Whether you’re building a new bathroom as part of a garage conversion, creating a spa-like retreat with all the latest amenities in the master bath, or just updating bathrooms to boost your home’s resale value, it’s important to hire an experienced and reliable bathroom remodeling contractor.
Here at GreatBuildz, a free service that connects homeowners in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, and San Diego Counties with reliable contractors, we speak to homeowners every day about bathroom remodeling contractors – here are some ideas & tips to get you started.
How To Pick The Right Bathroom Remodeling Contractor?
A general contractor is like the conductor of a symphony. He or she oversees all work being completed by subcontractors like plumbers, electricians, and construction workers, guiding them toward a cohesive end product. This professional understands the ins and outs of renovating and ensures everything is done safely and correctly.
This expertise is important even for seemingly small projects. Although bathrooms represent just a fraction of your home’s total square footage, a bathroom remodel can be a complex project, especially if you’re adding or moving plumbing, wiring, and ventilation.
This means hiring the right bathroom remodeling contractor saves you time and money in the long run. Not only can your contractor provide guidance on developing plans, setting a bathroom remodel budget, and even cutting costs, but he or she will be well-versed in the processes for obtaining permits and complying with local building codes. With the right hire, you’ll get the job done right the first time, avoiding costly additional work and delays.
Related: 5 Tips for Living at Home While Renovating
Meeting With Bathroom Remodeling Contractors
Often, the hiring process is tedious. People ask their friends and family for recommendations and scroll through endless online reviews. There are more than 20,000 licensed general contractors in Los Angeles, so this can be a truly time-consuming task.
And reaching out to a recommended or highly-ranked contractor isn’t where the work ends. You’ll have to schedule interviews and make sure potential candidates have the correct licensing, certification, and insurance.
That said, GreatBuildz can significantly streamline the general contractor hiring experience. We’ve built a robust network of licensed professionals, each of whom has passed our 10-point screening process that includes an in-person interview, reference checks, and verification of licensing and insurance. Additionally, every general contractor in our network has signed our 20-point code of conduct, which outlines expectations for professionalism and reliability. We work with only the best — so you can, too.
When you call and tell us about the scope of your project and your budget, our friendly staff will get to work matching you with three local general contractors — our network encompasses all of Southern California, from Orange County to Ventura County and beyond — who specialize in that type of work you described to us.
We highly recommend reaching out to all three bathroom remodeling contractors to find the right fit. They will be able to provide photo galleries from previous bathroom remodeling projects. Although it’s easy to be wowed by the biggest projects in each contractor’s portfolio, it’s most important to focus on the ones most in line with your own bathroom remodel plans. The goal here is to clearly communicate what matters to you from both functional and aesthetic standpoints to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Your next step is to request bids. Delivered in writing, these should be detailed breakdowns of the work the project will entail and associated costs. Don’t look at just the bottom line — you’ll want to take a close look at what’s included in the scope of the bid to make sure you’re truly getting the best value.
Going over bids can be a lot to process. Should you need help determining which best suits your needs — and, ultimately, your budget — our service team is available to provide assistance and support. And even after you’ve selected and hired a general contractor, our team will stay in touch. Our aim is to make sure you’re always satisfied with the work being done.
How Do You Know When You’ve Found the Best Bathroom Renovation Contractor?
There is no simple answer, but part of the task includes a process of elimination. By doing a thorough vetting process, you’ll be able to quickly narrow down your list to the contractors that have the best reviews, reputation, & appropriate licensing, etc. The next step in finding the best bathroom renovation contractor is calling their references. And finally, their vision, timeline, and budget have to be in line with your own. The more diligence you do on your potential hire, the more likely you are to uncover a red flag that makes you uncomfortable. And if you get through your research without finding any major issues, you can be much more comfortable you’re working with a top bathroom remodel contractor
5 of Our Favorite
Bathroom Remodeling Contractors
Want to see some of the friendly faces you might encounter when you hire with GreatBuildz? Here are a few of our top-rated general contractors:
Anna and Vahik K.
With 14 years of experience, this husband and wife contractor team takes pride in delivering a high-quality finished product that stands up to the test of time. Clients say Anna and Vahik are consistently professional, trustworthy, and thorough.
Curtis M.
HGTV fans might have caught Curtis on “House Hunters Renovation.” He has 19 years of experience as a general contractor and is well-known for his good-natured and extremely likable personality. Curtis is committed to providing a positive experience for every client.
Sharon C.
Sharon has been in the business for 27 years and has a long track record of happy clients. When she’s not serving her clients, she’s serving others in her profession and in her community. Her vast experience makes her a natural fit to serve as the local chapter president of the National Association of Minority Contractors, and she makes it a point to provide construction support to seniors and low-income clients.
Chris C.
One half of a husband-and-wife design/build team, Chris is known for his hands-on approach to project details and design. Clients say again and again that he’s patient, empathetic, and quick to respond to their needs, which is why he’s been a favorite for 21 years.
Rami A.
Rami is committed to treating every client with the dignity and respect they deserve. He’s known for being friendly and trustworthy, and for standing behind his work long after the project is complete. Rami has 20 years of experience.
Contractor Red Flags
Regardless of how your source your list of contractors to meet with, you should be looking for a set of red flags that might tell you that they may not be ideal. Even if a friend or someone on social media recommends a contractor they have used, you should still be on the lookout for any behavior that might be a deal-breaker for you. Here are a few red flags to keep in mind:
Unresponsive bathroom contractors. If a contractor or their staff doesn’t return your call in less than 2-days, this could be a bad sign that they are too busy to take on your project. Of course, sometimes emergencies arise and people go on vacations, but consistently bad follow-up could well be a sign of an unorganized company, which leads to a high likelihood that they will also be poor communicators during the project.
Delays in submitting a bid. If most of your potential contractors can provide an estimate within a week, but one contractor “can’t get to it” for several weeks, that’s probably a red flag that they are too busy to take on new jobs. If they are already overburdened now, they will be stretched thin while working on your project, leading to potential delays.
Pushy salespeople. Its quite possible that they person that comes to meet you at your home is not the owner of the company, but rather one of their salespeople. These folks are often trained to get your commitment on the spot; they want you to sign their contract right away. That’s clearly a terrible idea for you and you should be very weary of a contractor who is trying to push you into anything.
A contractor who doesn’t seem to listen to your project needs or budget. If you meet with a contractor and clearly explain what you’re looking to do, but they don’t seem to hear you and start making their own suggestions that are well outside your needs or budget, this could be a bad sign. A good contractor will carefully listen to your needs and only make appropriate suggestions that could enhance your project or save you money.
Bathroom Remodeling Contractor Bids
When you’re looking for a contactor that matches your needs, there are a few things that have to fall in line. First, the contractor has to be experienced in bathroom renovations. They also have to be willing to accept jobs in your area and be available to start your job withing a reasonable timeframe. Those are the pretty obvious parameters. Next, you’ll want to find a contractor who seems reliable, honest and can perform the job within your budget. That will make your contactor search a bit more difficult.
With each contractor meeting, you’ll need to gauge if this is the type of person you’re looking to do your project and you’ll ask them for a written estimate. Invariably, each bathroom contractor will provide you a bid in a different format, and it will be your job to carefully review these estimates to confirm each one is thorough and comprehensive. Its tempting to just take the lowest price, but this bid could be missing important items that you want. If so, you’ll just be frustrated later when these items aren’t completed and the contractor asks you to pay more money to have this work completed.
All three of your bids should be reasonably similar in cost (within 10-20% of each other). If one estimate is way higher or lower than the rest, you should be a little cautious about why that’s the case. If your bids are all over the place, it might make more sense to get more estimates to narrow down the cost range. Keep in mind that different contractors have very different price structures. You can bet that contractors working in ‘high-end’ areas will cost more than others. And sometimes lower cost contractors may need to save money by using lower-priced labor or materials. Sometimes, homeowners are most comfortable going with the ‘middle’ price bathroom contractor.
If you’d like to connect with any of these bathroom remodeling contractors above, or meet with any of our other excellent contractors, submit your details using the button below – we’ll match you with the right pros for your project, typically within 24 hours!
When it comes to remodeling your home or planning exterior projects, you shouldn’t have to go it alone – GreatBuildz can help simplify your renovation experience.
GreatBuildz is a free service that connects homeowners in Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura or San Diego with reliable, thoroughly screened general contractors and provides project support from start to finish. Call now (818.317.3567) to chat with a real person about your next bathroom remodeling project or visit our website for more information: www.greatbuildz.com
