ArcaMax

Each week, I extract homeowners just like you from horrible encounters with contractors. I do this via a short consultation phone or video call. The situations range from faulty roofing work and new cracked or spalling concrete to wet basements and shoddy tile work. The common denominator in every situation is misplaced trust. The homeowner trusted that the contractor would install this or that correctly. More often than not, they don’t.

Just days ago, I received the following email from a middle-aged woman who lives in the Pacific Northwest. She let me know immediately that her home improvement funds have been sucked dry. She’s now on her own and is using my DIY phone coaching services. The good news is that she’s figured out how to avoid nightmares in the future with an assist from me. Here’s what she wrote:

“My house has been a disaster in many ways. It has taken all my money, so I am trying to do all of this myself. I need help knowing what materials to use for the various foundation repairs ... and also what tools to use. I also need to be able to relay information to various contractors I may have to hire in the future when I’ve saved up more money. I haven't had any good luck with any for a long time, and my trust that they will know what to do is not very good. I really need to be able to tell them what to do and exactly what I want.”

Have you been in a situation like this? If my incoming email is a reliable indication, then I’d say you have also lost money and sleep over faulty work.

You can see this woman has zeroed in on why she’s lost lots of money. Her last sentence in that email is the most powerful one. She’s done trusting that contractors know what to do. She’s not going to hope any longer that she’ll get the exact result she wants when it’s time to hire a contractor. Good for her! You can do the same.

I’m in the same boat as you are. I own a piece of land that has a common driveway on it. The driveway is used by two adjacent lot owners. The covenants attached to our deeds state we must contribute equally and maintain the common driveway to a certain standard.

It’s time for us to improve the drainage on each side of the driveway and add some new topping gravel. Most people would just call three contractors, show them the driveway and have a face-to-face conversation about what they want done.

That’s a recipe for disaster before you even enter into a contract. The odds are that the bidding contractors will come back with different ideas of scope, methods and the materials they’d want to use. It’s impossible to compare quotes and bids when you do it this way.

I spent an hour and wrote up a very simple set of specifications for our driveway project. I described the problem, and then I shared what needs to be done, what topping gravel to use, and so forth. I also put in the specifications that each bidding contractor had to supply a valid certificate of general liability insurance and an up-to-date copy of their New Hampshire Workman’s Compensation certificate. I sent a copy of the specifications to each bidding contractor.

I can hear you now. You’re frustrated because you don’t know what to tell the contractors to do. It’s not that hard to create simple specifications. Almost all manufacturers of the products that will be used on your home have done the work for you.

Let’s say you want a new front door installed. Just about every major manufacturer has a step-by-step installation manual. Your specs simply have to state: “Remove the existing front door. Protect all interior and exterior surfaces from damage. Install the front door with beveled glass made by the Acme Door Co. Install the door exactly as stated in the manufacturer’s step-by-step installation instructions. Paint the door Sunflower Sunrise using the top-of-the-line exterior paint made by the Blozo Paint Co. Apply the paint exactly as it states on the label of the can.”

You then state in your contract that the bidding specifications are part of the contract and attached as an addendum.

You can do the above for just about every simple job you have around your home. If it’s a tile job, refer to the Tile Council of North America’s TCNA Handbook for Ceramic, Glass and Stone Tile Installation. If you’re about to install exterior brick, rebuild a chimney or create a new brick patio, then refer to the Brick Industry Association’s Technical Notes. Just about every product out there has a similar association that publishes clear instructions on how to install its products.

Decades ago, I created Contractor Hiring Guides. These documents share valuable tips for the top 30 projects around your home. Many of them include questions you’d probably never know to ask each contractor. The questions are written so you know the correct answer. This is exactly what the woman in the Pacific Northwest needs to help her with all her future projects.

You can obtain my hiring guides as well as many other helpful PDF files by going here: http://go.askthebuilder.com/timslibrary

Subscribe to Tim’s FREE newsletter at AsktheBuilder.com. Tim offers phone coaching calls if you get stuck during a DIY job. Go here: go.askthebuilder.com/coaching

©2025 Tim Carter. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.