Hiring someone to work on your home involves more than comparing prices.
You may be giving a contractor access to your home, garage, belongings, rental property, or even a vacant property when nobody else is there. Whether the project is a small repair or several days of work, it makes sense to know something about the person you're letting through the door.
Here are five questions worth asking before you hire.
1. Are you properly licensed, bonded, and insured?
Start with the basics.
If the work requires a contractor registration or license in your state or municipality, ask for it. A legitimate contractor shouldn't be uncomfortable with you verifying their credentials.
Insurance and bonding matter too. They aren't guarantees that every project will go perfectly, but they are part of operating responsibly and give homeowners another layer of protection.
Don't be afraid to verify instead of simply taking someone's word for it.
2. Who is actually coming into my home?
This gets overlooked.
You may have a great conversation with the person who gives you an estimate—but is that the person who will actually perform the work?
Ask whether the contractor uses employees, subcontractors, helpers, or some combination. If other people will be entering your property, it's reasonable to know who they are and who is responsible for supervising the job.
This matters even more when you're giving someone access while you're at work, out of town, or managing a vacant property.
3. Can you show me real work you've completed?
Pictures tell you a lot.
Look for actual projects—not just stock photography. Before-and-after pictures are helpful when available, but photographs of completed repairs, work in progress, and finished details can also give you a sense of someone's workmanship and experience.
At Pioneer Builders Group, we're increasingly documenting our own projects for exactly this reason. Homeowners shouldn't have to rely only on what a contractor says he can do.
4. How will we communicate?
Many contractor problems aren't really construction problems. They're communication problems.
Who schedules the work? Who calls if something changes? What happens if additional damage is discovered after something is opened up? Will you know before additional work is performed?
A contractor doesn't need a complicated corporate system, but you should have a reasonably clear idea of how the project will be handled.
Good communication is part of good workmanship.
5. What do I know about the person I'm trusting with my property?
This one goes beyond tools and technical ability.
Experience matters. Character matters. Professional history matters.
At Pioneer Builders Group, owner Frank Martinez brings decades of hands-on construction and carpentry experience and approximately eight years of experience as a Washington real estate broker.
Real estate work brings its own responsibilities around people's homes and property—coordinating access, working around occupied and vacant homes, communicating with owners and other professionals, and understanding how repair decisions can affect a property's condition and presentation.
That experience doesn't mean homeowners should simply take our word for everything either.
Check us out. Ask questions. Verify credentials. Look at our work.
We think that's how hiring a contractor should work.
A good contractor shouldn't mind good questions.
Price matters, but the lowest number on an estimate doesn't tell you who you're allowing into your home.
Before hiring someone, spend a few minutes checking the business, asking who will perform the work, looking at completed projects, and understanding how communication will work.
Those few questions can tell you quite a bit about who you're dealing with.
If you have a repair or project coming up, you are welcome to look through our completed work and ask us these same questions.
Licensed · Bonded · Insured