Hiring Contractors Without Going Through Hell: How to Find, Hire, Supervise, and Pay Professional Help (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Radio show host Levinson offers advice for home owners who are considering additions, repairs, and major home improvements. His counsel regarding finding a contractor, making decisions, financing, and setting up a contract is basically sound and easy to understand. Explanations of scams and problems could be very valuable to those anticipating major home repairs/renovations. The tone is down to earth, practical, and occasionally humorous. Appendixes include basic information on laws, agency addresses, sample contracts, change orders, specifications, and payment schedules. Bullet summaries of "Things To Remember" at the end of each chapter give the book some quick reference value. However, much of this information is available elsewhere, and the price seems high for what could be a good series of magazine articles on the topic. Libraries with large home repair sections may wish to consider.
-Carolyn Alexander, CTB/CLS Lib. Support, Monterey, Cal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Every homeowner has a horror story about remodeling. Here's how to avoid such domestic disasters.

This practical guide focuses specifically on issues that relate to hiring and managing home repair professionals: what to expect from a competent craftsman; how to arrange financing; how to negotiate contracts; how to supervise contractors; and what to do if the work is faulty.

Unlike nuts-and-bolts instruction manuals, however, this book deals with the homeowner's emotional distress, conflict, and anxiety aggravated by home repair complications.

Readers can easily empathize with the real-world experiences Levinson describes. Lively anecdotes and case studies are included to help anyone deal with home repair snafus and delays, while learning bow to prevent future remodeling mishaps. Whether you are trying to locate a reliable plumber, electrician, or handyman, here are proven tips for getting the job done successfully at reasonable cost. Helpful checklists, sample contract forms, a glossary, and a list of licensing requirements for contractors throughout the United States add to this book's usefulness.

Complete chapters cover each of these topics in detail, making this a helpful handbook to consult before launching any home renovation project.

Ellis Levinson realistically emphasizes renovations and repairs to help the homeowner who must make do rather than build anew.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802773818
• ISBN-13: 978-0802773814
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,103,206 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good starting point, November 28, 2003

By	David Deriso (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

I have found this book to be very enlightening. I am in the process of hiring a contractor, and this book opened my eyes to several steps that I need to take in order to protect myself and my investment. In particular, I found the sections on writing the contract and setting up the payment schedules to be helpful. There are a couple of improvements that could be made to this book to make it even more helpful. It should include more examples of contracts. The one full contract example the book includes is reduced to unreadable text size in order to save print, which makes it nearly useless as an example.

Since the book was written pre-Web, it would benefit from being revised to include information on helpful websites. For example, the book provides the addresses and phone numbers of licensing bureaus for each state, but it would be nice to have a website address, too.

All in all, this is a good starter book and has the potential to save you far more than its cost in troubles and headaches.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brief and to the point - worth it, March 5, 2008

By	Aurora (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This book is an easy read and effective resource. The chapters on the contract, financing, and scams are well worth it. Helpful examples of forms in the Appendix (print is a bit small in the paperbook version).

Use this along with What the experts don't tell you about building or renovating your home (may be reissued in 2008 with a new title).