Contractors in my area do jobs from $2k to $40M. That’s a pretty wide range. I’m doing a major house remodel, so I’m looking for contractors with experience doing significant work (i.e., work that costs way more than $2k), but also way less than $40M.
Can I use BuildZoom to help find vendors with experience not only in my area, but also in my price range?
I wouldn’t necessarily shy away from a contractor that does a wide range of price points. For instance, we do work from $1,000 (a couple of replacement windows) to $100,000 (large sunroom additions) all the time. Our average is $33,000 for a sunroom but that doesn’t mean something three times the price point is out of our “scope of work.”
Now when you are talking 40 million, then that contractor is probably looking at commercial projects and isn’t going to be interested in a house remodel.
My best advice is to look at a company’s portfolio on sites like Buildzoom, Houzz, Angie’s List, etc…Then check out their website. Look at photo galleries to find some evidence of what they do. It will be easier to find a picture that matches what you have in mind than trying to estimate numbers.
Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call some contractors that look promising. Ask them what their average job is and for referrals from their past customers that had a similar scope of work performed. You can’t beat customer referrals for checking the quality of work.
Sounds like you are doing a large project, so don’t underestimate the value of your research PRIOR to picking a contractor. The wrong contractor will cause you lots of money and a LOT more time in the end if you have to have him redo work or if you feel like you have to be at your home to supervise the quality of his work.
If a customer is happy enough with the contractor that they are willing to let you come to their home and walk through, you know you got a good contractor. We have people who are interested in our sunrooms walk through our existing customers houses all the time. Our existing customers are our best salespeople because we treated them so well.
A good contractor will have the same. So take your time, do your homework and make a good decision. You’re trusting someone with your home!
Best of Luck!
BuildZoom is a great place to start. In doing so, always look for a high rated contractor that has been verified by BuildZoom and has pictures from start to finish of their work. A customer reference is good however it is like someone asking you for references when you are at an interview for a job… you’re not going to give a bad one. Pictures speak much louder so ask to see a portfolio from start, during and finish as anyone can steal a before and after picture off the web. I know this sounds awful but I have experienced it when taking over botched jobs. BuildZoom gives higher scores for more verifications that they do, feel free to look through our profile to see the different badges / verifications.
Most contractors aside from the ones that do large commercial work will take your job. Good luck to you in your search for a contractor and Happy New Year!
log on to Face book of your neighbors.
Once you have a floor plan that you can work with, which should not by any means be set in stone, request bids from AT LEAST 3 different GCs. Requesting a bid doesn’t cost anything, and you should get as many as you think you’ll need, but keep in mind that a significant amount of work will go in to creating an accurate bid, so don’t overdo it.
You should weigh them each on their individual merits, but also compare them to each other. If one bid is significantly lower than the others, it may be a mistake or a sign of an inexperienced GC, but it also may show you some places where the other bids fall short. Similarly, two bids that are around the same total price may have drastically different costs allocated to different parts of the project.
Doing this may not only reduce the costs of the services they provide, but also show you different ways to achieve the same goals.
Contractors have there favorite type of projects that vary in cost range. Some like to do remodeling / renovation work, some strictly new construction contractors.
Look for some one in your price range, because the large contractors will not be responsive to your type or size of project.
Recommend build zoom contractors in your area, you get to see there company details and check with the BBB web site as well to double check there quality and status.
Good luck
