If you should be considering hiring a professional fence contractor or deck contractor, you will find few questions it is in addition crucial to ask before getting started. Here are the most effective five questions to ask your contractor:
1) Ask in case a deposit is required - Reputable fence builders and deck builders will never ask a person for a deposit to start work. A good contractor must have the financial ability to get materials at the start, and the confidence to provide the last project to be able to receive money for the work when completed.
2) Inquire about insurance and licenses - Hiring a "handyman" to build a fence or deck may cost a little less at the start, but there are several risks involved if they do not have the proper license or insurance. professional deck company in austin tx If somebody gets hurt during construction for instance, perhaps you are responsible via your homeowners insurance. Fence builders usually don't need to get building permits, but deck builders often do - so this may often be considered a problem for unlicensed deck contractors. Professional fence and deck contractors will always carry adequate insurance and the proper local business licenses.
3) Inquire about extra charges - Sometimes you'll receive an "estimate" from a fence company or a deck company instead of a "quotation ".Often times a company will add extra charges as you go along which could or may not be confirmed with the homeowner first. When you have already devoted to the project with a certain fence company or deck company, it may be harder to contest any extra charges across the way. Fence and deck projects generally have little or no cost changes as you go along, so be sure that you are getting a price "quotation" in writing that will represent the last bill for the project as described.
4) Ask your deck or fence builder if they choose screws or nails - Although most wood fence contractors and wood deck contractors nowadays are only using screws in their construction, some companies remain using nails! Using nails is faster than screwing, but of course it's pretty common knowledge nowadays that nails will fail much soon than screws in exactly the same applications. Proper fence builders and deck builder will never consider using nails. You'll need to ensure that you are hiring a business that is using only outdoor screws that are approved for use in the material being used (usually pressure treated lumber).
5) Inquire about a warranty - A reputable builder should provide a warranty on the workmanship of the finished project. The material warranty, if applicable must also be passed along to the homeowner and will change in terms and length. The labour warranty should really be at least couple of years allowing for full exposure to any or all four seasons a few times - this may expose any workmanship issues that would need to be addressed. Also consider that the warranty for work performed is just valuable if the company remains in business - a warranty from a tiny company is generally worth much less than a warranty from a respected larger company.