The purpose of this guidebook is to start your process of selecting a contractor that will give you what you want and need.

Virtually all homeowners approach the contractor selection process with anxiety and dread. Some feel prospective contractors won’t be completely honest about cost and worry about being tempted by appealing promises or low-ball estimates. The abundance and variety of construction horror stories leads others to believe that there are only unqualified contractors out there ready to take advantage of the unsuspecting. Then others despair because they’ve heard of a homeowner who did shop carefully, hired a “very reputable” contractor, and still had a bad experience. It’s little wonder most homeowners feel unsure about where to begin and what questions to ask.

Feeling confident you’ll choose well is very difficult. If we add the haunting thought that thousands of dollars are at stake to this mix of doubt and dread, the burden’s enough to keep many from ever starting.

I encourage you to step beyond this bind. During the selection process your fears don’t have to rule you because it’s possible to find not just a good, but an excellent contractor. By following my plan, you’ll learn how to spot good contractors, build a list of qualified candidates, and test them so you choose the contractor best suited for your job. You’ll find the selection process is not only manageable, but also informative and rewarding. As a bonus, it can aid in the development and refinement of your home’s design.

Below is a summary of the simple steps you’ll need to take to find the right contractor. As you look over this list you may think “this looks too easy and obvious to be of any use.” On one level, you are correct. When you think about it, the plan IS obvious and very straightforward. But as you read on, you’ll see that I equip you with two powerful tools that make you master of the process.

1. You’ll learn to ask the questions that matter most.
2. You’ll learn who to ask those questions to and when to ask them.

The Introductory Call: Your First Contact with Prospective Contractors
Most people don’t like interviewing contractors because they don’t have confidence in their ability to discern if a contractor is honest. If you’ve done your homework with thoroughness and patience, you’ve spared yourself that anxiety because you already know your candidates are qualified, honest, and reliable.

When you begin contractor interviews, your task will be to locate a contractor you can work with; one whose interest in your project impresses you; one who listens carefully to what you say. The goal of this quest is to find compatibility with a contractor whom you’ll be able to work with successfully for the time necessary to complete your project.

Once you’re ready to begin the interviewing process, call the contractors in the order you’ve rated them. Be prepared to describe your project and state when you’d like to begin construction.

When you call the contractors on your list, have three to five preliminary questions ready to ask each. Here are some suggestions:

1. Have you completed a job similar to this before?
2. Do you have a list of references that I can contact?
3. When will you be able to start the job?
4. When could we meet in person to further discuss this? (only if you’re encouraged by the answers they give).

There is no set script for these calls. In fact, in the course of some conversations, a builder may offer everything contained above and more. Be aware of how easily the conversation progresses. When you hang up, make a few notes on the conversations. What were your impressions of the builder? Did he listen well? Did he answer your questions thoroughly?

Your First Meeting with Preselected Contractors
In this new relationship, common courtesy is a must and good contractors understand this. If a contractor fails to show up for your first meeting and does not call to reschedule, cross him off your list.

Also let me state definitively that all principle parties should be present at this initial and all subsequent meeting. This includes the contractor and both homeowners, if applicable. This is absolutely essential for all parties to participate fully in the interview process and for everyone to operate with equal information.

Listed here are questions you should ask during your first meeting. (Keep in mind, if you are using a ServiceMagic professional, you may be able to find a lot of this information on their profile as well.)

Contractor Questions: Business Identity

• How long has the firm been in business?
• What is their permanent business address?
• Is the prospect licensed to work in your area?
• What year was the business initially licensed?

Contractor Questions: Business Practices

• How does the company ensure warranty service complaints are effectively handled?
• In case of any accident, is the company insured against workman’s compensation claims, property damage, or personal liability?
• For longer projects:
  • How does the company maintain good customer relationships throughout the construction and warranty period?
  • What will the payment or draw schedule look like?

Contractor Questions: Building Practices (applicable in longer projects)

• Who will be assigned as the project or site supervisor?
• Who will be your contact if that person is not available?
• Will there be a supervisor on the site full time?
• Will they be providing a written construction schedule?
• What’s the company’s routine regarding regular meetings with the homeowners during construction?
• Who will attend those meetings? Will the builder personally attend every meeting?
• Can I expect to see workers at the site every day?
• Does the builder plan to stay personally involved in the project at all points?
• May I have the names and numbers of five homeowners you’ve completed projects for?
• May I visit a site where work is in progress?

Note: A visit to a site-in-progress can reveal much about a company’s ability to manage a large project. Notice how organized it looks. Is it messy and chaotic or does it seem well-organized with workers moving like they know what they are doing?

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. In fact, it should help you generate other, more personal questions.

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to ask any questions you may have. Nothing is off limits concerning your project or the company you’re interviewing. Asking good, detailed questions is the heart of your due diligence. If you don’t question thoroughly, you’re giving up your responsibility in this process and possibly compromising the quality of your project.

How to Narrow the Field: Trust but Verify
You should suggest second meetings with your preferred candidates to discuss your project in greater detail. Second meetings provide an important chance to ask those questions you overlooked in your first meeting, plus the key questions that will enable you to identify the builder you’ll move forward with. Trust the representations your favorites make, but verify them. Your due diligence may protect you from confusing an itinerant contractor with an established professional.

Below I outline steps to objectively verify your candidates’ business representations. Among them are several items you should address during your second meetings if you didn’t during your first.

1. They should be licensed, as required.
2. Obtain proof of insurance. The contractor should supply you with a Certificate of Insurance indicating it has a sufficient general liability and workman’s compensation insurance. Additionally, the contractor should have coverage against theft of any materials delivered to the jobsite, but not yet installed.
3. Confirm the builder’s business address. He may have an office, but it’s also common for builders to work out of their homes. Ask for a visit just to confirm your candidate isn’t working out of the back of a truck or a post office box. What you’re trying to determine here is your candidate’s permanence.
4. For bigger projects, you can call the Better Business Bureau and your local consumer affairs office to check the company for consumer complaints. Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) are non-profit organizations supported primarily by local businesses, which encourage honest advertising and selling practices and keep records of consumer complaints. Check your candidates’ records, but remember that just as there are unreliable contractors, there are also unreasonable homeowners. Even a good contractor can receive a complaint. If a favorite has a complaint, ask for information about its resolution. If he addressed it quickly and to the client’s satisfaction, that’s a sign of professionalism.

There’s an old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is especially true in your home. Preventative maintenance takes just a few minutes of time, but can keep your family safe and minimize costly repairs in the future. If you want to avoid unpleasant situations like a flooded laundry room or a thermostat that roasts or freezes everyone inside, check out these easy tips, compiled as part of Professional Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractor Awareness Week:

Toilet:

• Is your toilet leaking? To find out, add a small amount of red food coloring to the tank, and then check the toilet bowl later. If the water has turned red, water is seeping through from the tank, and you may need to change some tank parts.

Washing Machine:

• Cracked or defective/leaky washing machine hoses are one of the leading causes for Homeowners Insurance claims. Check your hoses periodically for leaks, and replace plastic hoses every three years.
• Make sure that the drain hose is secured to the washing machine outlet box. If not secured properly, the pressure could cause the hose to jump out of the drain outlet when the pump activates, spilling tremendous volumes of water onto your floor.

Refrigerator:

• The small water line that goes from your refrigerator—called a capillary line—can easily become kinked.  Plastic lines also become brittle from use, which leads to leaks. Both situations can cause extensive damage to the walls, floor, and cabinets around the refrigerator. Be sure to check and periodically replace brittle lines and check metal lines for crimps or kinks.

Garbage Disposal:

• Run plenty of cold water when using your garbage disposal.
• Do not overload it or dispose of things like bones or corn husks.
• Be sure your dishwasher does not drain into the disposal.

Pipes:

• Know where your water cut-off valves are located, and know the difference between the outside water cut-off and the inside water cut-off in case of emergency.
• If leaving your home for extended periods during winter months, set your thermostat at approx. 60 degrees and leave your cabinet doors open inside. As an added precaution, turn the water off. If the pipes do freeze, turn the heat up, open all cabinet doors, and close your crawlspace vents.
• To help prevent clogs, fit all your tubs and shower drains with a strainer that catches hair and soap chips, and clean the strainer regularly. Be sure that overflow holes on tubs and sinks are clear and open to prevent water damage to floors and ceilings.
• Do not rinse fats or cooking oils down the kitchen sink, as they can solidify in the pipes and cause clogs.
• If you have a pipe that is completely clogged, avoid using caustic liquid drain openers (like Drano or Liquid Plumber). The caustic ingredients can get trapped in your pipes and could cause serious damage. Some people try environmentally safe drain maintenance additives, but these are more effective as preventative maintenance and are not meant for use on completely obstructed drains.
• If you can’t snake it yourself, call a professional!

Water Heater:

• Always shut off the power or gas before doing anything to your water heater.
• At least once a year, drain water from the tank to remove sediment buildup.
• If your water heater is gas, periodically inspect the water heater burner. The flame under the heater should appear blue with yellow tips. If it’s mostly yellow, or if it’s sooty under there, your flue may be clogged, which is a dangerous situation.
• At least once a year, have your water heater inspected by a service technician.

Air Conditioner:

• Check the condensate hose to be sure it is not blocked with algae.
• Clean the outside condensing unit screen of leaves.
• Listen for unusual noises and call a professional when necessary.

Humidifiers:

• A neglected in-duct humidifier can breed mildew and bacteria or add too much moisture to a house. After the heating season ends, don’t forget to pull the plug, shut the water valve and drain the unit. If the unit has a water reservoir, drain and clean it with white vinegar, a mix of one part chlorine bleach to eight parts water or muriatic acid.
• Clean mist-type humidifiers regularly to remove mineral deposits.

Thermostat:

• While thermostats rarely fail outright, they can degrade over time as mechanical parts stick or lose their calibration. Older units will send faulty signals if they’ve been knocked out of level or have dirty switches. To recalibrate an older unit, use a wrench to adjust the nut on the back of the mercury switch until it turns the system on and, using a room thermometer, set it to the correct temperature. Caulk the hole where the thermostat wire comes through the wall, or a draft could trick it into thinking the room is warmer or colder than it really is.

 Furnace Filter:

• Most houses with forced-air furnaces have a standard furnace filter made from loosely woven spun-glass fibers designed to keep it and its ductwork clean. Unfortunately, they don’t improve indoor air quality. If you want better air quality, you need to upgrade to a media filter, which sits in between the main return duct and the blower cabinet. Made of a deeply pleated, paper-like material, media filters are at least seven times better than a standard filter at removing dust and other particles.
• Although media filters can last up to two years, their tight weave can restrict a furnace’s ability to blow air through the house. To insure a steady, strong airflow through the house, choose a filter that matches your blower’s capacity.

 When you are ready to hire a professional contractor to take care of more serious home problems, visit www.PHCCweb.org to take advantage of its contractor locator service (searchable by zip code or city/state).

Warning signs of CO in your home can include stuffy, stale air; condensation on windows; back drafts from a fireplace, furnace or water- heating chimney; yellow burner flames (except from natural gas fireplaces or logs); or burner flames or pilot lights that flutter or keep going out. Soot – or lingering pungent odors around appliances are other warning signs.

If you notice any of these, turn off the equipment immediately and introduce fresh air to the building. Call a qualified, licensed natural gas contractor to inspect the equipment as soon as possible.

As a preventative measure, the Plumbing – Heating – Cooling Contractors – National Association (PHCC) recommends that homeowners have carbon monoxide detectors installed in their homes.  Our company is qualified to install the devices for you.  Call us at 256-234-5260 if you’d like assistance.
Physical symptoms of CO poisoning can include dizziness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headaches, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, stinging eyes and fainting. If you experience these symptoms and suspect CO, seek fresh air by leaving the building immediately. Call 911 from a neighbor’s house.

LESS THAN 1% OF ALL WATER ON PLANET EARTH IS READILY AVAILABLE FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Water conservation is everybody’s responsibility. Here are a few sobering statistics:

• Of all water on earth, 97.5% is salt water, and of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, some 70% is frozen in the polar icecaps. The other 30% is mostly present as soil moisture or lies in underground aquifers. In the end, less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human uses. It is found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and in underground sources shallow enough to be tapped at affordable cost.
• If all the earth’s water fit in a gallon jug, available fresh water would equal just over a tablespoon.
• A person needs four to five gallons of water per day to survive.
• The average American uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day.
• The average African family uses about five gallons of water each day.

What can you do to conserve water? There are many ways.  Some require the use of readily available hardware, and some are simple changes in habit.

Water Conservation Hardware: Replace your old toilet with one of the new highly efficient, 1.6 gallon per flush units. Some of the new toilets utilize water pressure to create a flush that is more efficient than most older style toilets that use 5 to 7-1/2 gallons per flush.

Replace your old shower head with a water conserving shower head. The typical shower head has a flow rate of five to seven gallons per minute. New water conserving shower heads use 1.6 to 2.5 gallons per minute. This conservation effort not only saves water, but also saves on the cost of energy to heat the water, resulting in a payback typically taking less than one year.

Replace your old faucet aerators. The typical old style faucet aerator uses around 3.5 gallons per minute. New aerators use 1.6 gallons per minute. This results in a reduction of over 50% for water used through a typical lavatory faucet.

Replace your top loading clothes washer with a front loader.  New machines with the Energy Star label use only 18 — 25 gallons of water per load (compared to 40 gallons per load for the typical machine) and save about 7,000 gallons of water a year. In fact, these machines — often with a front-loading design — are up to 40% more water efficient and 70% more energy efficient than conventional top-loading washers.

Install a domestic hot water re-circulation system, so when you start using hot water in the morning, you don’t waste water down the drain waiting for the water to get hot.

Change exterior landscaping to water conserving Xeriscape landscaping. This not only reduces water consumption, but can also result in less time spent mowing lawns and makes for more time available for doing other things.

Changes in habits: Simple changes in habits can result in significant water savings. Habit shifts like shutting off the water between razor rinsings when shaving. Or purchasing an electric razor and getting rid of your straight edge razor completely.

Shut off the water while you are brushing your teeth.

Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator to keep it cool instead of running water down the drain waiting for the water to get cooler. If you must run the water for a long time, capture the wasted water in a bucket and use it for watering plants and pets, or for spot watering in your vegetable garden.

Water your lawn in the early morning with a slow, deep soaking method. Don’t water between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. when water evaporation is the highest.

Take a shower instead of a bath. A bath typically uses around 40 gallons of water. A short shower (less than 10 minutes) will use approximately 25 gallons of water with a low flow shower head.

Don’t run the dishwasher or clothes washer until you have a full load. The dishwasher will use the same amount of water with a half load as it does with a full load of dishes.

Use the automatic dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand.

Go to the car wash to wash your car instead of washing it by hand.  Many car washes re-cycle their water. Even if they don’t re-cycle, you will use considerably less water than would be used in hand washing.

Many municipalities offer rebate programs for conserving water and energy. Contact your plumbing professional for more information on products that can help you reduce water consumption in your home and save you money.

256-234-5260

Call A & M Plumbing for more information on how to save money