Graham Flooring and Cabinets

A contractor is exactly what the name implies - someone who has contracted with you to do a specific job or task.  They are not your employee.  Usually an agreement, or contract, should be discussed and the scope of work defined.  Sometimes this gets a little open-ended when a job is moving fast and a homeowner starts adding or changing items.  If you are comfortable with the contractor you may trust them to be fair with pricing.  Otherwise, let the project hold up while the change order is quoted and you accept it.

There are basically two kinds of contractors: General Contractors (GC) and Speciality Contractors.

Speciality Contractors usually do one, or a relatively few, types of work.  For example, a painter may do only painting, even if it is all types of painting.  They don't agree to do a multi-facted job, just the specifc task of painting.

A GC takes responsibility to do jobs that often include multiple trades or specialities.  The GC brings in people for each task, coordinates and manages the job, and pulls everything together.

Graham Flooring & Cabinets is somewhat unusual in that we are both a Speciality Contractor and a General Contractor.  For example, if you want us to do one room of carpet or want to gut your house and start over, we serve both roles.

The list could be pretty long, but here are some.

Expect them to listen to what you are asking for.  Then expect them to ask questions.  If they don't ask questions, consider that a mental note to see how they come back with a plan and how close it is to what you want.

Expect appointments to be kept, or a call if it has to be rescheduled.  People are busy and sometimes can't tell you to the minute when they will be there, but being more than a few minutes off schedule should get you a phone call.

A good contractor should get down to specifing exactly what you want.  Just "a set of cabinets" isn't good enough.  It needs to be "XYZ Cabinet in ABC color and options with this specific layout..."

If you don't bring it up, a good contractor should inquire about budget and price point you want to be around.  Your contractor needs to know that, or he or she can't guide you in the right direction.

Expect questions to answered forthrightly.

Quotes, discussion materials, and drawings should be detailed enough so details are adequately covered and you can understand exactly what the two of you are agreeing to do.

Blowing off appointments.

Not getting back to you in a reasonable time.

Giving off-the-cuff "hard numbers" for relatively involved jobs.

Quoting numbers piecemeal instead of for the total job.  For example, if someone wants to tell you "this is a really cheap price for granite per square foot" but doesn't give you the total cost, doesn't tell you the grade of the stone, or doesn't disclose that, oh, yeah, there are charges for tear-out, cutouts, edging, etc., etc., you can expect that to carry over to most items  in the job.

Sloppy work habits.

In Fayette County a contractor should be licensed.  They should also have liability insurance, and Workers' Comp, unless they exempt themselves as self-employed as can sole owners and partners.

Forget bonding on a residential job.  Bonding in the construction industry is usually for specific performance items and is usually only on larger commercial jobs.  The cost of the bond will be factored into the cost of the job.  If you insist someone be bonded for your job, be prepared to pay for the premium and extra administrative work involved, if it is even available.

Remember, you are entering into a two-way relationship.  You will work best and get a generally smoother job when you recognize you have some obligations as part of the contract.

Contractors expect:
- For you to make decisions.  You may not know exactly what you want when you start looking, but after you do your research and shopping, you have to come to some decisions.  A contractor can't give you a price and do the job if you don't know what you want.

- If you make changes, recognize they are your changes and may impact the cost and time line.  If you signed off on layouts, colors, styles, etc., and then decide you don't like what was done according to what has been defined previously, you need to talk with your contractor as soon as possible.  Most things can be changed - but often at some cost in terms of time and money. 

- Any issues that come up should be addressed in a professional manner.  You expect it of your contractor, and they expect it of you.  Most good contractors will go out of their way to accomodate a client, but uncivil behavior isn't part of the contract.

- Expect to make payments timely per the terms of the agreement.  If a person is a W-2 employee they don't like having to chase an employer to get their paycheck, they expect it on a regular schedule.  Same for contractors.  When a job is substantially completed but there are punch list items, one should expect a reasonable holdback, but otherwise payment is expected.  Trying to string out final payment by "locking out" crews from being able to finish small items is not appreciated or legal.

- Any deadlines need to be addressed initially.  If a job can finish early that's great, but usually moving up a deadline because of some outside reason is not gong to make the job go faster.  You shouldn't expect an anticipated 6 week job to suddenly become 4 weeks.