When your Minnesota home or business has been damaged by fire or water, it’s essential to get the right help, right away. Waiting to tackle these problems, or wasting time by working with the wrong contractor will cause your problems to get worse. When time is of the essence, how can you know that you are choosing the right partner?
In order to help property owners who are in this tough situation, we have used our 25+ years of experience to write a two-part series outlining the six best questions to ask when interviewing contractors for your disaster restoration.
In part one of this series, we talked about how to check your potential contractor’s time in business, credentials, and plans to protect your property. In part two, we will share some ways that you can find out what working with them will really look like. Here are three questions that should provide insightful answers.
Don’t forget that hiring a disaster restoration contractor is a lot like a job interview, and you are the potential employer. Like any job candidate, when interviewing contractors, they should be able to share a list of past local references.
Once they provide you with contact information for references, contact them and ask about their experience, both during the restoration process and how the contractor’s work held up after the job was completed. You can also look at past customer reviews on sites such as Angi, HomeAdvisor, Yelp, Google, and social media to see what others have said, and how the company has responded to them.
If your home, business, or rental property has sustained major water or fire damage, you may be having to live elsewhere. Your company may not be operational, or your tenants may be displaced. Because of issues like this, it’s critical that disaster restoration projects get completed on-time.
An experienced water or fire damage restoration contractor should be able to give you an estimate, and will understand the importance of meeting deadlines. Timeliness is important for any construction project as it improves efficiency and will allow other teams involved in the project to complete their work on time. It’s a good idea to ask them for a schedule that includes an anticipated completion date and project steps that you can keep track of.
While unexpected problems can arise with any project, your contractor should be able to explain their time management process and options for dealing with any delays. When interviewing contractors ask what their plans will be if your project ends up going long – do they have enough staff and equipment to safely accommodate this common issue?
In question five, we discussed timeliness. One way to ensure that your project stays on time is to understand what your contractor will be doing on a daily basis. Ask your potential contractor about their planned daily routine for the restoration process. You can ask questions about when workers plan to arrive at the site, what they will be doing each day, and when they will leave for the night.
Asking about their schedule in detail is a good way to determine how organized your potential contractor will be. Pay close attention to how they answer you – does it make you feel like you are in capable hands? Additionally, if you are still living in your Twin Cities home or working at your business while the job is being done, knowing exactly what to expect will make the whole process easier for everyone involved.
At Green Clean, we are happy to answer all six of these questions, and any more that you may have about your unique project. From pervasive plumbing issues to smelly smoke damage, we are here to help with water damage, fire damage, professional odor removal services. If you would like to get to know us and find out how we can help you, contact us today.
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