Six things every woman should know before hiring a contractor

The last several years have been as much about life repairs as about home repairs and most of the work I’ve done around here has taught me a lot about who I am and what I am capable of. I haven’t posted about my kitchen remodel yet, because honestly, it’s more than a year out and it’s still not really done. Some of the reasons are because of me. I haven’t called the tile guy yet to do my backsplash, I haven’t made my roman shades even though I bought the fabric for a winter project (it’s June), I still need a pantry installed and am too afraid to call my cabinet installer.

But also, there were quite a few things left unfinished by the contractor I hired, and I am just getting around to facing them. So today, I decided to caulk around these places where he didn’t finish the job and do the trim painting he didn’t do. My caulking skills are rusty–mostly because the beautiful carpenter did all that for me for a few years and now I am doing it myself again. (You’ll have to buy the book if you want that story.)

But I remembered after a few messy attempts to always keep slow, steady pressure on the trigger of the caulk gun and keep the tube pointed up with the cut edge angle away from the direction I’m going.

It’s not perfect, but I gave up my perfectionism a long time ago. It’s good enough to sand down a little and paint, so I can finally make the blinds so my neighbors can’t see everything I am doing in my kitchen. (Though since the beautiful carpenter left, it’s not that interesting).

Here are few of the most recent things I learned about life and hiring a contractor.

Get EVERYTHING in writing. I know everyone says to get everything in writing, but I’m telling you, we mean EVERYTHING so you don’t have to hire an attorney like I did (though he was awesome and I’ll write more about him below). I thought I was doing it right. I hired a friend of a friend and got an estimate. His estimate was vague, to say the least, so I added some specifics to it before he signed it, one of which he crossed out. When I pointed out the things I wrote in, he said, “Oh, well, I can’t put everything in there.” Yes they can, and they should.

NEVER hire a friend or even a friend of a friend. I have never liked to mix friends and money or family and money. And I didn’t think I was doing that, but now I will never mix acquaintances and money either. This guy bugged out on finishing the job, then waited six weeks to invoice me, then harassed me for immediate payment. I finally blocked his phone number and only corresponded with him via email. Then he then didn’t cash my final check for four months, obviously hoping it would bounce and he could try to sue me. And now, my friend, who is his friend won’t talk to me.
You don’t have to LOVE your contractor (though I have fallen in love with one or two), but when a middle-aged white guy says things in June like, “Why don’t I get a parade?” you know the romance is definitely over and by all means, you don’t have to be friendly anymore. It’s okay to just stick to business and await the day you never have to talk to him again.
Hire a contractor who doesn’t ask if you need to “TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR HUSBAND.” Big red flag right away. In all honestly, my contractor already knew I didn’t have one of those, but it became increasingly clear that he did not respect me. I asked him not to knock on the door or walk into my home office (I was working in there.), to communicate via a note pad I provided if we missed each other, or text me if he needed something when I was working. He repeatedly crossed those boundaries until I locked my office door and refused to answer him when he yelled out for me when he had a question. He learned to text me instead until one day when one of his guys needed a bandage and he yelled out my name to come administer first aid. It was embarrassing for both me and the guy.
Hire someone who has some RESPECT. It’s hard to know ahead of time if they will respect you, your home, or your boundaries but here are a few things I learned to look for (but found out the hard way):

The first time you meet, do they show respect for your home by wearing shoe covers or at least asking if you want them to?

- Does the description of work include bringing in plastic-zippered-barriers to keep the dust out of the rest of your home? It most definitely should.
- Do they plan to cover existing flooring in the area and any new flooring with runners or Ram Board to protect it from ladder scuffs, paint drips, dirty boots, etc.? Again, if they don’t say this upfront make sure it’s clear you want this or you could find chips on your new tile or dents on your vinyl plank from a dropped hammer.
- How often do they haul away junk and do they clean up after themselves daily? This includes fast food wrappers and cups, sawdust in your garage or on your patio, and nails in your driveway. Yes, I found all these things. (Take a look below at what they left in my garage on the last day.) A good idea is to ask them if they have a magnetic nail sweep to check for nails and screws that might have gotten left behind.
- What is the communication plan? How will you know when they will or won’t be there? Like I said, I thought a notepad was a good way for us to communicate on days we didn’t talk face to face. Apparently he didn’t because I was the only one who ever wrote on it. I know they are sometimes juggling two or more jobs and there can be delays, but I had many days, sometime as many as four in a row, where they simply didn’t show up. No call. No text. No explanation. I learned to text them if no one showed up by 9:00 and ask for a date they expected to return. Texts are a good way to communicate so you both have them to refer back to.
Get CHANGE ORDERS for anything out of scope or that differs from the original contract, including additional costs, if there are any. Truthfully, this protects both you and the contractor. I can’t tell you how many times mine would ask, “Do you want this? Do you want me to do such-and-such?” and then forgot. This is why I still have 200 feet of trim in my garage and uncaulked and unpainted window and door frames. He even bought the trim paint and it was in the original contract, but he never returned, then tried to charge me for the paint and the work, plus some other things.

After he looked over mine, first he told me, 30 days is standard to expect payment even for an invoice that’s not being disputed. So I was correct to block him from calling me at 7am. Then he told me that technically I only owed him what was in the original contract because there were no change orders. Now, I know what I agreed on, so I paid him everything in the original contract and anything for additional work and supplies, minus the cost of some plumbing that needs to be reinstalled and the amount I have to pay someone to finish the floor trims. And for a bonus, I got damage to my gas range and all this to clean up haul away:

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