Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Remodeler
Host:
Welcome to the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction on News Talk 1310 WIBA. Have a question? Email it to EdgeConstructionRadio@gmail.com.
Now, here is your host, Sean Prebil, on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
It is a great website.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We are joined in studio this morning by the owner of Edge Construction, Mike Twohig. Mike, how have you been this week?
Mike:
Great, Sean. It is good to see you.
Host:
Great to talk with you.
We are going to be talking about questions.
Mike:
Go Packers.
Host:
Oh man, go Pack.
They will be playing tonight. Coverage starts at four o’clock.
Were you surprised by that game?
Mike:
Yes.
I was headed up to Mom’s — hi, Mom. She is the biggest Packer fan I know.
Before I left, I told my wife, Christy, “I will probably be back by 6:30 because I imagine we are going to be down by 50 points by halftime or something.”
Packer fans are not used to these blow-them-out-of-the-water games.
Could they beat the Cowboys? Yes. Were they going to win like they did? Never in a million years did I think that would happen.
Host:
Exactly.
Maybe Dallas just felt sorry for us.
That was exciting stuff.
One of the great things about football season is having friends over, having company over, and, if you have had a new project completed at your home, showing that stuff off.
I have to ask: As we talk about remodeling, and before we get into some of the questions and conversations to have before you start remodeling, is that sometimes a spark that gets people thinking about remodeling?
Maybe they are going to have company over, host a Super Bowl party, entertain more, or have people over and show the place off. Does that sometimes start the conversation about remodeling?
Mike:
I think it really does.
When you are in a house that has been designed more recently — say the last 20 or 30 years, even some of the 1980s houses — they are not as open as we build them now, but they are certainly much different homes than you would have seen before that.
The common spaces and common areas are the areas you are going to show your friends and relatives. You are not really showing them. They are hanging out in those rooms.
You might show me your primary bath if you have a really nice, fancy one.
But generally, they are hanging out in those rooms.
When we design now, it is not like we are only designing a great room or even a kitchen. We are designing areas for people to congregate.
I like doing this when we are messing around in CAD. We say, “Okay, we can get six people standing around this island. Another group can be over here.”
You start to picture how all of this is going to work.
If you have one of those older houses, that is obviously what we do.
Our house is a two-and-a-half-story old farmhouse. My wife always jokes that it was built before houses had character. It is nothing fancy, but it is in a great spot out in the country.
But it is really not designed for all these people.
Our three kids are gone, but now there are seven grandkids. When everybody comes back, you think, “Oh my gosh, we have never had this many people in our house.”
You start to see the weaknesses of it.
Host:
With that opportunity, I think about the big rooms, the powder room, the kitchen, basement remodels, and flex space.
Are those often fueled by having company over?
Mike:
Definitely.
Looking back at some of our remodels, we still do lots of kitchens where we just do that kitchen room.
But I would say more than half now are almost the whole first floor: the kitchen, common areas, great room, dining room, flex space, den, or something like that.
It is hitting all of those spaces more often now, and I am sure that is what is driving it. People are entertaining. Their families may have grown, or maybe they have a lot of friends they want to invite over.
We are always open to invites.
Host:
You have said before that the economy of scale helps too.
If we are going to do the kitchen, adding the living room, bathroom, or some of those other spaces can really help the bottom line quite a bit, can’t it?
Mike:
It does.
We are coming out of this era of flipping houses, and we are going to be cleaning up the sins of flippers.
Is that a word? I guess we call them flippers — those naughty flippers.
It is still not uncommon for us to come into a house that somebody recently bought, or maybe it has been a year or two, and they are still dealing with it.
There might be four or five different types of flooring on one floor.
They did upgrade the flooring, but nothing flows. There is no central design.
I know that bothers people.
Flooring drives a lot of remodeling because if we are going to do wood floor through a whole first floor, then you really get to decide what kind of trim and doors you want, because some of that is going to get peeled off to do the floors.
Now is certainly the chance.
If the main project is the kitchen, if that is what got you in our door, some of those secondary projects are about a 25 or 30 percent discount if you can tag those along.
It is all the same people. I do not have to price it like we are just coming in to do that floor, or just coming in to do drywall in the kitchen.
We can also change them. Maybe we remove a wall, which is pretty common. We can do that there, and it is much cheaper for us to do it that way.
Host:
You mentioned opening up the space, removing walls, and those kinds of things.
Some of that is so you have a good sight line for the TV during Super Bowl parties and playoff parties.
Does that come into play at all?
Mike:
Sean, for you and me, yes.
It is more about your most important areas.
You have a great room where a lot of people are spending time. You have a kitchen where a lot of people are spending time.
So much of the time, we are thinking about how to get the kitchen to join the rest of the house so whoever does the cooking — whether you do the cooking, Mom does the cooking, or whoever it is — is not relegated to the prison of the kitchen in the back of the house.
You want them to be part of the conversation.
Host:
Since the invention of the air fryer, I have become a bit more of a house cook, Mike. I do not know if you know this.
Mike:
Have you? We got gifted an air fryer for Christmas.
Host:
Have you fired it up yet?
Mike:
I made toast in there.
Host:
A little tip: if you go to Walmart and get pizza rolls, you do not have to buy the name brand. You can buy the giant bag. Just dump a bunch of them in the basket, set it at 400 for about seven minutes, and oh my gosh.
We will save food talk.
Mike:
It sounds like a complicated piece of machinery.
Host:
Ours has two buttons: time and temp. It just goes.
We have Mike Twohig here from Edge Construction. The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
When I talk with financial people, a lot of times the opportunity to interview or get to know them is an important part of making sure visions, strategies, and those types of things align.
Is there a similar thing with remodeling?
Since we are on the show together, I think a lot of people who have been listening for a while really know Edge Construction and really know you, Mike, and what you guys are all about.
But do you get people who say, “I would like to talk a little bit about our project, our ideas, and what we like,” almost like an interview for Edge Construction?
Mike:
Yes, and we are a little bit the same way.
I like looking at this as a marriage, kind of. There are a lot of similarities.
It is a much shorter duration, and we are not going to have an ugly breakup, but we have a contract before we start this marriage.
You have to go through the design process. It is kind of like a pre-honeymoon. That is the fun part. You are doing all this design stuff.
There is a lot of togetherness here.
We are going to come into this house that you have an emotional connection with, and we are probably going to tear it apart. It better turn out good because I think it is fair for homeowners to have high expectations.
During this process, it works best if we like each other.
I will be honest: we have had a couple of people where there was a clear personality conflict almost right from the start.
I was mature enough for once to say, “Are you feeling like this is not a good fit?”
Both homeowners said, “Oh, we are so glad you said something because we were feeling that way too.”
We parted as friends and walked away.
I think it is important to like each other. There is too much chance for conflict and too many problems.
For homeowners, a lot of times they want you to like their project, their house, and their idea. A lot of homeowners float it out there a little bit insecurely, saying, “What do you think? Is this even possible? Is this something you can get behind?”
Host:
You talk about budgets and other things.
As Americans, we do not like talking about money, and you really have to make sure that is an open line of dialogue.
It is interesting when you talk about not only folks interviewing you, but you also probing them to see whether this is going to be a good fit.
Having that comfort level to start talking money is a big, important step, isn’t it?
Mike:
It is.
You go through some of that in the first meeting. You are doing all the nuts and bolts stuff. You are measuring, taking pictures, and brainstorming, but you are also building a relationship together.
That is really important.
It is not like buying a car.
My wife needs a car, and it is the most frustrating experience. When you are trying to buy a car, I hate that job. But she tasked me with it, so I am trying to do the best I can.
There is an allure to something like Carvana, where you strip out human contact. You just buy this asset, and it shows up at your door.
I guess people do it. I am probably not going to do it. I have to go look at it.
But remodeling is not that way because there are too many options and too many directions it can go.
You mentioned tag-along projects before.
For a homeowner, you want to know all those options. That takes an investment in time on both people’s part to make it happen.
Host:
We are talking this morning with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction. The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is Edge Construction Company dot com.
It is a great website and resource to learn more about Mike and the team.
Also check out their links to Facebook, Pinterest, and Houzz. That is a big one.
The telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We will continue our conversation with Mike Twohig of Edge Construction next as the Home Remodeling Show continues right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
We are talking about some of the questions to ask your remodeler before you meet, or during those initial meetings — how to get to know each other and some of the important questions to ask.
Do not forget about the website, EdgeConstructionCompany.com. Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We talked about those initial conversations and the interview process between the homeowner and the remodeler.
Another thing is whether it is a good fit for the type of work they do regularly.
One thing I love about EdgeConstructionCompany.com and that Houzz link is seeing the portfolio you guys have at Edge Construction and seeing the type of work you do: bathrooms, kitchens, additions, basement remodels, and those types of things.
That is a real benefit, right?
Everybody has a first day on the job. But it is nice when you can look at a portfolio and say, “They have done this type of project many times before.”
Then you look at the results and think, “This is really going to set us up for success,” isn’t it?
Mike:
It is.
On the other side of that, a lot of times people try to talk us into doing things we do not normally do, sometimes to the point of even getting mad at me because I say, “Listen, this is not really our wheelhouse.”
We do some of that when we are doing other projects, but we just do not do that thing as a rule.
There are great companies out there, and we will point you in the right direction if we can.
That is a tough thing too.
If I were on the other side, and if it were myself without this background, or if my kids were looking to get work done and lived in a different city, I would absolutely say, “Find somebody that specializes.”
You are not going to call an electrician to do a job a plumber does. That is ridiculous. They speak different languages. It is totally different training.
If a remodeler has a track record like ours — I do not know what we have now, maybe 150 projects on Houzz and around 100 on our website — you can get a really good feel for the kinds of things we do.
If you listen to the show, you can also get a feel for some of the things we do not do, or maybe things we do once in a while but do not necessarily promote on the website.
That is a good thing.
I have had chances to talk to people who are younger in this business, and they ask what way to go.
I remember when I started out, it seemed like everybody’s truck said they did everything from additions to tile work, building new houses, remodeling, and commercial.
It is like, “Listen, you cannot be good at all that stuff. There is no way.”
In this business, you build up from your strength.
If your strength is doing kitchens and baths, great. Stay there for a while, at least before you branch out.
Host:
I look at the team at Edge Construction.
We talk a lot about the design side and the build side. You mentioned electricians, plumbers, and those kinds of things.
Having these things at your core, starting with what you did and then adding great people and specialties, is impressive.
One of the things that has always impressed me about working with you and talking with you each week is that you are not afraid to say, “That is not something I do.”
You mentioned that you do not call a plumber for an electrical issue.
Going back to being an electrician, you have an electrician on staff. Why? Because that is not your personal specialty.
Bringing on an electrician and having that team on board means these are people who do things and bring things to the table that may not be your personal forte, right?
Mike:
Right.
You do not start off with all these tools in your bucket.
You can be a great craftsman. I think we are probably one of the only companies that is an electrical contractor, does tile in house, and has the carpentry side.
Some people do that, but it is pretty common for builders and remodelers to sub all sorts of things out. We get approached to do that for other people all the time.
In fact, 10 years ago we would do that for other people. We just did not have enough of our own work, so we would do it.
Those are good questions to ask.
Get a feel for whether the person is just a pleaser and does not want to say no. “No” is the hardest word to say when you are in business.
Or do they have a passion for a certain kind of thing? Is something really in their wheelhouse?
We get asked to replace windows quite a bit, and it is just not our thing. Even though we probably replace a couple hundred windows in a year within the remodeling realm, where we have other things torn apart, it is pretty easy for us to do.
It is worth it for homeowners to get us to do it in those situations.
But it is not our specialty.
Host:
So if somebody calls and says they need siding done or need windows done, that is different. If it is part of the project, it is part of the project.
What about asking, “Do you hire subcontractors?” or “Who are the people you work with?”
Is that a fair upfront question about how the responsibilities and work will be handled?
Mike:
I think it is very fair.
I will talk about us a little bit first and why we do it the way we do it.
We do not do concrete.
I have the tools to do concrete. I have all the parts we need to do concrete. In a real pinch, we have done it. We have poured an addition foundation and done some flatwork.
But it is actually a better deal for us and for homeowners to hire people who do concrete all the time.
We are more expensive than somebody who does concrete every day.
The only reason we have done it is when our normal contractor could not get to us, or they had major problems in their company, or they were overloaded.
We used to do all of our roofing on remodels, and it was a pain because it is not something we do all the time.
But I am very picky on how that job is done.
I feel like I know what a good job looks like. It is the things you cannot see. Anybody can look up and say, “They nailed on the shingles.” But I want to know how it is flashed and how we are stopping water from getting into the house.
We found somebody I am really comfortable with. They are not afraid to ask questions, and I am not afraid to give advice and say how I want it done.
They are also faster and cheaper than we could do it.
So occasionally we have a subcontractor like that.
We do not do plumbing, but we have had the same people doing it for years, and we have a very predictable job.
Everything else pretty much is in house. We do the rest of it.
Host:
What about asking who the point person is? Who is the project manager?
That is important too.
When you are bringing together the different people, whether directly in house — carpenters from Edge Construction, electricians, and those types of people — who is coordinating it?
As a prospective homeowner for a remodel, is that what we ask about too? How do we coordinate this, and who is in charge?
Mike:
It is.
If you had asked me that question a dozen years ago, I would have said, “I am your contact. I am your carpenter.”
We were still a good-sized company, but our remodeling portion was not that big, and we did not have a big team behind us to get the work done.
I know homeowners back then were a little frustrated.
I know we are going to talk about communication, but if the person who is your point person has a lot of other responsibilities, it is going to be hard for them to probably satisfy that communication need as well as you want it.
So that is a great question.
On our side, we have in-house design, and it is really important. Design probably does not get the credit it deserves.
But if you want these great pictures online, it starts with good design, and having it in house is such a great thing.
We will have a point person. It is a designer who will take you through the design process. That designer will still be a resource once it gets turned over to construction, or once it gets turned over to the people on the jobsite who are making things happen.
You want to know what pathway you are supposed to follow.
In a perfect world, once the contract is signed and we are going to start, you switch over to Kyle or Troy or somebody out in the field because they are there day to day and the designers are not anymore.
If you have design questions, which still come up after the job starts, then you can go back to the designer.
Host:
I am going to ask you about communication.
I also want to talk about timeline as we talk with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction.
We are talking about questions to ask a home remodeler before you start that project, before you meet, and before you sign those contracts.
What are some of those things you should be asking?
In the meantime, if you have not been to the website, head over there now: EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
More of the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction is next right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
You are listening to the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction. Email your questions to EdgeConstructionRadio@gmail.com.
Once again, here is Sean Prebil on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction. You can find them online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
I mentioned communication, and we live in a world now where there are so many different ways to communicate. Unfortunately, not everybody takes full advantage of that.
Let’s talk about that question to ask up front: How do we communicate?
I know at Edge Construction, phone calls work, but there is also a lot of sending an email or shooting a text.
That has been a great benefit, hasn’t it?
Mike:
It has.
From our side, I talk to our people about this. We are living in a world where, if you order something on Amazon once or twice, when do you expect it?
Host:
Tomorrow.
Mike:
What happens if it does not show up tomorrow?
Host:
I am a little upset. I wonder what happened.
Mike:
In some ways, I think we are a little too connected.
From our standpoint, the perfect level of communication is that we get some feedback during the day, and especially for my people in the field, they are working. They have a lot of responsibility.
There are safety issues.
If they do not get back to you right away, maybe they return your text once a day. I think that is pretty acceptable from our side.
We have homeowners who do not really like that. They are used to sending a text and getting a response a couple of seconds later. Sometimes they can feel like, “Okay, you are not communicating well.”
No, no, no.
There has to be give and take on communication.
There are so many ways to communicate, like you mentioned, that it is not hard to get your point across.
Be patient, homeowners.
These people in the field, especially when you are communicating with them, are not behind a desk.
I will pick on the designers. The designer is in the air conditioning or heat, hopefully. Sometimes it is easier for them to get back quickly.
Whereas the people in the field love that feedback. They want to answer questions and deal with things as they come up.
If you can try to get home a little early once in a while, you can talk to them face to face.
Host:
I just think of someone setting tile and their phone getting five texts.
Mike:
Yes, exactly.
Host:
It is going to take a moment for sure.
It is interesting that you mentioned face-to-face communication as well.
Obviously, when you are hiring people at Edge Construction, you are looking for skilled people and people willing to learn. But I know another attribute is that they are good communicators and comfortable talking with homeowners.
That is an important part of it too.
Asking, “Will I be able to talk to the point person? Will I see them? Will they be onsite regularly?” is probably important too.
Mike:
It is.
I joke a little bit about the amount of communication, but maybe that is a worthy topic before you start.
Ask, “What is the reason? Do you want me texting your people on the weekend when they are off?”
That makes me a little nervous.
It is not because I do not think they will take it wrong. I just do not want them working on the weekend.
If you have an emergency, let us know. If something happened and we have to deal with it, we will deal with it.
But remember, these people have families. In their off time, when it is five o’clock on Friday, they are gone, just like you.
Host:
We are talking with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction. The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
We are talking about questions to ask a home remodeler before you meet.
A big question and important thing is: What is your timeline? And be honest about it.
One thing I know from doing the show with you is that, on your side, you are very honest. Sometimes people say, “Is it going to take that long?” But when we start to lay out the process, people say, “Oh, I see why.”
There are some people who will say, “We will get to it right away, and we will get everything done.” But to have a successful completion, understanding and explaining the timeline is an important part, isn’t it?
Mike:
It is.
I get asked that in every first meeting, and it is a fair question.
People ask, “What is the process? How long is this going to take?”
I want to say, “That is not really the right question.”
“What is the process?” is a great question because now we can talk about design.
If your kitchen is going to take three months to complete, it is probably going to spend two or three months in design.
Design goes right up to contract because we are not going to rush you. We are going to let this unfold.
Then we are going to order materials at contract. When those come in, we will give you a start date, and then we will start your job.
When you talk about things like that with a homeowner, they do understand.
You do not want us starting your job without the cabinets in our hands because we will not start without them.
It is one less thing.
I do not want to operate a schedule on promises from a supplier that things are going to show up on Thursday.
The supply chain has gotten better, but it is still far from perfect.
I have been able to tighten up some timelines this year, and I am going to keep doing that because we seem to be doing better than our schedule now, pretty consistently.
So I can start taking out some days here and there on our normal schedules.
I know none of that probably matters. It may not be noticeable to a homeowner, but there is a lot of incentive for your remodeler to get your job done fast.
They do not want your job to stretch out.
We talked about that uncomfortable subject: money.
If you do not finish jobs, you do not get paid.
As a remodeler and as a company, you have to pay your people and suppliers.
When jobs run well and get done in a reasonable amount of time, that is really good for a business like ours.
All of this is great to talk about with the homeowner because you may not be thinking about it.
TV has given us a version of remodeling. It looks like it gets done in a half hour. Everybody knows that is not true, but until you have gone through the process, sometimes it is reasonable to think it should go a lot quicker.
Host:
What you highlight there is the ability to convey the timeline and help people understand how this works.
There is a process.
If I were a homeowner and I called someone else for some weird reason, and they said, “Yes, we will start tomorrow,” I would be really nervous about that approach.
We are talking this morning with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction.
The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We have touched on the word design, but we have not really asked about that question: Who does the design?
At Edge Construction, you have amazing designers, and you are working together day in and day out.
That is a good and important question to ask for a project, isn’t it?
Mike:
Very much so.
Go back to when Mike was by himself. He was drawing things on graph paper.
Then I borrowed designers from our flooring company, and that is pretty common for people who start out in this business.
I would send homeowners over there and say, “We have cabinets, so bring a cabinet door and pick out your flooring and things there.”
They would give you a little advice on paint colors and things, but you would have to do more yourself than you might like.
Now, the process is that you are working with a designer. That designer is filtering options out.
We know there are millions of options now, and it can be overwhelming for most people. You look at literally 10,000 samples in some of these showrooms, and designers can wade through that.
We clear the trees out of the way so you can see the forest.
Based on the things you say, the pictures you like, and some of the things you indicate through the design process, a really good designer will also help keep you on budget.
It is very valuable to have that great designer.
Host:
When we talk about design, is it also worth asking whether custom items can be incorporated?
We have talked in the past about maybe bringing back tile from your honeymoon in Europe.
Some remodelers may say, “No, these are our products. These are what we carry. This is what we do.”
Is that an important question, especially if you want to incorporate a piece of furniture or something special?
Mike:
Yes.
That is actually a fun thing for us.
Like any job, you can stay in your lane a lot. I feel like people in this trade have a little artsy bent. They are here because they do not want to work in a factory.
They want to use their skill set, but they also want to use their brain a little bit and problem-solve.
It is fun for designers to have something different on the table because now you have to coordinate with this cool specialty product, whatever it is.
You mentioned tile from Europe. We have actually done that scenario. Somebody brought back tile from Italy and other places. I cannot remember them all.
But that is actually pretty fun all the way through.
Host:
Very cool stuff.
We are talking this morning with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction. The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Now is the time to give them a call: 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We will continue our conversation with Mike Twohig of Edge Construction next here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
This is the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com. Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We are talking about some of the questions you should ask a home remodeler before you meet.
We have talked about the website, EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
Check out those links to Facebook, Houzz, and Pinterest. Especially check out that Houzz one.
Mike, I know Houzz is a global thing. Your Houzz page gets people looking at and sharing your work. People in Denmark, for example, may say, “I love this kitchen that was done in Madison, Wisconsin.”
We are global right now, and sometimes people wonder, “Do you work in my area?”
That is something I did not really think about, but you said that is a serious question, isn’t it?
Mike:
It is.
I have friends who are contractors over in Milwaukee, and they work from West Bend to Oconomowoc to Racine. That is a lot of driving, but it is very normal for them.
They are used to it, and their people are used to driving. If you are on the north side of Milwaukee and going all the way down south, it could be an hour or an hour and a half sometimes, and they think nothing of it.
My people here, if they have to go more than 15 minutes — no, it is not quite that bad.
But in Dane County, we are spoiled because everything is so close.
For construction, it is fantastic because we are usually 10 to 15 minutes from the job.
We do not have to take work from everywhere.
We get inquiries from all around Milwaukee and Lake Geneva.
The farthest job we did was actually an outside one. I fought it tooth and nail, but we finally gave in.
It was a homeowner up there who saw our designs. They had a very nice house and just could not find somebody to work with up there.
At first, they talked us into just designing for them, which we did.
Then about a year later, they came back and said, “We just cannot find anybody to do this.”
I know there are good people up there. They just could not find somebody.
Basically, they talked us into it.
We said, “If we are going to do this, we have to pick when it is going to happen. It has to be in a downtime.”
I think we did it right after Christmas a few years ago.
You have to work with us. You cannot be demanding.
We actually have one almost the same situation that we are going to do by Oshkosh. These are really one-offs, but it is the same exact situation.
It is not really efficient for us to do it, and the homeowner has extra charges to deal with.
So if you can find somebody right in your area to do the work, you are much better off.
Also, it is not just about proving somebody is good at what they do. There should be lots of evidence if somebody is really bad at what they do.
If you are pulling somebody from far away, you have less access to what the neighbors are saying.
Host:
It is funny to talk about how spoiled we are. For us, driving across the east side to the west side is like, “Oh my gosh, that is so far.”
That is why a lot of places have an east location and a west location, to make it more convenient.
Speaking of area, is that a question to ask?
Not necessarily just about service area, but for example, in Madison I think of the isthmus and downtown area.
Should you ask, “Do you specialize in this type of home? Have you done this type of home before?”
There is a good reason they talk about houses on and near the isthmus. They are great, prime locations. Some have been neglected. Those houses are very unique.
Is it important to ask, “Do you have a history or understanding of these types of houses in this area?”
Mike:
Yes, it is very important because there are unique issues with those houses.
By the way, if you are trying to park a big van down there, have lots of fun. It is not exactly a great time.
I know contractor friends of mine who will not work down there because it is stressful: the parking, carrying tools a block, and things like that.
We have had neighbors call the police on us because we parked six inches too close to a driveway. You are supposed to be four feet away.
Everything is compressed. There is not a place to stage materials.
Maybe the question is, “How do you feel about working on old houses?”
You can usually tell by looking at someone’s face. If you ask, “Do you like working on old houses?” and they grindingly say yes, they probably do not.
If they live in a brand-new house, I do not know, maybe not.
I think it takes a special person to work on those houses. You really have to buy into it, and it takes time to get good at it.
Host:
I know you guys love those old houses, the challenges, and seeing the results.
One final thing, and maybe we should have led off with this because it is important: licensing and insurance.
When you are talking about working in the city, I start to think about building permits.
Each community is different. You mentioned electrical licensing, being an electrical contractor, insurance, and whether you are fully insured and covered.
Those are vital questions.
Mike:
They are important.
I would advise homeowners to check. People do this for us.
It is public information. You can go on the city or state website and see if somebody’s licensing is up to date.
Generally, you cannot get the licensing unless you back it up with a base level of insurance.
We have homeowners who are pretty savvy and say, “I want to be named on a certificate of insurance.” That is certainly fine. We do that all the time.
It is a way to be assured that this person is doing this right.
One last final minute: all our people we hire and who are on your job have workers’ comp paid on them.
You would think, “Doesn’t everybody?”
No. It is actually pretty uncommon in our business. There is a lot of subcontracting.
Subcontracting is sometimes a way to get away without having workers’ comp. Workers’ comp is very expensive.
But if somebody hurts themselves on your job, it goes straight to that side of things. It is not like the lawyers are looking around to see where liability is necessarily.
It would be important to me if I were the homeowner.
Host:
Anytime there are liability questions on your own property, you really want to pay attention as the homeowner.
Great advice and great information, as always.
We are talking with Mike Twohig of Edge Construction.
Check them out online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
Edge Construction brings you the Home Remodeling Show right here on 1310 WIBA.