Trust a Builder

This is a special column about trust. It was inspired by no less than three emails and one phone call I had with visitors to my AsktheBuilder.com website and this column that appears in your paper.

Lynn, who is building a new home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now wringing her hands each day wondering if her new home is going to be her dream home or become a hellish nightmare. The trust she placed in here builder dissolved in a matter of moments on the first day of the job when the excavator dug the hole for her slab too deep.

The builder goofed up and dug too deep. This early mistake dissolved Lynn Adam’s trust in his abilities. Photo Credit: Lynn Adams

“We worked all our lives for this house,” she told me. Can you imagine being in this situation? When you have hundreds of thousands of dollars hanging in the balance and not much time to play catch-up baseball, it has to be exceedingly stressful.

Dorina and her ailing husband love to sit outdoors in the fresh air at their Pennsylvania home. They hired a contractor to install a new septic tank. Once he completed the work, the odor outdoors was unbearable. They no longer could invite friends over to spend time sitting on the patio.

The contractor promised he’d provide valuable paperwork about the new installation so when it came time to sell their home, they could prove the tank was the right size and all work was done correctly. Dorina is still waiting for the paperwork.

Lee just contacted me overnight from Baltimore. He hired a contractor to install a stunning marble floor in a bathroom. The contractor installed a cracked piece of marble and when Lee requested it be replaced, they got into an argument.

The contractor finally relented, took out a hammer and shattered the cracked tile. But in the process he cracked adjacent pieces of marble. I could go on, but I feel you have all you need to know about this situation.

Because of my syndicated column and website, I’m in a unique position. I’m one of the funnels through which many contractor / homeowner horror stories pass through. Unfortunately, I’m observing a disturbing trend of more and more people losing vast sums of money each day because they trusted the job would get done right. The homeowners hoped everything would work out okay.

It’s time for some tough love and I beg that you consider what I’m about to share. As with many things in life, the great things just don’t come to you. You generally have to work for them. You have to put in the time. You have to put in effort to get the reward.

The same is true when it comes to hiring a contractor. I want you to stop trusting that a contractor will do what he says he’ll do. I want you to never hope that your job is going to turn out right. Hope is the emotion of last resort. You hope for things when you can’t control the outcome.

You can control the outcome of your job. Lynn, Dorina and Lee could have all selected contractors that would put a smile on their faces each day when they reviewed the work.

Here’s the CliffsNotes version of how to spot a possible shady or unethical contractor:

• He waffles about putting things in writing in the contract.
• He asks for lots of money up front even though he doesn’t pay his workers, suppliers or anyone else in advance.
• He plays the scarcity card with an offer that’s only good if you sign NOW.

Here’s how to spot an ethical and professional contractor:

• He gladly puts every aspect of the work in writing because he wants you to know what you’re getting.
• He only asks for money up front if he needs to order special-order, non-returnable items. He’s got good credit and he has plenty of money in his business account to float your job for weeks at a time.
• He doesn’t pressure you to sign a contract because he usually has a backlog of work for months.

Remember the time I talked about that you need to invest? Here’s what I was talking about. For starters, you need to create your own description or specifications before you ever invite a contractor over to your home. You need to know what items you’re going to have installed. You then read the written installation instructions so you know exactly how the job needs to be done to preserve the warranty.

You need to write down all the items you want used including the manufacturer and model number. Why? This prevents a contractor coming to you after the job has started with his sob story that he had no idea it was going to take so much time to do something. Too bad, so sad. It was his job to read your simple job description.

Realize that trust needs to be earned. The contractor needs to prove to you that he can be trusted. What’s that old saying? Actions speak louder than words.

Don’t be lulled by any Jedi mind tricks that flow from a slick contractor’s mouth. Be brave instead and do your due diligence before your doorbell rings.

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