How to Hire a Contractor Without Getting Robbed

A contractor glances at the cracked tile for four minutes and quotes fifteen thousand dollars-twelve if you sign today. Nothing about that is illegal, but you're already at a disadvantage: they do this work every week, and you do it once every few years. This book closes that gap: you'll learn to define the job in writing before anyone bids, vet contractors and check licenses properly, collect quotes you can actually compare, and read a bid line by line for padding and vague allowances. It covers the contract clauses that protect you, how to stage payments so you're never paying for work that hasn't earned it, and what to do-including documenting problems and knowing your recourse-when something goes wrong. You'll finish this book hard to overcharge.

Imad Muratspahic is an independent author of practical how-to guides, technical handbooks, history and fiction. The books aim to be clear, honest and useful from the first page.