How to choose a contractor
When you get to rock bottom, you really need to know you can trust the contractor… (Photo: Blue Sparks)
So I don’t know about you, but when I first started renovating apartments, twenty years ago, I was, obviously, a complete novice. And I was pretty worried about choosing the right contractor for the job. Plus, in my case, I was doing the whole thing in Paris, in French, so there was also a vocabulary issue!
My first experience was with Sylvain, who had been recommended to me by a colleague at work. Sylvain is Polish, so the vocabulary issue occasionally mushroomed into a language issue! Sylvain is punctilious, proactive and actually quite fun.
On the rare occasion that a problem arose, it was quite stressful though, as Sylvain would call me and say ‘Antonia, c’est de la merte !!’ (‘merde’ with a Polish accent - so literally translated ‘it is shit!’ - he’s a pretty direct person!). Then he would explain what was wrong and that he didn’t know what to do, and that I had to come immediately. And I would reply that I was at work and that the earliest I could possibly get there was 7pm. And Sylvain would say ‘Ahh… c’est difficile, c’est trop tard ça… Bon… Je fais ce que je peux’. (‘That’s too late… OK… I’ll do what I can’).
So I’d spend the afternoon worrying, and at the end of my working day, I’d rush to take the métro and arrive on site at our new apartment in the 11th arrondissement holding my breath. Then Sylvain would say something like ‘Oh, I should have called you back, sorry! I found the solution and I’ve done it and there’s no longer a problem’. And I’d start breathing again.
When the renovation was finished, I was very happy with the result, and was lucky that Sylvain was (is) a great contractor. But it was, all in all, quite stressful!
So what can you do to limit this stress? As my ex-military grandfather always said ‘Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted!’. So here are some tips that I have found helpful when choosing a contractor.
Know what you want. Before you meet any builders to talk about the works, have a good idea (80%) of what you want the result to be.
And remain flexible! There may be technical constraints that you haven’t seen (logical, as it’s not your profession) which could impact what you want to do.
Get recommendations. Ask your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors and in local shops for recommendations of contractors. Once you have the recommendation, if you can, ask some questions: what work did you have done? When? What did you like about the contractor? What could have been improved about the project? Ask if you could possibly see the result (it’s a push, I know, but as my grandmother always said, you never can tell! And if it works, you’ll learn a lot).
Interview to make a short list. Call each of the contractors and say that you’re contacting them about a ‘potential’ project. As you’re talking to them, assess whether or not you actually want to suggest a meeting on site at the end of the call. If you don’t want to, say that you’ll be back in touch if you go any further. This is your ‘get out clause’ if you really have an adverse reaction to the person - so use it if you have to!
Prepare a document, ideally with a plan. It can just be a Powerpoint page with a box on it, and indications of the door, windows, and labels pointing to what you want to do where. A list is also very helpful, organized by room or type of work. In France, this would be: demolition, masonry, plumbing/ heating/ AC, tiling, electrical, woodwork/ built-ins and lastly painting (in the order in which the works will be carried out). Having a document helps keep discussions grounded, and will serve as a basis for the quote the contractor prepares. Which in turn means that the quotes you get back will be more complete and thus easier to compare (cf. point 10 below).
Meet each contractor on site, personally. You are going to be working with this person, probably over the course of a few months, on a potentially stressful project. You’ll want to make sure that you get a sense of who they are, how they work and how they communicate before you sign anything or hand over any money.
Remember they are the experts. You need to know what you want, but they’re the ones who know how to achieve that result. If you are ‘interviewing’ (and getting quotes) from several contractors, each one might have different ideas about how to do things, which is fine. It’s your job to clarify the differences to be able to understand what each proposes to do and which solution sounds like the best to you.
Ask them to explain. This is not rocket science. It’s all logical, and the builder should be able to explain it in a way that you can understand it. And if he/she can’t, or won’t, personally, I won’t work with them.
And keep asking questions. Same thing, if they get annoyed when I ask questions - I don’t want to work with them. It might sound like a big ask, but I only want to work with people who are so passionate, or at least interested, in what they’re doing that they’re quite happy to explain it, even to a néophyte! In any case, when something goes wrong, you’re going to be asking a lot of questions, so you need to know that they’re ok with questions. And that they won’t suddenly take offense and think that you’re questioning their expertise… (speaking from experience!).
Compare like with like. When I get quotes back, being a bit of a geek, I put it all in an Excel sheet to tally it all up and compare. The fact that you had prepared a document with a description of the result (point 5 above) helps with structuring this.
Trust your gut when you actually choose. It’s not just the intellectual analysis and the numbers that count. Who was the most enthusiastic about your project? Who has experience doing this type of project? Who spotted problems and proposed solutions during the onsite visit? Which contractor would you trust the most? Why? Which one had a sense of humor? This last question sounds a bit flippant, but I’ve found that builders with a sense of humor (like many other human beings) tend to be a bit more relaxed, and thus easier to work with.
And, finally, know that there are always surprises. Every. Single. Time! I just want to manage your expectations here! As you know that there will be problems, all the more reason to choose a contractor whom you trust and with whom you get on well enough.
I hope that this has been helpful! If you have any questions you can email me at antonia@bluesparks.paris, I’d love to hear from you!
And if you’re considering a renovation project in Paris, let me help you - I have the knowledge and a whole network of professionals ready and waiting.