You are considering having remodeling work done on your house. For one reason or another you are not going to do the work yourself.

So you start looking for a general contractor who does residential remodeling work.

As you might already know this summer has been a busy time for those who do remodeling work. Increasing home prices, among other factors, have made this seem to be the right time for many people to make the commitment to move forward with their projects.

While the weather has not been as hot as we usually enjoy in the Bay Area the market has been hotter than ever.

With all this demand for remodeling work what do you do? How are you going to locate a good general contractor in these busy times? Let me see if I can offer you some tips based on our years working in the Bay Area building community.

Speak to those who you know. The best place to start is in your own community. Ask those people whose opinions you trust and respect who have had remodeling work done at any time.

You can get so much in good information about a contractor from someone who has had the contractor work on their home. The information is close to priceless because you don't have to go through the actual hiring process to get the benefit of it.

Ask for referrals from those who have already worked on your home. You might have no idea about which general contractor to talk with. Who might you already know who has that knowledge?

You probably have had some people from the building community in your home for one reason or another. The pest control inspection that was done when you purchased your home, a hot water heater that failed and needed replacing, having a new light fixture installed or getting landscaping work done are some of the circumstances that brought you in contact with people whose opinions you trust.

Ask these people who they think are good general contractors. People like plumbers and electricians come in contact with many more general contractors than the average homeowner ever will. Take advantage of their experiences and insights.

Go to the lumberyard. Do you have a favorite lumberyard? All general contractors do. A place where you get good service, what you want is in stock, where you get your questions answered in a complete and thorough way: these are all things that make you think you are in the right place. As a general contractor I love the same things in a lumberyard.

Ask the clerk with whom you usually do business if he can give you the name of a good general contractor. Most will. If yours can't then ask for someone at the yard who is more familiar with what you are looking for.

As with the people who have already worked on your home this is a very good source for a good referral. Lumberyards like dealing with people who are personable, organized and prompt bill-payers and who do work that makes the yard look good. These are all qualities you want in your general contractor.

Lumberyards are a very important part of the building community. As such they are usually careful about making recommendations. The lumberyard wants who they refer to you to be successful so the lumberyard will look good in your eyes.

Take a class. Some general contractors feel that it is important to give the knowledge they have gathered working in the building community back to community you are a part of. Classes about what you need to know to have a successful remodeling project are given at local libraries and adult schools.

One of the really good things about such a class is that you will get to experience the general contractor without having to make any commitment or even interact with them one-on-one, if you so choose. You do get to learn from the general contractor as he explains his perspective on how the whole remodeling experience can be approached to make it more likely than not that it will be successful.

Be careful of ads. As a general contractor who is always needing to develop new resources we sometimes use ads to find companies we need, like plumbers and painters.

The ad is just the start. We will not work with a company that can not furnish references who we can speak with. In the absence of contact with these references we will be making an uncomfortable leap of faith.

Do the same to protect yourself.

Be prepared to wait for the right person. If all the good general contractors you come in contact with are busy for this building season be prepared to wait until they become available.

Given the fact that the planning and permitting aspects of getting a project done often take months it is likely that you will not be building this summer if you are starting your process now anyway. Take advantage of the slack that this will give you to do the general contractor search in a manner that will leave you in the best position possible when it comes to making this big commitment.

Work with those who have been building community in the building community. Your project will only be successful if you make the right choice in a general contractor. It is such an important decision.

Some of the best general contractors are those who have worked hard to make the building community better. They deal with all fairly and with integrity. They try to raise the standards for those businesses they work with.

Treat yourself to the best. Follow the steps laid out above and become part of a building community. I think you will like the experience, even in these busy times.

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