Hiring an independent contractor to help you with home improvements has pros and cons.
You can save money by avoiding hiring a general contractor but then, when working with an independent contractor, you can end up with low quality work or someone who has abandoned the job halfway through. If the independent contractor hasn’t lived up to what they said they would do, you can end up spending more on a job than hiring a general contractor.
How Can You Find Quality Sub-Contractors? – There are starting to be resources online that can help you find reputable contractors. Google maps sometimes has reviews about businesses there. Those are difficult to depend on though, but they can be easily fabricated. Ask around with friends or try calling other businesses to see what independent contractors they have used in the past.
Learn About The Project Yourself – The more you know about what a project entails the better able you will be to analyze the bids you receive.
Learn about the project online and see what the job will require. Price out some of the materials at your local hardware store. That way when the contractor is giving you a bid you will have an idea of how realistic his bid is and how long it will take.
Get Multiple Bids – Make sure you have at least 5 different independent contractors bid on your project. The more quotes you have the more likely you are to pick someone who is reputable, honest and inexpensive.
Ask For References – Make sure you contact references from the contractor of people they have worked with before.