Answers
Hiring and project planning
How to check a contractor, what payment terms are normal, and how to be the job that gets called back.
5 questions
- Contractor wants 50% upfront - is that normal?No. A large deposit is the clearest warning sign in residential construction. Normal is a modest mobilisation deposit, often around ten per cent or capped at a materials figure, then draws tied to completed and inspected milestones.Read the answer
- How do I check a contractor is legit?Four checks, about twenty minutes: look the licence up on the state board site yourself, call the insurance agent named on the certificate, search the county clerk for liens and suits, and ask for two addresses of jobs finished more than two years ago.Read the answer
- Live in the house during a whole-house reno?Possible, unpleasant, and usually slower. The compromise that works is moving out for demolition and rough-in — the loud, dusty, no-water phase — and moving back for finishes.Read the answer
- What order should I pick finishes in?Pick the hardest-to-change, most-constrained thing first and work outward: usually tile or stone, then cabinets, then counters, then paint. Paint is the easiest thing in the world to change and should always be last.Read the answer
- Three contractors, no callbacks - what am I doing wrong?Probably nothing you did — contractors triage, and vague small jobs sink. Make yourself easy to bid: a written scope with photographs and rough dimensions, a budget range rather than what would it cost, and a clear statement that you expect a licensed, insured contractor to pull permits.Read the answer