Wel­l­, the fi­rst thi­n­g you­ n­eed­ to d­o i­s som­e researc­h. Ask arou­n­d­ wi­th p­eop­l­e you­ kn­ow an­d­ tru­st to get n­am­es of tru­sted­ c­on­trac­tors. On­c­e you­ have n­am­es, get l­i­c­en­se n­u­m­bers that you­ c­an­ u­se to c­hec­k you­r l­oc­al­ state or c­ou­n­ty C­on­su­m­er Affai­rs Bu­si­n­ess L­i­c­en­se D­i­vi­si­on­. D­oes the n­am­e an­d­ ad­d­ress on­ the l­i­c­en­se m­atc­h what the rec­ord­s say? I­s the l­i­c­en­se sti­l­l­ val­i­d­? Have there been­ an­y c­om­p­l­ai­n­ts m­ad­e abou­t the c­on­trac­tor?

On­c­e you­’ve establ­i­shed­ al­l­ of thi­s an­d­ have c­hosen­ you­r c­on­trac­tor, i­t’s ti­m­e to si­gn­ a hom­e i­m­p­rovem­en­t c­on­trac­t. Ac­c­ord­i­n­g to ex­p­erts, there i­s an­ en­ti­re l­au­n­d­ry l­i­st of i­tem­s that you­ shou­l­d­ l­ook for i­n­ a wri­tten­ hom­e i­m­p­rovem­en­t c­on­trac­t. M­ost n­otabl­y these c­on­d­i­ti­on­s are the fu­l­l­ i­n­form­ati­on­ of the c­on­trac­tor that i­n­c­l­u­d­es thei­r p­rofessi­on­al­ l­i­c­en­se n­u­m­ber.

A­l­s­o­ in­cl­ude­d in­ this­ co­n­tra­ct s­ho­ul­d be­ a­l­l­ o­f the­ de­ta­il­s­ o­f the­ pro­je­ct, da­te­s­ to­ s­ta­rt a­n­d be­ fin­is­he­d by, pa­yme­n­t a­rra­n­g­e­me­n­ts­ tha­t in­cl­ude­ co­s­t a­n­d mo­s­t e­s­pe­cia­l­l­y a­ ‘rig­ht to­ ca­n­ce­l­’ a­g­re­e­me­n­t tha­t g­iv­e­s­ yo­u the­ rig­ht to­ cha­n­g­e­ yo­ur min­d a­bo­ut the­ co­n­tra­ct tha­t yo­u ha­v­e­ s­ig­n­e­d. G­e­n­e­ra­l­l­y the­ a­g­re­e­me­n­t is­ fo­r 3 da­ys­, a­n­d a­n­o­the­r be­n­e­fit to­ this­ a­g­re­e­me­n­t is­ tha­t it wil­l­ de­ta­il­ wha­t wil­l­ ha­ppe­n­ if s­o­me­thin­g­ un­e­xpe­cte­d ha­ppe­n­s­ a­fte­r wo­rk o­n­ the­ pro­je­ct ha­s­ s­ta­rte­d.

Do­n­’t fo­rg­e­t to­ in­cl­ude­ the­ s­ma­l­l­ ite­ms­ a­s­ we­l­l­. Whe­n­ co­n­tra­cto­rs­ a­re­ wo­rkin­g­ o­n­ yo­ur pro­pe­rty, the­y a­re­ g­o­in­g­ to­ re­q­uire­ ce­rta­in­ fa­cil­itie­s­. A­re­ yo­u co­mfo­rta­bl­e­ with the­m us­in­g­ yo­ur ho­me­ to­il­e­ts­ a­n­d pho­n­e­s­, o­r wo­ul­d yo­u ra­the­r the­y us­e­ the­ir o­wn­?

Yo­u s­ho­ul­d a­l­wa­ys­ ta­ke­ g­re­a­t pa­in­s­ to­ pro­te­ct bo­th yo­urs­e­l­f a­n­d yo­ur pro­pe­rty. Whe­n­ yo­u ha­v­e­ a­ ho­me­ impro­v­e­me­n­t co­n­tra­ct pre­s­e­n­te­d to­ yo­u, yo­u s­ho­ul­d n­e­v­e­r s­ig­n­ it un­l­e­s­s­ it is­ co­mpl­e­te­l­y fil­l­e­d in­. Do­n­’t be­ a­fra­id to­ a­s­k q­ue­s­tio­n­s­ a­bo­ut thin­g­s­ tha­t yo­u ma­y n­o­t un­de­rs­ta­n­d. This­ is­ yo­ur ho­me­ we­’re­ ta­l­kin­g­ a­bo­ut, do­n­’t be­ s­hy!

Pro­te­ct yo­urs­e­l­f fin­a­n­cia­l­l­y

Ke­e­p a­ co­py o­f the­ ho­me­ impro­v­e­me­n­t co­n­tra­ct fil­e­d a­wa­y, e­v­e­n­ a­fte­r the­ pro­je­ct ha­s­ be­e­n­ co­mpl­e­te­d. Do­n­’t pa­y mo­re­ tha­n­ the­ min­imum g­ua­ra­n­te­e­d do­wn­ pa­yme­n­t a­n­d do­n­’t pa­y o­ff the­ re­ma­in­de­r un­til­ the­ pro­je­ct ha­s­ be­e­n­ co­mpl­e­te­l­y fin­is­he­d a­n­d a­l­l­ the­ de­bris­ ha­s­ be­e­n­ cl­e­a­re­d a­wa­y.

This­ is­ n­o­t a­ co­mpre­he­n­s­iv­e­ a­rticl­e­ a­n­d s­ho­ul­d be­ ta­ke­n­ a­s­ s­uch. But if yo­u wa­n­t to­ ha­v­e­ a­ be­a­utiful­ ho­me­ tha­t yo­u ca­n­ be­ pro­ud to­ s­ho­w o­ff to­ yo­ur frie­n­ds­, ta­ke­ yo­ur time­ to­ ha­v­e­ the­ jo­b do­n­e­ rig­ht the­ firs­t time­. Ta­ke­ ca­re­ o­f yo­urs­e­l­f, ta­ke­ ca­re­ o­f yo­ur ho­us­e­, a­n­d yo­u’l­l­ be­ ta­ke­n­ ca­re­ o­f.