Don’t Let Your Contractor Talk You Into These Things

Getting work done on your house can be a stressful experience for a lot of reasons. There’s the cost, of course. There’s the disruption—the dust and disorder, plus having people tramping loudly through the house. And there’s the stress of being at the mercy of someone who knows a lot more about your house and its systems than you do. That inequality of knowledge sometimes makes it easy for contractors to talk you into things.

If your contractor tells you that something is necessary, desirable, or worth the extra expense, you don’t always have the information to push back. A shady contractor can leverage that and instill fear that a wrong decision will translate into big problems or regrets down the line, and before you know it, your modest renovation has ballooned into an enormous project. Here are three things you should always resist when a contractor tries to talk you into them.

Upsells

Budgeting for a renovation or repair is never an exact science—you’re typically advised to tack on an extra 10% or so to whatever budget number you come up with as a hedge against the unexpected. And sometimes a contractor will have a very good reason to advise you to upgrade an aspect of your project to something more expensive, whether it’s pricier materials or fancier appliances. But often it’s just upselling, a tactic to increase their own profit margin, as they can tack on extra margin for acquiring and installing the higher-end stuff.

The important thing to pay attention to is whether your contractor is simply offering a recommendation or if they’re pushing you to make the change. The latter suggests there’s an ulterior motive beyond advising their client, and if they’re impatient with any suggestion that you need to do some research, you should definitely shut down the idea. There should also be a rational reason behind the suggestion beyond “it’s better.” If the contractor suggests switching out cheaper ceramic tiles for pricey natural stone, can they tell you it will hold up better, last longer, or otherwise have a real, lasting impact on the results? If they can’t offer you a rationale, skip the upsell.

Corner Cuts

When having work done on the house, there will routinely be unforeseen problems—repairs that are more difficult than anticipated, or problems revealed when walls and floors are opened up. A conscientious contractor will face these problems head-on, have an open dialog with you about any additional costs or time involved, and never compromise the quality and safety of the work.

If your contractor tries to talk you into cutting some corners, either as a way to keep costs in line or to speed up a project that’s started to slip off schedule, be wary. This is especially true if they suggest something that could cause problems down the line—long after they’re gone. When having the bathroom in my house renovated a few years ago, for example, one contractor suggested we remove a water valve that shut off water to the hose spigot outside the house (the pipe ran from the bathroom through about twelve feet of wall to the outside). I realized this suggestion would simply make his job tiling in that part of the room a lot easier—but if the pipes ever burst, I’d have no way to isolate the water without shutting it off to the whole house, so I insisted he do it the harder way.

Again, pressure is the key—if your contractor is suggesting skipping some aspect of the work because they insist it’s the only way to keep to a schedule, push back. And be especially suspicious if they insist skipping something is actually a benefit to you, because “not doing part of the project” is almost never going to be good for you, but getting paid despite not doing everything originally specified will certainly benefit them.

Scope creep

Finally, some contractors treat any chance to get inside your house as an opportunity to bloat the project (and their expected profit from the work). Scope creep is when a contractor agrees to take on a project for you, then begins adding new dimensions to it. A modest job to remove a tub and install a shower slowly morphs into a complete bathroom renovation. Replacing a few old windows turns into new windows throughout plus new doors.

The key to managing your renovation is to have a clear plan in place before you proceed—and then stick to it. If your contractor has good reason to push for an increased scope, they should be pushing for it at the very beginning, before contracts are signed and deposits paid. Suddenly pushing for a more ambitious project in the middle of work is often a sales tactic that puts pressure on you to make a decision while your house is in shambles.

As noted above, sometimes scope creep is a necessary evil—if your contractor removes that bathtub and finds the floor completely rotted, enlarging the scope to include a new subfloor is unavoidable. But resist any increases to scope that don’t have a clear, compelling rationale behind them.