References

One of the most sought-after, yet least used, commodities available to home improvement customers is the REFERENCE.

Contractors love to collect them. Customers love to ask for them. No one ever actually calls them. Being listed as a reference for a contractor is the next best thing to being listed on the national "Do Not Call List."

As a customer, you need to call them. You need to call them like your life depended on it. You need to drop everything you're doing, cancel your doctor's appointment, skip your son's soccer game and just pick up the phone and call the references provided by your contractor before you sign a contract.

Contractors will cherry-pick the references they give their customers, that's just common sense. However, most people never actually level with their contractor. The same folks who say they'd recommend Jimmy's Windows to the Pope will turn around and plunge a 10" blade into Jimmy's back if you ask the right questions.

Your contractor is most likely not going to treat you better than anyone on his reference list. You owe it to yourself to get that person's perspective. If Jimmy offers someone as a reference and they tell you that Jimmy is a flake, you need to know that before you sign a contract.

If a contractor doesn't have a list of references for you, you need to run like the wind. Speaking as a "good" contractor, I have dozens of folks who love being able to recommend me to their pals at cocktail parties. People like to recommend good contractors to their friends the same way they like recommending good restaurants.

Most of the time, if you actually call them, references will be able to give you a realistic picture of the contractor you are about to hire. In the end, that's all you can ask for.