Take time to catch the ‘con’ among contractors
I just heard a news story about some contractors getting arrested for taking homeowners’ money and not completing the jobs they were hired to do. There was this one case of a contractor who scammed a 90-year-old man from B.C. out of more than $200,000 for renovations he never did.
Contractors like this getting what they deserve brings a smile to my face. I like seeing justice being done. Why? Because these guys are not contractors. They’re con artists. Professional contractors don’t do that. They don’t scam homeowners out of money, they don’t leave work unfinished, and they don’t take advantage of homeowners’ lack of knowledge.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: In the world of contracting, there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. About 20 per cent of contractors are good. These contractors have licences, insurance, skill, experience and integrity. They hold true to their word and they care about the work they do and the people it affects. These are the ones you want to hire, and they’re out there.
Unfortunately, about 70 per cent of contractors are bad, and another 10 per cent are just downright con artists. Bad contractors don’t know any better, and they don’t care to learn how to do better. But the ugly contractors — the con artists — come in and take the most money they can get, doing the least amount of work possible, to the point where the work is not only bad, it’s also dangerous.
I’ve seen drywall screwed to ductwork, vapour barrier slashed across walls, nails driven through electrical wires — all on the same job. And so-called professionals do this. Why do you suppose that is? Laziness? Lack of experience? They don’t know any better?
Sloppiness and contracting don’t mix. It’s as simple as that. I’ve seen too many families completely devastated by bad renovations. If you’re an accountant and you get sloppy, you’ll mess up someone’s finances. But if you’re a contractor and you get sloppy, you can seriously injure someone, or worse.
Spending money twice does not work for me. Wasting good materials doesn’t work for me. Putting families through dangerous living conditions really doesn’t work for me.
The good news is that you can usually tell the good from the bad before a renovation even begins. Here are some warning signs:
• They’re not busy. You know the saying, ‘Easy come, easy go?’ Well, the same ap- plies to contractors. If the contractor you’re thinking of hiring has a wide-open schedule, chances are good he’s not busy for a reason. Good work is hard to come by, so alarm bells should be ringing if booking your contractor’s time seems a little too easy.
• Lack of enthusiasm. If you’re considering a contractor and he shows up with just a clipboard and is vague when answering your questions, you’re wasting your time. No matter how small the job, a contractor should be interested in doing it the best way he knows how. He should be showing you a portfolio, complete with photos of past work and a full list of references.
• No licence? No insurance? No permits? No way. We all love a bargain. I get it. It’s what drives many people to get a “friend of a friend” to do a renovation. But just because it’s a friend doesn’t mean the rules get thrown out the window. Some of the worst jobs I’ve seen were done by a “friend” of the homeowner. No matter what, always make sure whoever is doing the work has a licence, has insurance, and gets all of the proper permits. Most renovations require at least one.
• Pay up front. I’ve heard of cases where a contractor will ask for 50 per cent of the job’s total cost up front. Let me make this clear: Pros don’t need a lot of money up front. They don’t live week to week. They just need about 10 per cent of the total cost of the job to secure their time and to secure your work.
• They budge. Pros don’t budge on their estimates or on how much you should pay up front. Why not? Because their estimates are based on facts. When I quote a job, I do it after I’ve done my research, not on the spot.
Finding the right contractor takes time. In fact, it should take just as long, or even longer, than it takes to do the actual job. A lot of homeowners want to rush this step. But remember, a bad contractor doesn’t have to live with a bad renovation. You do. Catch Mike in his new series,
Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv. ca. For more information on home renovations, visit
makeitright.ca.