Toronto General Contractor

So what should you look for when hiring a Toronto General Contractor?

#1- The quality of their work. Most General Contracting companies have a "niche" in the market. Some cater to the low end, some mid, some high, and some extremely high. Each is different, each is unique.

Let's discuss this for a second.

WHO IS THE LOW END CONTRACTOR?
- Small jobs
- Quick turn-around (in-and-out)
- Work with mostly small "repairs"
- Usually "One-man-shows" or work with one or two helpers
- Purchase most of their products at Home Depot, Lowes, discount suppliers
- Have little "technical knowledge" (Think handyman types)
- Offer the cheapest prices, have low over-head, sometimes skirt the law (License, Insurance, taxes, etc.)
- May not have a written contract or warranty

MIDDLE CONTRACTORS
-Probably 80% of all contractors out there fall in this category
-A wide range of services
-Jack of all, master of none
-Most jobs take 2 weeks to a month (Bathrooms, kitchens, misc.)
-Use moderate building materials, offer "good enough" workmanship.
-Mostly play by the rules, but sometimes rules have to be bent (overhead)
-Hit or miss
-Mostly have a written contract, a written warranty but only offer a lump sum pricing structure.

HIGH END CONTRACTORS
-Usually handle larger, more complex and involved projects
-Typically work with designers/architects/engineers
-Have a vast network of vendors/suppliers
-Can deliver high quality materials, with superior workmanship
-Most jobs take several months
-Detailed contracts, good warranties, offer a range of contracting options
-Are not the cheapest, and never will be. They offer "quality" and professionalism.
-Some can "over-charge" if they don't keep their over-head in check

EXTREMELY HIGH END CONTRACTORS
-Very "niche" market of the wealthy clientele (Think Bridle Path, Forest Hill, Rosedale, etc.)
-Are typically Architects by trade or have a very unique flare for design
-Extremely meticulous in detail
-Use ONLY the highest grade of materials
-Most projects take close to a year to several years
-Very few of these contractors around, as it's a very niche market and the ones that are around have been around for a long time and have an established clientele base
-Are Extremely expensive, but offer bar-none the greatest quality of design/craftsmanship/materials.
-Don't even visit their website...it will make you cry. You might even lose money just browsing their site...seriously, I feel poor just looking at the homes they have built...oh, to dream.

You see how honest I am? Those are your basic 4 main types of contractors out there...did you even know that? Did you assume they are all the same? It's like the Caste system, there is no mobility in this structure. You are what you are. A low-end contractor will never be anything else because his company/setup was designed to sustain and cater to a certain niche market. If he tries...he will fail. That goes for all the other ones out there. Company structures are vastly different and offer vastly different services to the market.

SO...where do you start? By first asking yourself what market YOU fall in.

ARE YOU:
-Looking for the cheapest price?
-Think you can handle doing the work yourself...but rather just hire someone to do it instead?
-Don't care too much about the "finer details"...it's more of a "fix" or "repair"?
-Contracts? Pfft, if he doesn't do it I won't pay him...simple as that?
-If I pay cash, I save?

Then the low-end contractor is your best match. Don't go to the other ones...you will be disappointed. Don't waste you time, and don't waste honest working people's time as well. Find the low end contractor...it's really easy. Go to Craigslist and find the mother-load of unlicensed, low over head, quick turn around, willing to skirt the law type of contractors. They won't have web-sites, and most work from their cell phones. Be careful, you will probably not get a contract and if they screw up good luck trying to find them. I'm not judging you, I'm saying they may be very useful to you...I'm just giving you the heads up so you know what you're getting into.

NOW ON THE OTHER HAND, If you are looking for:
-A respectable company, that tries hard to play by the rules (License, Insurance, Wsib, pay taxes, offers contracts, warranties, won't disappear hopefully)
-Offers acceptable craftsmanship
-Can offer a decent selection of materials
-Actually cares about their business/reputation
-Tries hard to be competitive in price

Then the middle contractor is for you. That's probably 80% of the contractors out there, but be careful and make sure you get everything in writing. This group is a mix bag of the well meaning, and you know what they say about good intentions. Don't get me wrong, you will find a LOT of good, solid contractors in this group but there are some bad apples that ruin if for everyone else. The bad apples are probably 5-10%, and they will go out of business soon enough. The good ones have been around the block, and know their market very well. If this sounds like a good match for you, then make sure you have a reasonable budget set aside for the project. These people have to pay taxes, insurance and other over-head costs required by law to be legitimate but in turn you get a decent amount of professional service and the reassurance that the project was done to code, with a warranty, and you didn't hire a "fly-by-night" contractor. You hired a legitimate company.

THE HIGH END CONTRACTOR is right for you if:
-You value quality more than price
-You want professional service and you will not settle for less
-You see your home as an expression of who you are and not just 4 walls and a roof
-You want a unique design
-You want superior products because you would rather pay for a beautiful piece that lasts a lifetime vs a decent piece that will last only a few years
-You are ready and willing to pay a respectable amount of money in turn for professional service
-You want a wide range of options presented to you
-You want to see transparency in paper work
-You must have a full warranty for all the work
-You want detailed job tracking and exceptional workmanship

Then this group is right for you. You are very unlikely to be disappointed. These companies are very technical, very customer service minded and have a vast network of suppliers/subs/vendors that they deal with. You must come prepared with an appropriate budget for the project and be ready to pay for the higher grade materials that you want purchased/installed into your home. Most of the people in this group are very professional and the craftsmanship is exceptional.

THE EXTREMELY HIGH END CONTRACTOR is right for you if:
-Who are we kidding...if you're reading this, then you can't afford them!

I hope I've shed some light here. Nobody thinks a Bentley is the same as a Honda Civic, and if they do they're out to lunch. But a lot of people think contractors are all the same. Far from it, there are different demographic markets. Your first step in selecting a contractor should stem from you asking yourself..."Which demographic market am I?"...then go about finding that contractor. Trust me, it will save you time and grief.

So you think you found a contractor...but are they right for you? Well, what are the signs telling you. Look at their past work...is it in line with what you want done to YOUR house? And if it is...do you have the budget for it? I can look at a lot of pictures of multi-million dollar homes on MLS...but come time to buy would I tell my agent "Show me that one"?. No because I'm broke...so transfer that mentality to when you go looking for a contractor. Figure out which one of the 4 is best for you, then go about finding them.

If you don't, you will find yourself very disappointed very early.

You did all that and you're still not sure? Give me a call, I love giving free unbiased advice (Seriously). If I can point you in the right direction and offer some advice, that actually makes ME happy. I've been doing this for 10 years and I don't beat around the bush. I've read far too many misguided articles on "How to hire a contractor" by people that never even hired a contractor before in their lives. It's amazing how much these so called experts don't know. There's waaay too much miscommunication between contractors and the consumers...it's like Home Owners are from Venus, Contractors are from Mars.

Toronto General Contractor
Toronto Renovation Contractor

Peter Khatami.