It has been my privilege over the years to work for many great builders, and we wish all contractors were created equal, but unfortunately that's not the way it is.    The best builders are solid and straightforward.  The people working for them stay with them and are loyal.  The customers call them time and again over the span of years.  They are respected in the community and do their work with the future in mind.  They aren't in the business for a "quick kill."    

        I worked on a couple of jobs some years ago for a different kind of builder.  He had a great showroom.  His background was sales.  But the quality of his work was very poor.  I was amazed by the turnover in his work force.  Not many stayed around; some that came and went weren't there long enough to even find out how inferior their quality was.  He had a supervisor/carpenter that was loaded with the sixpack in his car by lunchtime, and beer cans were sprinkled across the new master bedroom closet I was to be working in.  Was it any mystery that when the rains came, water was soon leaking in the roof and a small pond was forming in the basement?  Was it any great mystery that this same company was thrown off the job? 

        So my encouragement is to be careful.  Perhaps try to see some work that is currently being done.  Ask to speak to recent customers.  Try to be as informed as possible.

        There are many great contractors out there!  Happy hunting!

John Cobb

The Master's Finish Inc drywall