Ten Crucial Points
Ten Crucial Points you should insist on from your landscape contractor
1. First Impression: Throughout our lives we are told that our gut instinct is always right. So, what exactly is that “gut instinct” when it comes to choosing a contractor? It’s your first impression. Was your contractor on time? Was he/she easy to get into contact with? Does he/she seem interested and make eye contact with you? Could your questions be answered successfully? What about professionalism? What is the general impression that you get from meeting your contractor that first time? The answers to these questions will be key indicators on both the quality of work that you should expect from the company’s representative that you are meeting with, as well as the overall relationship that you should expect to have with said contractor/company.
2. Follow-Up & Follow Through: Once the project has begun, do feel like the company is providing the service(s) that they promised? Look at recommendations provided by existing customers. Also, does the contractor/company attend to your needs and requests after the “larger” job is finished? Quality companies will return for smaller/additional requests many years later; no matter how small the job is or how busy they may be. Once you are a customer you should always be considered a customer.
3. Quality Work: It goes without saying you must insist upon the best company when hiring a contractor to work at your home. This requires finding the company who will use the best methods, take the appropriate amount of time to properly complete the job, use the best material and employ the most skillful, experienced and qualified staff. A quality company takes the long view and wants your project to look great many, many years after the work has been completed, not provide cheaper “quick fixes” just for the sake of selling you work.
4. Ask for References: Ask for names and addresses of at least 3 to 5 past customers and take the time to call or visit them. Happy customers typically like to share their great experience with you. Visually looking at a past jobsite will allow you to see first-hand what the contractor’s work looks like. If a contractor gives you a small number of references and those references only have “mostly” good things to say — what does that say if these are their “best” references? It could be a relative or friend they ask to say good things about them.
5. Pricing: Quality companies must carry and maintain multiple insurance policies of a certain monetary value based upon the type of service(s) offered, employ skilled staff and maintain such a staff through benefit packages and continued training, and provide quality materials and the appropriate amount of time to perform the job properly. If a price is more than 15% to 30% less than proven reputable companies — what might those other companies be missing in completing their work for you?
6. Ask for an Agreement in Writing: Insist on a detailed agreement of the proposed work in writing. Agreements, or contracts, help to complete the objective stage that has already been set for a great contractor-customer relationship. Agreements should spell out how the work is to be performed, from start to finish. For example, if an agreement does not tell you how deep the base of a new patio or walkway will be — what do you have to refer to if the base is only 4 or 5 inches deep and it should be 10-20 inches? Quality companies will give you very detailed agreements so there is little room for “interpretation”.
7. Time Frame Before They Can Start Work: If a contractor can start your project right away (especially during the busy season) why is that? Reputable companies quite often have a backlog of work because they do good work and many people request their services.
8. Length of time in business: Statistics state that approximately 95% of all contractors fail in the first five years. 90% of those that are left may fail in the next five years. So, what happens if your best “first impression” company has only been in business for four years? Well, keep these items in mind: companies who are very young and/or deeply in debt may tend to make decisions based on such a situation. Will may rush through the job, cut corners, or use substandard materials to save money? This is where your list of references will come in handy. You should choose a company that has been in business for at least five years or more, or a company that is owned and operated by someone who has been in said area of expertise for at least five to ten years.
9. Insured or Insured Properly: Many contractors lack any insurance or adequate insurance. Insist on copies of updated General Liability, Workman’s Compensation and Auto policies. If a contractor has no, or inadequate, insurance coverage and gets injured or has an accident while on your property — who then becomes responsible?
10. Additional Items to Consider: How experienced, trained and/or educated is your contractor? Do they hold a degree and/or have advanced training or experience within their field? The addition of formal training is important too. Would you go to see a doctor who never went to medical school, but was a self proclaimed doctor? So why would you hire a contractor to work at your home who was never educated within the scope of his/her field?
