I got a call today from a homeowner looking for some guidance on a problem with product they bought from a wholesaler that was installed by their contractor. The homeowner bought a whirlpool tub that was installed into a custom base and then the plumber installed the drains and other items neccessary. The rough wiring was installed. The tile was installed around the perimeter, the faucets were installed and the last item to wrap  up was the final electrical connections. When the electrical was connected there was a problem with the motor and factory wiring of the unit. Turns out the motor and wiring would not work and was defective.

The homeowner asked the contractor to fix the problem. The contractor said it will cost  more money to fix it because the homeowner supplied a defective product.  The homeowner told the contractor that was not acceptable and an argument ensued. The contractor said if you paid me to supply the product I would have to fix it for free but since you (the homeowner) supplied it you are responsible to pay me to remove and reinstall it, replumb it and rewire it or you can have the wholesale supplier pay for the repairs.

The homeowner called the wholesale supplier who said it must be the contractor who broke it. Sounds like alot of finger pointing going on here.

If a homeowner wants to save money and supply products to be installed by a contractor most contractors will not warranty products they did not supply for the job. A contractor who supplies material and labor has to back them up for a one year period. The amount for carrying this risk is the small difference between the contractor price and the homeowner price. Usually the savings are only 10 to 20% of the cost of the unit.

If you are going to supply products to be installed by a contractor make sure you know the risks associated with supplying those products. Who will be responsible if the product is defective? Sometimes the savings you get buying wholesale may not be worth it if you receive a defective product. The cost to repair this item will be more than 10 times the savings the homeowner received buying the unit wholesale. Was it worth it?

Mark 

You have been thinking of remodeling your kitchen or bath and now you are ready to take the plunge into the world of remodeling. Like most homeowners you search through magazines for ideas, you watch HGTV, and you visit the many showrooms to see the thousands of options available. So now you search for a contractor with one eye shut hoping to avoid the pitfalls of finding the wrong company and becoming a headline contractor nightmare story on the evening news. So where do you start? What questions do you ask your potential contractor to prevent this from happening?

In our seminars we discussed many powerful ideas that can help homeowners become knowledgeable in this area.
Three mandatory questions to ask your contractor:

1. Can I visit your place of business?
Successful contractors will be happy to show their potential customer their place of business. It shows that you are careful and prudent. Seeing a contractor’s office and shop will tell you how substantial the company is. Look for eqipment that will signify that the contractor is in the business full time. Is the shop neat and organized? Are the office staff and employees pleasant and professional? Does it look like a contractor who is experience in the doing the types of jobs that you need done?

2. Can I see proof or your insurance?
Hiring uninsured or under-insured contractors can expose you to thousands of dollars of risk. Do not take this matter lightly. Make sure you see the proof of liabilty and workmen’s compensation coverage. During our seminars some homeowners said they were given copies of car insurance coverage when they asked to see a policy. Some said they were shown policies with lapsed expiration dates and dates altered with whiteout. Contractor’s pay alot of money for insurance and are happy to provide you with verification that they have it. Professional contractors’ know that the majority of low bid contractors don’t carry the right insurance if they have any at all. This is by far the largest reason why some contractors are half the cost of professional companies. The action to take is call the agent who provided the policy to confirm its coverage and authenticty. You can also be named an additional insured on the Accord form. This will insure that you will be notified if a policy lapses for non payment. This subject will be discussed further in future posts.

3. Can I see a project similar to the one you are doing?
If you are doing a major remodel or addition you may not want a handyman. Ask to see projects similar to the one you are doing. A professional remodeler will be happy to help you confirm that he can handle your project by showing his work. You also will be able to guage the competence of the remodeler by talking to the homeowner.

There are many more questions to ask your potential remodeling contractor which I will share in coming posts. Remember the best protection from a bad contractor experience is self education.

I just sent out my first newsletter. It’s a companion to my blog. Unfortunately, not everyone I know reads my blog every week, so I plan to send out a monthly newsletter which highlights my blog posts and invites people to networking events I am attending. So, if you don’t read blogs via RSS feeds and want to be reminded to read my blog on a monthly basis, you can sign up over here.

On March 10th and 11th, I presented a series of seminars on How to Hire a Contractor at the DCU Center Spring Home Show. There were four seminars on Hiring Contractors and three on Design/Build remodeling. All but one was well attended. The How to Hire Seminar included a panel of consumer experts who volunteered their time to answer questions about their experience with consumer complaints from homeowners who had bad contractor experiences.

Our goal was to help homeowners acquire the knowledge they need to qualify contractors before they are hired to perform home improvements. Feedback was very positive.

Our guests were extremely wary of making the wrong choice when hiring a contractor. Their main concern was how to avoid becoming the victim of the nightmare contractor. The guests asked many questions and appeared determined to educate themselves with the tools neccessary to prevent a bad contractor experience.

According to government statistics, available at the Consumer Federation of America website, home improvement contractors are the most complained about industry in the nation. They outrank automobile salesman, and credit and lending complaints. From 1999 to 2004 home improvement contractors had the top ranking for three of the five years.

The panel of experts included a representative from the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General’s Office, a consumer advocate and a litigation attorney. The homeowners asked questions about insurance, licensing, contractor registration, recourse, permitting, contracts and payment terms. The consistent nature of the questions gravitated around what can one do to avoid hiring the bad contractor.

A few suggestions from the panel of consumer advocates:

• The attorney stated that if he was brought in to represent a homeowner he may win the case but any award would soon be followed by bankruptcy of the contractor. His fee would be paid but more often than not there will be no funds available to pay the award to the homeowner. He suggested do your homework.
• The District Attorney stated there is only enough resources in their fund to prosecute 2-3% of the bad contractors discovered bilking homeowners. He suggested hire a registered and established firm.
• The Consumer Advocate volunteer said the only defense in avoiding a nightmare contractor experience is self education.
• The Better Business Bureau suggested check for complaints with public bureaus and obtain references.
• The consensus of the panel was that homeowners should do everything possible to check out their contractor by doing their homework. If you are the victim of an unscrupulous contractor, chances of recovering lost money is slim to none.

Allthough, there is no sure fire way to prevent bad contractor experiences, it makes sense that consumer education is the first line of defense for homeowners. In my next blog I will share tips on what questions a homeowner should ask when interviewing a contractor.

Last week, Channel 5’s Susan Wornick reported on the hundreds of homeowners who have lodged complaints against Home Depot. She alleged that hundreds of home inprovement projects ordered from Home Depot were poorly installed and had numerous defects. In the news interview, a former Home Depot subcontractor stated that he was told to say he was a Home Depot contractor. When, in reality he was an independent contractor. He went on to say that the project manager couldn’t manage the jobs assigned to him.

In former posts, I spoke about the fact that contractors have the worst reputation in the country of any industry. This news only cements the reputation of contractors providing poor service to homeowners. Who can you trust?

Large retail stores and lumber yards are quickly getting into the installed sales business. This dilemma presents a huge challenge for homeowners all across the country since retail stores don’t have the expertise and experience to work in the remodeling business. The remodeling business will do over 250 billion dollars in business this year. Since this is an attractive growth opportunity for home improvement retailers, I imagine we will see more complaints as retailers try to get a piece of the ‘remodeling business’ pie.

I predict that homeowners will be complaining in droves about the poor service and craftmanship from home improvements ordered through retail stores. I once heard from a wise old man that you can’t be everything to everybody. Maybe the retail giants should do what they do best, sell retail.

Wow! Whizspark has done it again. Pete Caputa has found a way to put butts in seats and generate lots of activity at his events. The Art/Wine Networking event at the DCU Business Expo was outstanding. I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet so many movers and shakers in one day. I am finding that networking is helping me become more visible as well as generating high quality business opportunities. The Art/Wine events insure many contacts can be made in a short period of time. I cannot wait for the next one.

You are a homeowner who wants to remodel your home to accommadate your growing family. You need more space for the baby toys overtaking your house. Your kitchen is too small to store all your stuff and entertaining more than 4 people is a major undertaking. Your kids take over the bathroom for hours and your late for work more than usual. Your builder grade deck is so small the patio furniture takes up the whole thing.

So now you see some remodel show on HGTV or an episode of This Old House and you come to the conclusion you need to improve your home. You want a larger more functional space to handle your family’s growing needs. So where do you start?

The Old Way: The Architect Approach
The old way to remodel was to hire an architect or designer to discuss your needs and come up with the concepts to meet them. Then they would draw your solutions and develop a scope of work resulting in a set of plans and specifications. Then you, the homeowner, would seek out contractors to price the plans and specifications. Often, the contractor pricing is over the budget set aside for the project. You question the contractor that his price is to high. The contractor asks did you tell the architect to design within a budget? The architect says I just drew what you wanted. Now you have plans that cost thousands of dollars and you can’t afford to build the project. So you don’t want to lose your investment and you look for more contractors until you find one who is closer to your budget and you hire him. You know in your gut that the higher priced guy was more professional but you succumb to the pressure of not losing your investment and you hope the lower priced guy will perform good enough. So you either hire the low price guy and pray or you throw away the plans and thousands of dollars.
This old process, still used by some today, often leads to finger pointing between the architect and the contractor. When proposed plans are put together without the constraints of the available budget it always leads to disputes between the designer and the contractor. You, the homeowne,r become the mediator and the guy in the middle who can’t win. In addition, the contractor has questions on the plans and aks for clarification from the architect and when an impasse develops, you become the facilitator.

The New Way: The DESIGN/BUILD PROCESS.
The design/build process joins the world of architecture and construction under one roof. This insures that one firm will be responsible for all facets of the project from concept to completion. A professional remodeling firm who has adopted this process knows that all projects must be designed to meet both the needs and budget of the client. The project must be designed to acceptable standards consistent with industry standards and current trends and styles that consumers are expecting. Also, the design must be consistent with the architecture of the existing home. A great remodel is one that looks like it was always there.

Remodeling projects require serious planning and many overlapping decisions between the designer and the contractor. There are so many choices in today’s world due to the availabilty of information on the internet and tv. The Design/Build process provides SINGLE SOURCE ACCOUNTIBILITY and insures that all aspects of architecture and construction are reviewed under one roof.

This process removes the homeowner as mediator or facilitator. A design/build firm must design within the budget parameters or they will never be allowed to build the project or receive referrals from you. The process is seamless and insures smooth transition from design to construction. The carpenter who works for the design/build firm will be familiar with the design because he works for the same company. There is no finger pointing. Experts familiar with the remodeling industry estimate that over 70% of all projects designed in America never get built! If you don’t want to be stuck with expensive architecture plans that never get built, you should find a contractor that follows the design/build process.

I have known Rick Roberge for over 25 years and I am amazed that sales training from Rick 25 years ago, is still helping me succeed today. He has slowly teased me in the past few months that I could probably be the author of a blog and that I have a lot to offer based on my many years of experience in the remodeling industry. Somehow he knew what to say at the right time to slowly churn the fire within me to a point where the only obvious action was to begin my blogging experience. Yesterday he invited me and made it easy for me to do the only thing that made sense. Act!!!!

I originally posted this blog on Rick’s blog. I am now posting it on mine. Thanks to Rick for the encouragement to make this happen.

For years, a fire has been burning inside me to speak about the subject of homeowners who have had the unfortunate experience of hiring the wrong contractor to work on their home. Week after week I have witnessed remodeling and home improvement projects done poorly by contractors. Homeowner after homeowner experienced shoddy workmanship, unfinished jobs, money taken with no work completed, the wrong materials used for the job and three month projects taking a year to complete. Is it any wonder that homeowners have developed a mistrust of contractors? In a recent government report consumers rated contractors as the most complaint ridden industry in the country! Worse than used car dealers!

The purpose of my blog will be to create a forum for homeowners to talk about how to prevent a bad contractor experience. My hope is that this forum will help homeowners become educated and informed on the importance of hiring the right contractor for their home improvement projects.

I look forward to the challenge ahead. If this endeavor saves one homeowner from experiencing a contractor nightmare, the time invested will be well worth the effort. I welcome any feedback or ideas for topics to discuss from our readers.

In addition to thanking Rick Roberge for this opportunity, I would like to thank the amazing Pete Caputa for his support and help regarding the blog concept. Pete has begun to blossom under the tutelage of Rick Roberge, just as I did over 25 years ago.

Well for now, my first post has been cast and I am excited about the new horizons that lie ahead.

Do you know anyone who has had a nightmare contractor experience? Maybe yourself, a friend, relative or neighbor? Since 2001 according to statistics provided by the Federal Trade Commission and various consumer protection groups, home improvement contractors and the remodeling industry are responsible for the most complaints from consumers. Home improvement contractors are responsible for more complaints than used car salesman and mortgage brokers.

In a recent survey by Qualified Remodeler Magazine hundreds of homeowners surveyed said that they would never refer or use their contractor again. The most common complaints were poor communication, poor craftsmanship, delayed projects, dirty jobs, unmet expectations. Can you blame the homeowner for not trusting the contractor? Of course not. I have been a Design/build remodeling expert for 15 years and I have lost count of the amount of homeowners I met who have been the victim of a poor contracting job. As I launch my own blog I am astounded by the amount of ill-will that consumers have toward contractors. It seems almost every week there is another contractor nightmare story in the newspaper or on the news.

• How can this change?
• How can homeowners protect themselves?
• Why are contractors so poor at servicing the consumer?
• Why are our elected officials allowing this to go on?
• What are contractors doing about it?
• What questions should a homeowner ask before hiring a contractor?

The Stigma of the Industry
When I meet a homeowner who has been referred I usually have no trouble gaining their trust and confidence. However, when I meet a homeowner who does not know me through referral I find that I have to overcome the stigma of the poor performance of my industry before I can professionally service the customer. There are fine reputable contractors who have to bear the sins of the fly by night outfits. Many times homeowners are so guarded that their distrust of contractors in general causes the good contractor to lose interest in their job.
When this happens, homeowners end up with the less quality outfit. This leads to more bad contractor experiences.

Industry experts state that 90% of contracting businesses fail in the first five years. The reasons are many but it is clear that homeowners are at a distinct disadvantage when hiring a contractor. Only one in 10 contracting businesses make it. So how do you prevent a contractor night mare?

These are the topics I will talk about on my blog. I believe that the home improvement industry must do better by educating their employees to treat homeowners properly. I believe in 100% customer satisfaction.
Contractors must become better sales people and listen and serve the customer. The customer was not born with a construction manual in his or her head so the contractor must educate the homeowner. An educated and properly informed consumer will gladly hire the professional contractor. Education is the key to a healthier relationship between homeowners and contractors. Once contractors adopt a 100% customer satisfaction attitude then they will see less complaints against the home improvement industry and then used car salesman can regain their position as the most complained about industry again!

I welcome and encourage any feedback regarding this. If you have an idea or topic you would like to discuss please contact me.

Well today begins my journey into the world of blogging. I am thankful for the coaching and encouragement ofRick Roberge and Pete Caputa for helping me see the possibilities of blogging.

MY MISSION AND PURPOSE
To educate consumers and homeowners on the subject of how to hire a professional contractor so that they do not become the victim of unscrupulous contractors. Through education, homeowners can arm themselves with the information they need to prevent becoming a contractor nightmare story. This education process will force poor quality firms to improve or go out of business.

I hope this venue will become a great forum to teach homeowners that there are sure fire ways to hire the right contractor to do work on their homes.

I also hope this venue will be frequented by contractors who share the same concern as I that contractors need to do a better job in policing the industry against Johnny Hook & Ladder.

In the past 5 years Consumer Protection Groups logged the most common complaints in America and found that Home Improvement is the most complained about industry in the country. Just imagine that contractors have a worse reputation than used car salesman.

This blog will focus on issues concerning what homeowners can do to prevent becoming a contractor nightmare. I look forward to your participation and ideas. In addition, I hope contractors who are concerned about the Stigma of the home improvemnt industry will offer their ideas and comments.

If this endeavor prevents one homeowner/contractor nightmare story it will prove to be well worth the effort. I look forward to hearing from you.