Choosing the Right Concrete Contractor: How Is It Important?
You’re probably reading this article because you’re facing the decision of hiring a contractor for your project. If this is your first time hiring a concrete contractor, you may be wondering what to look out for and what to factor into your decision.
Should you prioritize cost or experience? Should you choose a big company or a smaller grassroots crew? Should you trust a company you just found or a contractor like cincinnaticoncreteartisans.com with a good reputation? These are important questions we want to help answer.
In this article, we tackle the process of choosing the right concrete contractor and why it is important to take your time making the decision. So keep reading for our top hiring tips!
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How to Choose the Right Concrete Contractor
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Hiring the right contractor every time, whether or not it is for a concrete project, can be done by following our five tips which can be helpfully remembered with the acronym CORR (Crew, Organization, Reviews, Rate.)
Foundation
Many homeowners with foundation problems want to see foundation repair methods compared. During their research on foundation repair, they come across numerous methods and products, leaving them unsure which route is best. So before hiring a foundation repair company, consider learning more about – Foundation repair methods.
Crew
The first thing you need to assess when you start comparing contractors is the people who work at the company. These are the people who will be in charge of your project and who you will be dealing with on a near-daily basis. You need to choose the right crew.
Make sure you can get them on the phone – don’t rely on email communication. Ask them questions about the project and about their company (as many as possible) and pay attention to how they respond.
Are they polite and eager to help? Do they get impatient quickly? Are they on permanent salesman mode when you call instead of providing reasonable explanations? Are they professional on the phone? Can they satisfactorily answer your questions?
You should be able to soon get a sense of what kind of people work at this company and whether they will be easy to work with and receptive to questions and ideas. If you want to look even further into the crew, look at their website to find out what kind of qualifications and experience crew members have.
Look through reviews of the company https://concretecontractorsaltlakecity.com and try to find parts of reviews that specifically talk about crew. All these things together should be able to tell you what kind of crew a concrete contractor company has.
Organization
Completing any concrete project is not an easy task, which is why we generally rely on professionals to get the job done. That’s why you have to quiz your potential hires on how organized their process is. Remember that contractors are in charge of many things besides the actual work like drawing up contracts and following schedules.
When you get a chance to talk to each potential contractor, ask them questions that could indicate the level of the organization their company has: for example, do they have a process for the particular work you want to be done?
Will they be in charge of handling all construction permits? Is there a dispute resolution process? Do they have a contact person who you can contact?
These questions should be easily answered by an organized and efficient contractor. If they start to stumble over these very basic questions, that could spell trouble for the work they produce.
Rate
While we can definitely say that rate or cost is not the most important thing to consider (which we will explain), it should certainly still be a factor in your decision.
We don’t like to put too much emphasis on cost because it may lead people to choose the cheapest hire whose work may not be on the same skill level as a more expensive contractor – which can then lead to more costs in the future as their work breaks down.
But what is important is to get a sense of how much your project will cost and pay attention to outliers. Survey all the contractors you are considering on how much the project will cost. If three or four contractors give rates that are similar and one contractor charges either a lot less or a lot more, you should be wary.
Ask the outliers why they charge the rate they do. Someone offering rock-bottom prices may have no intention to perform a good job and someone charging a high rate may be trying to take advantage of your naivety.
Compare costs against other factors on this list to see how much value you will be getting for the price.
Reviews
In today’s day and age, finding reviews for almost anything is simple and easy. It is important that you take advantage of this technological advancement to get a good feel for your potential contractors.
Look up their reviews on major citation sites and on Google. What is their overall rating? Are there mostly good reviews or are there any negative ones? What are the chief complaints in the negative reviews and is it something that could bother you?
Reviews can tell you a lot about the reality of the work they produce. If a contractor has a slightly lower rating than another but has generally more reviews, that can tell you that they complete mostly good work with a lot of clients. You can also contact old customers they have had to learn more.
Why Is It Important to Hire the Right Concrete Contractor in Cincinnati?
We’re sure you’ve heard some horror stories online and from some friends about their experiences with shoddy work and inefficient and rude crew members. You’re probably worried and you are right to worry. Such contractors do exist. Hiring a contractor is a big decision as they complete several key tasks, such as:
- Hiring subcontractors
- Make sure to follow housing codes
- Applying for the appropriate permits
- Completing the engineering designs
- Making sure the work is efficient and completed on time
When one or more of these things go wrong, your whole project can be doomed. That’s why we encourage you to consider the four factors that are important in hiring contractors and finding the best concrete contractor in Cincinnati. This can save you a lot of time and energy, as well as money, as you go forward.
