On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 09:46:18 -0400, John_B wrote:
an_Musicant wrote:
: I'm new to this to the tune that I've never hired a contractor. But I've
: been thinking about it and doing some homework. I watched the BBB's
: video "Hiring a Home Contractor" a couple of times and they make the
: point that you should always get references and check them out. They
: also say you should get at least 3 bids before making a decision.
: There's a lot of other things they advise, including checking the the
: BBB and licensing agencies and trade organizations for feedback about
: specific contractors.
:
: Well, I've called 3 contractors I have some reason to believe may be
: reliable, but I sure don't have any proof. They appeared in a Good
: Service Guide from a few years back and they are still in business. One
: was recommended by a friend. That contractor sent a guy by today who
: looked at my roof and took enough information to work up an estimate and
: he said I'd get a letter next week. I went to their website but couldn't
: find any references listed there. I went to the BBB's site, both
: nationally and locally and when I put in the company's name or address
: the search came up with nothing whatsoever - no company found.
:
: I'm wondering how I should go about getting references from these
: people. Should I ask for references even before an estimator comes out -
: just call and ask the office person for references right off that bat?
: Should I ask the estimator? Or should I call the office after the
: estimator comes out and ask then?
:
: Thanks for any guidance.
:
: Dan
:
:
:These suggestions are wonderful, but my experience with two
:houses starting in 1971 is that it is very difficult to get TWO
:quotes let alone three, so I have just given the job to the ONLY
:bidder and prayed.
Gee, I hope I can do better than that. I will surely be praying -
there's a lot that can go wrong and from the posts I've been reading
some people who did due diligence in spades still got "creamed." Here's
a really really good thread in this newsgroup from 1997 titled "finding
reputable roofers." The sixth post (by LanceGecko) in particular is
fantastic:
http://tinyurl.com/co3s7
Dan