I had fun speaking with a friend last night about her plans to renovate her house. She is at the early stages of the planning process and has the benefit of not having the time pressure like we have. Here are the top three tips I had for her about picking a contractor:
(1) Read Mike Holmes "Making it Right." This will help with learning about the different elements of a house (plumbing, electrical, remodelling) and the book gives you specific advice about hiring a contractor.
(2) Be prepared to not have things happen right away. The most popular contractors don't call you back instantly when you show interest in them as right now a lot of people are calling with home renovation plans. When you call, tell them more than "yellow pages or the web" when you indicate how you learned about the company so that they will call you back faster. Also, good contractors won't have crews available to start right away so build this in to your plans. More importantly, it takes time to put together a design and scoping document.
(3) Think about how you want things to happen. You can do the design part separately and then worry about finding a contractor or go with a design-build option. There are benefits to both. Also, there is a big difference between the contractor that is going to fit you in when they have time versus a company that is going to be there every day until the job is done. Another factor is what you think you are going to be able to do yourself. All options have their merits so it is good to consider this before you start.
Good luck!
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