How do you protect yourself and your property from getting scammed by concrete contractors looking to make a quick buck? Unfortunately, many scams exist that are designed to take advantage of people looking to have their concrete repaired.
It can be hard to navigate the job of hiring a concrete contractor who is legitimate, dependable, and who is true to their word. But if you’re within their serviced areas, we can especially vouch for this St Louis concrete repair company as a legitimate and trustworthy contractor.
To help you with making the decision on who to hire, we’ve compiled a list of things you need to know before hiring a contractor to ensure you don’t get scammed at a concrete repair job.
- Compare quotes from different concrete contractors
Getting the numbers is right is the number 1 tip most people will tell you when you start talking about contracting a company for service. That’s already great advice, but there are a few things that can be added to it to avoid a scam.
First, you need to call more than one contractor to arrange a consultation to get a quote. Call at least three and make sure to arrange for them to come over to look at the area you want repairing – do not trust that anyone can give an accurate quote over the phone without looking at the problems and taking measurements.
Second, be wary of a very low quote. If you consult three contractors and two tell you it will cost $4000, it is a red flag if the third says it will only cost $1500. Either that contractor does not know enough about concrete repair, has no plans of doing the job properly, or is planning to add “unexpected” costs to the final cost.
- Test their knowledge of concrete repair
There is a very good reason we choose to hire professionals instead of attempting to DIY concrete repair ourselves – and that’s because we’re banking on their experience and knowledge. But what if they don’t actually know anything? Unfortunately, this is more common than you might think.
To get around this, you first need to learn more about concrete repair. How does it work? What are the various methods concrete can be repaired? What is the average cost of a job like this? Why does concrete crack in the first place? What materials and equipment are needed? What does repaired concrete look like? All of these are things you should ideally do some research on before you get on the phone with contractors. That’s because a contractor’s breadth of knowledge should tell you a lot about the kind of work they’ve done in the past and whether they are the right fit for you.
When the contractor comes to check the concrete that needs repairing, ask them questions about the job. The accuracy of their answers as well as their openness to answer your questions can be good indicators that they are legitimate but if they are brushing off answering questions and even getting defensive, those can be red flags that a contractor does not know as much as he claims.
- Check over their equipment and tools
We understand that many independent contractors or small firms may not have the budget to keep their equipment brand new for every job (and that good equipment does not always mean a skilled contractor), but you should check over what they bring to the job anyway.
If everything they bring seems to be either dirty or broken, that can tell you a lot about the way they treat their own tools. So imagine how they will be treating your property and the job.
- Iron out the details of payment
You’ve heard the quotes from all the contractors you’ve contacted and you’ve settled on who you think is the best fit for your needs. But the trouble doesn’t always end there, as issues of payment can still come up.
The first thing you need to settle on is how much you will need to pay upfront before the job even begins. There are differing opinions on this, but most agree that you should not be paying more than 20% upfront. If a contractor insists that you pay more that can often be a sign of some shady things going on. Don’t believe excuses that they absolutely need that money to get all the materials first.
In addition, be wary of contractors who push you on paying in cash. They can do this by saying that they’ll give you a discount if you pay it all in cash. This can often mean that the contractor is not paying his due taxes and is probably not insured either.
- Watch out for common concrete repair scams
While the tips we’ve talked about above can help you avoid getting scammed in the usual process of hiring a contractor, some scams exist outside that and it is useful to know about them in case you run into them and become tempted by their extremely good offers.
A common scam many contractors use is to cold call or knock on the doors of potential customers like you and tell you that your neighbors X, Y, and Z all had their concrete repair jobs done by him and will offer that he does yours too. While it’s always great to have a contractor that has already been used by people you know, chances are that this contractor did not do their job and simply knows your neighbors’ names.
Another clever scam many contractors use is to say that they can offer you an extremely low price on the job because they have some leftover concrete or concrete that has been slightly damaged but is still perfectly usable. There is no such thing, and it is likely the contractor will simply do a shoddy job and disappear soon after.