7 Questions To Ask A General Contractor Before They Build Your Home

Just the thought of building your own home can be extremely exciting. You can choose your favorite items for every room of the house and can even choose custom doors. Despite how you decide to build your home or who you hire though, it is important to ask the seven questions below to your general contractor.

1. What Is Customizable?

You first want to ask the general contractor what is customizable in your new home. This is especially true if you have large dreams for what you want your home to look like. Your general contractor may only allow you to make cosmetic changes, though you may want to be in the planning for every part of your new home. Be sure to have the details ready for every room of your dream home if you are able to, including the kitchen.

2. What Will Be The Same As The Model Home?

Chances are that the general contractor that you hire will have a model home in which they can showcase their skillset. You need to make sure to ask exactly what on the model home will be the same as the home that will be built. This is especially true if there are features that you are absolutely in love with or that you absolutely hate on the model home.

3. Do You Have References?

It is important to only hire a general contractor who has an extensive list of references so that you can know that they have done good work in the past. This will literally be your home that will be built, so it is important to make sure that it goes as you would hope that it would. A reference can be in the form of co-workers, partners or even past customers, which may actually be some of the most reliable references.

4. What Will The Timeline Be?

It is important to ask your general contractor for a general sense of the timeline that can be expected for your new home to be completed. Also be prepared that sometimes there are things that can delay this timeline such as weather-related concerns, material delays, and more. Make sure your contractor does send you updates about the process so that you are never left in the dark throughout the home building process though and that he or she is open to questions.

5. What Happens If Something Goes Wrong?

Hopefully, nothing will go wrong with your new house, but there is a chance that something may go wrong. It is important to ask your contractor exactly what would happen if something were to go wrong. Ask for examples of how he or she handled a delay in the timeline or something going wrong in the past. You want to be sure to always have communication lines open so again, you can be in the know the whole time.

6. Is There A Warranty?

Many new homes come with some form of a limited warranty for a short time in order to cover if anything goes wrong. Ask exactly what is covered in the warranty, and whether there are any rooms or details that are not covered by the warranty. This will help you to avoid costs if something were to go wrong with the plumbing or electricity, for instance, in your new home.

7. Can I Cancel?

If you start working with a general contractor and determine that he or she is not meeting your needs, you need to inquire if you are able to cancel. Make sure that you are able to cancel before you sign on the dotted line in order to avoid any potential scenarios in which you are stuck with a nightmare of a situation. Your new home is completely your decision and not the decision of the contractor, so it is important to be able to stop working with him or her if you need to.

Building a new home requires many steps, one of which is hiring a general contractor in most cases. It is important to make sure you understand the whole story of your contractor by asking the above questions before working with them. This will help you avoid any potential heartbreak.