How To Hire A Contractor In Mesa

You’re ready to make changes to your home. The bathroom is the original from the 1980’s. The kitchen is avocado and orange. The built-in in the living room won’t hold your flat screen television. Sounds like it’s time to hire a contractor in Mesa.

Do you need a handyman or contractor?

Before you even pick up the phone to call a contractor like Ken from Hyre Construction (480-490-1055) or Handyman George of George’s Repair Service (602-628-8906), both of whom I recommend, take a bit of time to think about your project. Do you need shelves hung on the walls of your office? That’s a handyman’s job.

By the rules of the Registrar of Contractors (ROC) in total the job a handyman is allowed to do is under $1,000. If you need a light hung up, and you need some drywall patched, perhaps a door or two are off and need to be adjusted, as long as the total billed amount doesn’t exceed $1,000, a handyman is the right person for the job.

Are you thinking of redoing you Kitchen or Bathroom, or perhaps you just need your kitchen counters and cabinets replaced? That’s a job for a contractor. The difference is the size of the project, level of expertise needed, and the liability that each can handle. Be protected and get the right person for the job.

Handymen (and women) are great because they can help you complete small jobs and quick repairs like changing out ceiling fans whereas contractors handle larger jobs like kitchen and bath remodels. Once you understand the scope of what you need, you can hire the right person for the job.

Other tradesmen I recommend:

Tria Plumbing - 480-242-3292 - Ask for Carmen. He can do residential or commercial plumbing and is licensed and bonded

Arizona Pool Care Pros - 480-699-2566 - Ask for Troy. They can do anything around your pool, repair pumps, pop ups, and he can resurface the pool itself or the decking.

Azul Electric - 480-694-1339 - Ask for Armando. He can do residential or commercial and is licensed and bonded.

Important Question to ask: Are the contractors licensed, bonded, and insured?

The difference between a handyman and a contractor is not just the scale of work. Contractors are, or should be, licensed, bonded, and insured whereas handymen are not held to the same standard. Check the Better Business Bureau and Angie’s List License Check.

Hiring a Contractor in Mesa

Step 1: Ask for Referrals

Before calling the first contractor that comes up in an internet search, I recommend talking to friends and family or me; I have amazing resources. Make sure you ask them about their experience working with a particular contractor. What was their project? Was the cost reasonable? Was work completed on-time and to the desired quality? They may have been a good person or company but if you need a new kitchen for a specific event and their contractor ran late, you may want think about going to other sources for referrals.

Always check the ROC’s most wanted list. These are companies and people that have been caught doing the wrong things and you don’t want to work with them.

Social media is another way to get an opinion of a contractor. Post a request for referral to your Facebook, in neighborhood-specific Facebook groups, and on apps like Nextdoor.

Step 2: Sign a Contract

Make sure there is a contract in place and it has at the very least the minimum elements of a contract set by the Arizona Statutes. 

Step 3: Understand the Payment Schedule

Understand the payment schedule as well as the estimated completion date. NEVER pay the full amount due until you are satisfied the work has been completed within the original scope.

What guidance do you give the contractor about your project?

When it comes to hiring contractors to work on your home or investment property, be sure you are clear about what the project entails. If you want to retile the floor of a home built in 1979, you may want to know the condition of the subfloor or have a contingency built into the quote and your budget. Before signing off on a project, be sure you understand the scope of work, pricing, and timeline.

Whatever the size of your home improvement project, we want you to hire contractors in Mesa who can get the job done the right way, within budget, and on-time.

If you’ve done all this and still can’t find the right person for your home improvement project, call Elaine Beery for a referral to a trusted contractor.