I've had to hire a few contractors/companies over the past few years. I wish I'd had some knowledge about hiring contractors before I had to hire them. I'd like to share what I've learned here, and I hope some of you who have learned valuable lessons in your past will share them here, as well.

The first thing I'm going to tell you is to insist on a written contract, and to make sure it specifies anything you feel is important. We can go into details later, because I don't have a lot of time right now. I actually hired a contractor who didn't provide a written contract. (This was my first time.) Big mistake. BIG mistake. That guy was horrible. Details another time.

Second thing I want to say is to insist that the contract have a starting and ending date for the work that's being done. That way they can't start something and then stretch out the project. You'd be amazed at how they do that. While working on your project, they may take on another project that pays better. Of course, you can put words like "barring any major events, like acts of God or a death in the immediate family," but make sure there's an ending date. And insist on a monetary penalty if the work isn't completed by that day. Oh, and determine whether they'll work on the weekends.

Most professional contractors will not ask for money up front, so don't pay them up front. And what you pay for must be in the contract.

That's all from me for now. If there are any contractors here please share your thoughts, but please don't be rude.

Edit: I'm in the USA, but I'd like to hear from folks in other countries about how their contractors handle things.

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~Sue~

Having a written contract that specifies what is to be done will help get things done within a given time frame. Nothing screws things up more than project creep- work agreed upon, price & completion date set, but during the project it's decided to make a few small changes (as opposed to problems that have cropped up & need to be worked around/ sorted out), or the project is ahead of schedule so another little bit is added on, and things just snowball from there. Time & cost overruns galore.

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Grant
Darwin NT

I did the exact opposite. My contractor has done numerous jobs for many people I know. I have seen his work. He has not advertised or even had a business card for 10 years, all his work is referrals. I did do a bit of due diligence and looked him up on the Better Business Bureau, his rating was the best.
When he was looking at the job, a bathroom and kitchen I told him I hoped he could keep it under 30K, he told me he thought it could be done for much less. He charges for time plus his cost for materials, he does not mark up the materials. The job came in just under 20K.
I AM TOTALLY SATISFIED!
I am very lucky to have a local resource of that quality, he was a friend prior to the job and still is.

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For doors and locks and door knobs I employ a locksmith that didn't need a written contract, the same for some electrical work I needed to have done like replacing all the breakers and 3 outlets and I had all the parts already, both are licensed contractors. But those are little projects that are fairly simple, the 5 windows I had replaced only needed Me to pay for the window inserts and tell the contractor where the window inserts had to be installed at and of course give them the exact measurements of the existing window openings.

I will need to tent this place for termites if I ever sell the place after it's fixed the rest of the way, I still need to work on both bathrooms minus the tubs, replace the last 2 or 3 windows with inserts, replace the window blinds, install an a/c unit in the rear bedroom, fix the floors from the kitchen to the back bathroom, remove both the water softener and the small amount of copper pipe, reinstall some cpvc pipe and get the county mandated flexible yellow water connection back, replace the flooring all over the house, pull the paneling and fix a wall in My rear bedroom, replace 4 doors of which is 2 exterior and 2 interior doors, remove a wall mounted swamp cooler, and do paint all over the 1987 manufactured home and snow coat the metal roof, which is built to meet the 1976 HUD building code, My exterior walls are 2"x6" on 16" centers while the interior walls are 2"x4" on 24" centers and yeah I know they aren't exactly 2"x6" or 2"x4".

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

For years I worked on a series of either fixed-term or fixed-term-extensible contracts. Great "fun" but it could be very frustrating when getting towards the end of the contract term not knowing if it would be replaced, extended or terminated. I I was working it wasn't uncommon to have an extension or replacement due to third-party inaction - parties outside my control would delay delivery by not supplying goods or services in a timely manner, or there would be a production hitch that caused other delays - and when doing the pre-acceptance testing (which could take many months to complete and report) these impacts were felt.....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I've hired contractors to do various tasks around the house - the biggest recently was to replace the garage roof. While there was about six man-days of work this took longer because there was drying time and weather to consider - their first task was to rig an internal, temporary roof to protect the few bits and bobs I hadn't been able to put into storage. Removing the old roof went OK as did putting the first layer of new decking on - then it rained for a couple of days (typical UK summer), second layer of decking went on and we had a short really hot spell with surface temperatures above the upper limit for spreading the primer (I did say this was a typical UK summer didn't I?)- several more days lost; finally there was a warm dry spell and the GRP was laid. All told the job took about a week longer than expected in terms of calendar days, but still took the six-man days of work.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

My backyard guy finally showed up yesterday and finished cleaning up my yard. I mean - completely cleaning my backyard. Originally I wanted it cleaned up so I could install a French drain system. Then he told me that French drain systems often get blocked up and you have to call someone to clear them out. (I guess this is actually true.) Well, that made me think that it sort of defeats the purpose of the French drain if it's going to get blocked up, won't drain the water it was built to drain, and you have to spend more money to have it unblocked. So the drain idea died, but I continued with the backyard clean up. Since there was no grass back there and no reason for it to look pretty, I've neglected it for years. Here is what it looks like now, after the clean up. The holes you see there are for the new deck that's being built. The old one was ripped out. The chickens are chickens. Rhode Island Reds. Good egg layers and easy to care for.


Here's a panoramic pic of my backyard "before," which shows you why I wanted to have a French drain installed. It looks like this after heavy rain. The old shed is gone. I've ordered a new shed that will be delivered in a few weeks. 🤞🏼


My deck guy worked for about an hour yesterday (he has a day job) and will be back tomorrow (Wednesday). He says he wants to have the new deck finished by Friday 😂 because, on Saturday his whole family is going on a one-week vacation 🙁. He's going to have to work quite hard to finish by Friday. I'm going to ask him to ensure that I'm not trapped in my house - that I can actually get out in the back yard without having to go through an obstacle course - if he's not done by Friday. Also, I'm not going to speak to him much because he likes to talk, and he stops working when he's talking.

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~Sue~

Egad, if I didn't know better it looked like the place was becoming a swamp.

I hope you can get this drainage problem solved.

I'm glad a new shed and deck are going in, chickens or not.

Nice pics.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I read "French drains get blocked up" as "It's hard work digging those trenched for French drains so I'll use the 'they get blocked up' excuse not to do the job"

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I read "French drains get blocked up" as "It's hard work digging those trenches for French drains so I'll use the 'they get blocked up' excuse not to do the job."

Not at all. The guys who put in the French drains are eager to do so. I'm sure they know the drains get clogged, but they're not going to say anything about that to a potential customer. And it's the plumbers who get the job of clearing the drains when they get blocked up. The plumbers are not the guys installing the drains.

Not only are the French drain installers eager to work, they offered me about $1,000 off the original price when I told them I'd reconsidered.

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~Sue~

Egad, if I didn't know better it looked like the place was becoming a swamp.

I hope you can get this drainage problem solved.

I'm glad a new shed and deck are going in, chickens or not.

Nice pics.

When the area was developed for building homes, a culvert was supposed to be dug along the backyards down to a small creek at the end of the block. There was even an area approx. 5' wide designated for that culvert. It was never built. Because of that, all the backyards down to the creek flood when it rains heavily. Years ago the city disavowed any knowledge or responsibility. The person who owned the house before me tried to organize the neighbors to dig the culvert and split the price, but of course no one wanted to spend the money. A few of the neighbors have found ways to deal with it. Others, like me, just "deal with it." :-D

I was planning the French drain because I'd heard so much about them being helpful with flooding problems. When I got the money, I decided to go ahead with one. It was only then that I found out about the problems with clogging.

But I have a new plan that will help me deal with the rainwater. No more flooding. I'm not sure exactly what it will look like, but it will involve a trench and a water pump.

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~Sue~

I read "French drains get blocked up" as "It's hard work digging those trenches for French drains so I'll use the 'they get blocked up' excuse not to do the job."

Not at all. The guys who put in the French drains are eager to do so. I'm sure they know the drains get clogged, but they're not going to say anything about that to a potential customer. And it's the plumbers who get the job of clearing the drains when they get blocked up. The plumbers are not the guys installing the drains.

Not only are the French drain installers eager to work, they offered me about $1,000 off the original price when I told them I'd reconsidered.

Good for you.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

An aggregate or "French" drain will only block if it hasn't been constructed with the rock surrounded by a water permeable membrane to keep the soil out of it Suzie.

Cheers.

It doesn't matter what sort of drain you have, if the water has nowhere to go.
First order of business would be some sort of drain to the creek, otherwise it'd be a case of doing what the Dutch did- build walls to keep the water from out side, outside, and pumps to remove any water from your block.

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Grant
Darwin NT

An aggregate or "French" drain will only block if it hasn't been constructed with the rock surrounded by a water permeable membrane to keep the soil out of it Suzie.

Cheers.

I've always known how it was built had something to do with the clogging, but how does one know if your contractor will do it right? And how do I know if even the best-constructed French drains won't eventually clog? Of course the contractor's going to say he does it right, but is he being honest?

I've heard a lot about French drains. I've seen them built on TV shows and I've researched them online. Until recently no one has mentioned the clogging problem. It's just very difficult to commit to something - anything - if you don't really know much about it. You have to trust your contractor.

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~Sue~