SB HOME MATTERS
BY ELLEN TRICE
Hiring
CONTRACTORS
for your Home
I
nspiration abounds… on television, cable channels, and the internet. As we come out of months spent close to home during the COVID-19 crisis, it seems like everyone is thinking about changing, improving or least updating their domestic setting.
Working from home, children learning from home, and families spending more time at home in general has helped us hone in on what we like and don’t like about our living spaces. Some folks are changing to new flooring, while some families are planning for home remodels. Still others are looking at building the home they now know they truly want. No matter what level of modification being considered, property owners need to do due diligence in all aspects of home improvement projects, starting with clearly identifying the scope and budget for the project. Also valuable is an honest evaluation of do-it-yourself skills and whether property owners want to tackle the job themselves. No one wants the old adage about “not knowing what you don’t know” to come true after they have taken their primary bathroom out of working order. Writing out what they want to accomplish and the amount of money budgeted helps to better communicate a project to building professionals. Any particulars that may affect
50
JULY 2021
| SBMAG.NET
a project should be included. For instance, replacing current tiled floors with hardwood floors would identify that the old tile probably needs to come out before the new floor can go down. That will be a key element in calculating the labor and completion time – and thereby the cost – of the project. What should a home owner consider besides price when hiring a building/remodeling professional? According to Dixey Robertson, Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association of Northwest Louisiana, hiring a licensed and insured contractor is almost always a property owner’s best option. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors maintains a data base of currently licensed contractors who hold current general liability and workers compensation insurance, and an app is available at lslbc. louisiana.gov/mobile-app. “One of the big things that has arisen lately is that the supply chain has been interrupted,” says Tim Shane, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Northwest Louisiana. That creates a lot of unexpected circumstances like delays in supplies and missed deadlines, and some businesses are trying to unfairly use those circumstances to their advantage. Shane wants consumers to know that they can simply enter a person or company name into a
