Dealing With Contractors

It may sound easy to find a good contractor, but unfortunately it isn't. Don't be in such a hurry that you compromise quality for a quick job. Every step you take is one step closer to the completed project of your dreams. But if you're not vigilant, that dream could turn into a nightmare! Sometimes it seems that every renovation you undertake is like pulling the lever on a slot machine. Your renovation could come up all cherries, or a big string of bitter lemons!

Many renovations are just too big or too complicated for the average home owner. Once you know your limits, it's time to call in a good contractor to fulfill your ideal home renovation. Depending upon your choice of that contractor, you could be in for a fun and easy ride or a very long and bumpy road.

Your primary task is to hire a thoroughly professional and knowledgeable contracting crew for your renovations. Always ask for and check references! No legitimate professional contractor will object to supplying you with references; they should be proud to give you a history of their work through references. If you're unable to get between six and ten good, solid references, this is a contractor you should pass by.

One of the first things you should ask contractors is to see their licenses and proof of bonded insurance. All legitimate contractors will readily supply you with this information. If they balk, this means something - something not good. An unlicensed and uninsured contractor could cause injury to a crew member due to carelessness and lack of training, or could cause damage to your home. Either way, there could be a lawsuit headed in your direction, either as a plaintiff against the contractor or as a co-defendant against the suit of a crew member.

Get everything in writing! Although oral contracts are legally enforceable, they're very hard to prove. Contracts should be specific about what work is to be done, when it will be completed, what supplies are needed, and how many sub-contractors are needed. Your contract should specify the payment plan; the contractor will give you an estimate of how much the job will cost, and should stand by this estimate. Make sure your contract states that you are not responsible for costs that exceed the contractor's estimate.

Some contractors will request a large down-payment before they begin the renovation job. Establish a payment plan that specifies the down-payment, payment on the day the renovation begins, and a final payment when the job is finished. To keep the contractor on schedule, many home owners withhold a percentage of the final payment until the job is complete, or even offer a bonus for renovations completed ahead of schedule.

Make sure you have firm start and finish dates for your project and have them put down in writing, as well as details about penalties if those deadlines aren't met. You could always sweeten the deal for the contract or crew, by providing a bonus if the job is completed ahead of schedule, but be careful about encouraging rushed, sloppy work if you choose this option. Making the guidelines and agreements clear from the start can mean that you'll be working with the people you hire, not against them.

Author Steven Gaines takes us from New York's most expensive condominiums and co-ops to the offices of its most powerful real estate brokers to reveal the outlandish displays of ego, bad behavior, and status hunger that come into play when the best addresses in the city are on the line.

With his signature elan, Gaines weaves a gossipy tapestry of brokers, buyers, co-op boards, and eccentric landlords and tells of the apartment hunting and renovating adventures of many celebrities - from Tommy Hilfiger to Donna Karan, from Jerry Seinfeld to Steven Spielberg, from Barbra Streisand to Madonna.

Here, too, is a fascinating chronicle of the changes in Manhattan's residential skyline, from the slums of the nineteenth century to the advent of the luxury building. Gaines describes how living in boxes stacked on boxes came to be seen as the ultimate in status, and how the co-operative apartment, originally conceived as a form of housing for the poor, came to be used as a legal means of blackballing undesirable neighbors.

A social history told through brick and mortar, The Sky's the Limit is the ultimate look inside one of the most exclusive and expensive enclaves in the world, and at the lengths to which people will go to get in.

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