Hiring a contractor

NOTE: Here are some helpful and awareness tips before you start your project.

Call Us at (918) 637-5613. We will be more than happy to over look and give advice and provide our services on your current project or a future project. Please check out our other site for contracting services we provide.

A contractor should never bid over the phone or without blueprints or a detailed plan, unless you want a shot in the dark price, but getting multiple bids this way lowers the accuracy of the estimate between the contractors you may choose. One may bid low and doesn’t do exactly what you asked for. The other contractor may bid high because everything you asked for will be to code and completed.

Beware of contractors who Bid too low. Sometimes you’re left with an incomplete job even after you paid them their last draw because they themselves ran out of funds and will ask for more money to finish your project. Then you could have went with the other contractor who bid higher in the first place, what are you going to do? Now your stuck with the unprofessional and by calling the pro to finish the job will have cost more now than if the pro would have just started in the beginning.

The rule of thumb is to pay 1/3 down and pay on completion or as needed. A good successful Contractor usually does not need money down but there are exceptions.

Having a shoddy job is the last thing you want. Make sure you get the quality you deserve, otherwise you’ll be paying for your project again later. There will always be a cheaper contractor out there somewhere but see if they have insurance and references, these days a skilled construction worker is out bid by an unskilled worker do to the lack of the unskilled workers knowledge and misconception of project cost.

NOTE: Oklahoma does not require a Mason or Mason Contractor to have a License, but has before in the past. ( Wendland Masonry is Unionized and schooled and has before carried a License until there was no need for it ). Anyone can have a name on a business card and become a contractor in Oklahoma. Just a Fair Warning.

An undocumented worker also plays a role in cheaper bids due to the fact that its the same reason why an unskilled worker bids low, its simply because both do not have enough education in construction or the experience or know the cost of projects and ignore the reasons for design, engineering, and insurance.

Cheap prices can be attractive to someone who knows little about construction, construction projects do cost but a knowledgeable contractor can cut the right corners to save money and at the same time complete the project to code and to your liking.

Be sure you or the contractor looks closely to the details of your project such as order of operations, inspections, time schedules, appointments, and make sure you order all of the materials you will need. This is important to know because sometimes you can order the same material but have it come out in similar and not quite the same color or quite the same size. Also you may have to wait days to months to have your order delivered again and pay for another unwanted delivery cost . Its better to have more than you need than less. Give yourself a 10% buffer on material on cost plus jobs and do this always on your remodeling projects. Projects almost always end up costing more at the end unless you have a highly skilled contractor with a set of approved plans.

Home equity is a good source to tap into if you need to update your home or building, forced appreciation is key and to boost equity into your home. It is important to maintain the structure in a sense that if you put your real estate on the market, your home or building has to be in living or working condition before you have a successful closing.

Insurance is a must such as Workman’s comp and General liability. You do not want to be responsible for a persons unfortunate accident. If you hire an uninsured company or an individual for your project that person or company can put a claim against you and or your insurance company if there happens to be an incident.

Banks prefer any contractor to be fully insured to apply for a new construction loan or home improvement loan. Bonded insurance is more for the union and city projects unless excellent credit can waive this type of insurance.

Before I leave you I will say that there is a huge difference between a skilled and unskilled contractor or worker. How do you know the difference? I gave you a few clues, and most important, see how they represent themselves, feel them out. Do you think they are capable of completing the project. Do they answer the phone when you need them or keep the same number and in today’s market look for reviews on BBB and Angies List. These are great sites