conditions by mailing about $1 million worth of jewelry and other assets to relatives and should be jailed without bail. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.



Directors of the BART transit agency listen to public comments on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. Speakers criticized the agency for its handling of a New Year’s Days incident involving a BART police officer who shot and killed unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)AP - Heavy police presence greeted Bay Area Rapid Transit commuters Thursday, a day after more than 100 people were arrested in violent protests over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a transit police officer.



AP - Researchers at Cornell University have discovered that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes — the ones that spread diseases like yellow and dengue fever — alter their wing vibrations in a mating signal.

A florist delivery worker carries a wreath of flowers at the entrance to Jumbolair Aviation Estates, where actor John Travolta and his family have a home Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009  near Ocala, Fla. Friends and relatives are expected for a ceremony Thursday to be held for the death of the Travolta's sixteen year old son Jett, who died while in the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)AP - John Travolta and his family were expected to host a private memorial service Thursday for their son, 16-year-old Jett Travolta, at their home in a central Florida gated community.



AP - Police in upstate New York say a man has been sprinkling roofing nails on the driveways of people he didn't like to cause flat tires for two years. Stony Point police Lt. Peter Quinn said Michael Delisio was arrested Tuesday after an officer staking out one victim's home saw nails being thrown from Delisio's car.

In this April 27, 2008 file photo, Atlanta Braves' John Smoltz delivers a pitch in the second inning against the New York Mets in their baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York. Smoltz has reached a preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox, a stunning end to his long career with the Atlanta Braves. The deal was expected to be finalized later Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)AP - After more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, John Smoltz is likely to finish his stellar career wearing a different uniform. In a stunning end to one of baseball's longest runs, Smoltz reached preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox after failing to work out a deal to return for his 22nd season with the Braves.



President-elect Barack Obama at a news conference in Chicago, December 7, 2008. (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday that the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.



People taking the Long Island Foreclosure Tour arrive at a foreclosed home for sale in New Hyde Park, New York in this May 17, 2008 file photo. Citigroup could soon agree to principles that would let troubled borrowers save their homes through bankruptcy, sources familiar with the talks said on Thursday, while industry groups are easing their opposition to the plan. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc has agreed to support a controversial rewrite of U.S. bankruptcy law aimed at helping troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, lawmakers said on Thursday.



Egyptian citizens look at rising smoke during Israeli strikes at the Gaza Strip, in the Egyptian border city of Rafah January 7, 2009. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)Reuters - Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faced worsening conditions on Thursday after two aid drivers were killed and their U.N. agency halted work, saying staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants.



A customer shops at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, June 5, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other top U.S. retailers delivered disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.



Bernard Madoff is escorted from Federal Court in New York January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff had signed checks totaling more than $173 million in his office desk ready to be sent out before his arrest, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.



A man works near a pressure gauge at a district heating plant in Skopje January 8, 2009. (Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)Reuters - Moscow has agreed to deployment of international monitors to oversee the transit of Russian gas to EU states via Ukraine, clearing the way for the resumption of European gas supplies, the Czech EU presidency said.



Reuters - The U.S. nuclear deterrent that kept a tense peace during the Cold War is in danger of losing credibility among allied nations that look to the United States for security, a Pentagon panel said on Thursday.

People walk past the Bank of England in central London, January 8, 2009. (Rob Bodman/Reuters)Reuters - Economic weakness in Europe worsened and U.S. jobless rolls swelled as disappointing sales from Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, and other retailers on Thursday showed that consumers are still wary about opening up their pocketbooks in an uncertain economy.



A wounded Palestinian is carried into Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital. The main UN Palestinian relief agency halted work in Gaza on Thursday after a driver was killed and the death toll from Israel's war on Hamas rose to more than 760 after dozens of bodies were found in the rubble.(AFP/Yassr Saymeh)AFP - A UN relief agency halted work in Gaza and protested to Israel on Thursday after an aid worker was killed, while the war death toll rose past 760 after dozens of bodies were found in rubble during a pause in bombing.



A man warms himself near a stove in a bar in the town of Belovo, Bulgaria. EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.(AFP/Boryana Katsarova)AFP - EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.




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