Contractor Work

[McC]

(08-19-2016, 01:27 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: For those of you in the know, how do contractors get paid?  We are starting an addition/remodel to our house this weekend.  Our contractor told us the basement digging guys are going to be at our house on Monday to start digging but that he, the contractor, needs $2k upfront to get "started".  What exactly does that mean? Is that normal?  I guess this is the part where we need to keep our receipts through out the project handy.  Plus the bank requires us to get "lien waivers" from everyone we are paying through out the project. Don't get me wrong, I fully trust this guy, its just that I don't know how this whole construction thing works yet.  What are some of your experiences regarding contractors and home remodels.  Thanks for any advice in advance. 

I am a concrete contractor.  For residential work, we require a 40% deposit payable at the beginning of the second day of work.  It locks the home owner in.  For years, we never asked for anything until the job is done,  After having ben burned a couple times, we started collecting a deposit.

We never ask for it until the job is underway.

I know a lot of other contractors and they all operate the same way.  I would go so far as to say it's standard practice these days when doing residential work.  Commercial work is different for us.  We require no deposit for commercial or municipal work, mainly because you might ask but you won't get it.

I strongly urge any homeowner to require references for any contractor.  Good ones, legitimate ones, like me, have a long list of references.  Bad ones don't.