How to Find a Contractor for Home Addition Work

Last Updated: 2022-09-09By Steven H.

A home addition is a great method of building a perfect home equity coupled with the fact that it brings beauty around your home.

A home addition is not always the type to do with the DIY method. It is always necessary to hire a professional contractor to get this done.

Apart from the fact that having a contractor for your home addition gives it a more professional look, it also saves you a whole lot of money and time since you don’t have to waste a whole lot of time and money trying to fix it yourself.

Remember, one of the reasons for home addition is to enhance the beauty of your home which can only be possible when you hire a professional contractor. A major problem most people face is how to find a contractor for home addition that is reliable and competent.

Getting a service of a professional contractor to handle your home addition project is the best way to carry out major home improvement in your home.

Hiring a contractor to handle your home addition simply means that you are trying saving yourself a whole lot of stress. They understand the best designs that fit your free space, and they are good at giving a precise and accurate measurement for your projects.

We wanted to list few steps for finding contractor for home addition for home owners to go smoother with their project:

Where to Find Contractor for Home Addition
Which Contactors you Need for Renovation
Which Criteria Should Contractors Have
Proper Agreement with Right Company

Recall that converting a basement or handling a home addition project requires that it must be designed, constructed, managed and supervised to specifications. All building projects or home improvement must be able to meet the set standards which must be adhere to strictly.

Contractors understand the specifications and standards required for home addition project, and they are great at bringing your ideas into reality. In short, the very best decision any homeowner can take for home addition in their property is to hire the service of a professional contractor to handle this job.

Hiring a bathroom contractor is by far easier than for an addition, simply because of increased scope of work and whole house responsibility for duration of project.

Where to Find Contractors for Home Addition

Online – this method of looking for workers or companies to complete your project is the most popular. There are thousands of websites with company ratings, portfolio and referral work contractors. Home owners need to search carefully for candidates before interviewing them, because there are many scammers out there.

Through Friends – if you have friends that recently did similar job and loved the company the dealt with, it should an easy pick for you. Referral work has been out there for thousands of years and it is always good to deal with recommended by close friend contractors.

On Jobsites – there is tons of work in every city. Simply by driving around in your neighborhood home owners can spot similar projects being completed. Do not hesitate to walk up to them and ask if they can estimate your work.

Through On Point Remodeling – we have suggested contractors and home addition companies that work in every region. Our designers created plans and hired many times professionals that we can recommend for your project.

Which Contractors You Need for Renovation?

Each contractor has specific specialty and experience in different trade.

The first significant step is to decide and analyze which type of contractor you really want. You must figure out the type of contractor during the planning process. Are you hiring a professional contractor for this project or a roadside contractor?

Depending on your budget, getting a professional contractor will make a whole lot of sense in achieving your long-term beautifully designed home addition. Some of the roadside contractors are usually known to be showing up late at sites, offering shoddy services, and leaving the project site too early.

One of the biggest problems that people face while hiring a contractor for their home improvement is that they don’t know whether they are capable of doing the job or not. Honestly, hiring a contractor is synonymous with hiring an employee.

You don’t need to be tricked by those yellow pages and sweet companies’ names. You have to use your common sense and possibly take the long-detailed process of hiring the best contractor.

There are a whole lot of homeowners who have unfortunately fallen into the hands of those bad contractors. They abandon projects midway and ask for more money beyond what was stated in the contract.

The other tip on how to find a home addition contractor is to try and access the services of the few available contractors around you and check what their customers think of their services plus the type of project they have successfully handled recently.

Generally, contractors charge to make any change to the initial designed plan most especially if the home addition requires more work or more materials to get the job completed.

Everyone wants to keep his or her reputation so when you finally have a reliable contractor that is ready to work with your budget; you can pay between 20%-40% upon signing the contract and paying the balance on an installment basis.

Which Criteria Should Home Addition Contractors Have

Portfolio of Completed Home Additions – every experienced and professional remodeling company should have portfolio of their projects. Number one page at local renovation companies visited by clients is portfolio and it is for a reason. See if they completed something that you want for your home.

Licenses and Documents – on the road of how to find a contractor for second floor addition, everyone should insure the company is properly licensed and insure. Home owners take full responsibility and obligation for people he signs contract with.

Current Jobs They Work at – if the company you are about to hire is as good as they say, there should not be a problem visiting one of their current projects. Ask supervisor or project manager to stop by in same size or similar area project to see how they operate.

Costs and Availability – there needs to be a balance for costs associated with home addition job and availability of the company. Be cautious if they can start right away and ask why. Most reputable home addition companies need several months to commence large projects.

Proper Agreement with Right Company

Proper agreement with home addition contractor

Legal agreement and contract is mandatory for hiring contractors.

Entering into agreement or contract for large remodeling project is a big deal. Do not simply give a deposit and assume everything is going to be as you expect. These jobs go for several hundred thousand dollars and we recommend paying a layer to read it through for you.

There could be hidden areas where home owners do not pay attention when reading contract, but it could hurt them in the end. Make sure it is fair for both parties with obligations and responsibilities.

It is a big mistake trusting company you hire with large amounts of money. Small contracts with one or few pages of details should be reconsidered. Ask them if they would be ok signing a contract or agreement you provide, and get it prepared by professional.

On Point Remodeling provides samples of contracts and agreements for all sorts of renovations and home additions. Ask our team for document that matches your project.

How to Find and Hire a Contractor for Home Addition

Hiring a good contractor demands that you make a good discretion and good judgment to achieve your deserved result. Another crucial factor to consider is that your contractor must be someone who is ready to listen to details and devote a lot of time to your project because hiring a busy type of contract can result into a whole lot of mistake.

Look out for a licensed contractor before you start your home addition. Hiring an unlicensed contractor is as good as hiring an irresponsible contractor for your project. Most property owners conclude that hiring a professional contractor will, in the long run, save you more time, stress and money.

Doing this may seem so tricky especially if you don’t know one already, you can ask a friend, colleague, family member for a proper recommendation and you can find them online too.

In a nutshell, it is better you choose based on your recommendation. You ask for references while checking them all out. If you don’t get any contractor through recommendation, you can then check the yellow papers.

Ensure you hire one that has all the necessary paper works and is completely legal during the pre-hiring stage. Most importantly, get one who has recently done a similar job. Find out the charge from people who have experience in hiring such services.

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Each building has some sort of driveway or at least should have. The main reason is for vehicles to come closer without need to walk all the way. Some homes are residential with small driveway for their car to come in and park before garage or front entrance, and others can be large commercial buildings with loading docks, delivery entrances and casual parking entrances. On Point Remodeling was asked for suggestions on residential driveway for new home construction, and we decided to write detailed article for all our readers. Using this guide you can select the material for your driveway and see what works for your budget. Here are the materials for driveway we will be discussing in our guide:

Asphalt
Concrete
Paver Stone
Crushed stone
Brick
Seashell
Gravel

To find good contractor for your driveway, you can either ask our team by email or try to find someone local that worked with neighbors or nearby buildings.

Installation process of any material surface on your driveway

a) Demolition and Excavation – Before anything is done, your contractor will get heavy machinery and scratch off old layer of driveway. They need to go down at least 5-6 inches to insure proper layering before your final layer of material is installed. b) Material Purchase and Delivery – At this point your contract is signed and you already know how the surface will look. Contracting company purchases necessary materials and delivers them to site. Double check if material is correct and not damaged. c) Preparation of Sublevel – Whatever you place as final material, it cannot just be installed directly on top soil. Gravel is the first choice of material that goes down at this stage. Other preferred material is screen sand that can go on top of gravel and works better with stone and bricks. d) Compaction of Ground – To prevent your driveway from moving and changing shapes, all the layers from bottom up have to be properly compacted. Do not leave any spot untouched while doing this or you can get small holes and cracks in driveway after installation. E) Final Installation – This is when all the magic happens. After all preparations and dirty work the final installation is made literally within hours and you can enjoy new driveway. Stone and brick is set up by hand, while other materials require some sort of machinery with manual labor to even out surface.

1. Asphalt

Probably the most used material for road top surfaces as well as driveways is asphalt. This is a mix of gravel and sand that is mixed in and combined by asphalt cement with crude oil. Pros of Asphalt Driveway

Very popular and easy to find materials/contractor
Completed in 1 day and you can drive on it after
Patches and small holes can be fixed fast

Cons of Asphalt Driveway

Easy to damage and cracks appear in few years
Almost everyone else has same surface
Oily surface and chemicals used in mix

Prepared for asphalt driveway will cost you around $5 per square foot to finish. The contractors that take care of entire process from taking out old driveway surface, install subsurface and compact the ground with new asphalt on top, will charge on average $5500 per regular size driveway at single home property.

2. Concrete

What we call concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, aggregate as well as sand with gravel. Suggested thickness of concrete for driveway is 6 inches. The mixture needs to cure without being touched or driven on top for several days. Pros of Concrete Driveway

Durable material for large weights
Long lifespan if installed properly
Winter and summer friendly

Cons of Concrete Driveway

Has marks and stains over time
Hard to repair without replacement
Super hard to DIY

To hire contractors for concrete driveway it will cost around $7-$9 per square foot. This will include site preparation with gravel spread and new concrete installation. They will order full truck of concrete (or several for larger driveways) to pour inside forming. Smoothening and curing is required after installation.

3. Paver Stone

The most luxurious material that you can use to create driveway path with is paver stone. It is made out of natural stone with uneven rough shapes that have different line patterns. Paver stones are very heavy and are perfect for weights on top of them. Almost every city in Europe has roads and walks made out of stone that were installed centuries ago. Pros of Paver Stone Driveway

Creative designs can be done
Personal looks, can match the house
Can replace single stone in minutes

Cons of Paver Stone Driveway

Weeds growing through
Stone can move over time
Most expensive material

There is wide selection of stone that can be purchased for your driveway. On average we recommend settling with $17-$20 per square foot for stone with installation included. Working with this material is very intense labor and we recommend hiring professionals that do this type of work every day.

4. Crushed Stone

Our readers sometimes mistake crushed stone with gravel, but this is not the same material. Crushed stone material is achieved when machine is mechanically crushing larger pieces of unused stone for this specific purpose. It is larger than gravel and can have smooth finish. Crushed stone can also have a mix of colors, which is much pleasant to eyes than gravel. Pros of Crushed Stone Driveway

Low maintenance required
Fits rural area style
Can be reused for other purposes

Cons of Crushed Stone Driveway

Gets very hot during summer
Can be messy after many drives
Hard to remove snow and ice

Buying crushed stone and installing it on your driveway is as easy as it gets. Similar to other rough materials discussed in this post, only small tools like shovels, dolly and buckets are required to spread it on the road. The cost of crushed stone driveway is between $4 and $6 per square foot from professional local contractors that can finish the job in several days.

5. Brick

The same brick we see being used in wall construction can be installed as top driveway surface. Brick is manufactured by compressing clay with plastic mass. It is heated to extreme temperature and dried up to become as solid as you know it. Pros of Brick Driveway

Variety of selections in shapes and shades
Bricks are recyclable
Slip resistant with rough top part

Cons of Brick Driveway

Needs regular maintenance
Change color over time
Old fashion looking

Installing brick on driveway costs $10 per square foot, which is not too far from masonry brick laying as part of the wall. To save money you can use or purchase old brick, that was part of a wall before. Do not mix these two jobs and contact landscaping professionals instead of masonry contractors that work with bricks.

6. Seashell

This material is popular on the coast line where shells can be found near the water. Construction companies use seashells to add in other materials as well as spread them on driveway in rough condition, without adding anything else. It usually comes in white or pearl color and darkens within year because of mixing with sand and dirt. Pros of Seashell Driveway

Environmentally friendly
Has natural drainage
Creates worm vibe of beach house

Cons of Seashell Driveway

Break and crack under light weight
Sharp and very hard to walk on
Gets stuck in shoes and tires

To deliver and spread seashells on driveways costs below $4, which is only slightly more expensive than rough gravel. As you go further from coast line, cost of material increases due to delivery. This material is elegant and very soft. We recommend adding edge lines with darker color landscape material to create visual path.

7. Gravel

This material is used in other construction mixes and underlayment systems. It’s literally fragments and small crushed stones that are put on top of soil. It is easily spread out by hands and anyone can do it. Pros of Gravel Driveway

Cheapest of them all
Easy DIY Job
Can install another material on top

Cons of Gravel Driveway

Needs to be graded very often
Will mix with dirt and leaves
Washes up with heavy rains

It is rough material and can be purchased in bulk (by metric tons or cubic meters). The cost of driveway with gravel should not exceed $3 per square foot, but you can save tons of money by purchasing materials and doings installation by yourself. You do not require specific tools or heavy equipment for the job and delivery of gravel can be arranged directly to your project.

Conclusion

To properly finish any and all of these driveways requires skills and experience. There is no way you can complete any of these projects without heavy equipment and tools that regular home owner’s just store in their garages. Most of those who will read this post will prefer to install asphalt driveway, because of its popularity and low costs. We want to encourage home owners to go for personal preference and what matches your house, rather than getting the most affordable and popular items. Driveway jobs have to be completed fast; otherwise you will need to park elsewhere while the project is running. To not overpay, ask us for quotation sample on material you prefer in specific region where the work need to be done and our team can provide some numbers.

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