How to hire
a renovation
contractor.

The hard truth about contractor hiring

Most homeowners hire a renovation contractor two or three times in their life. Contractors work with hundreds of homeowners a year. The information asymmetry is enormous — and it's where most bad hiring decisions come from.

This guide exists to close that gap. What follows is the same advice we'd give a family member who was about to hire someone else. Some of it will make Huntley look good. Some of it will make us look average. All of it is true.

Before you call anyone

The best hiring decisions start with knowing what you're actually looking for. Before you pick up the phone, be able to answer these four questions:

• What am I trying to accomplish? A renovated kitchen and a new kitchen layout are different projects with different costs. Be specific.
• What's my realistic budget range?Not what you'd like to spend — what you're actually prepared to spend if the contractor tells you that's what it takes.
• When do I need this done? Is there a deadline (baby coming, move-in date, event)? Or flexible?
• Am I hiring for scope or price? These are often different contractors. Price-hunters get the best price; scope-seekers get the right person for the job.

Answering these before you call saves you (and the contractor) hours of back-and-forth.

How many quotes to get

Get three. Not two (too easy to get two price points and no middle ground). Not five (too much coordination, too many site visits for contractors to take you seriously as a lead).

Make sure all three are contractors you'd genuinely hire if the price was right. Quoting a contractor you'd never hire wastes their time and gives you a useless data point.

The 10 questions every contractor should answer

If you ask these on the first call or first site visit, you'll learn more about the contractor than any of their marketing material will tell you.

1. “Are your electricians and plumbers employees or sub-trades?”
   Why it matters: Sub-trades set the schedule, bring their own markups, and create coordination gaps. The answer tells you how projects actually run. (For context, our electrical and plumbing divisions are Huntley employees, not sub-trades.)
2. “Do you hold trade licenses for electrical and plumbing directly?”
   Why it matters: Companies that do can pull trade permits directly. Companies that don't wait on subs. It affects timeline.
3. “Can you walk me through how you'd quote this project?”
   Why it matters: Good contractors explain their process. Bad ones give you a round number on the phone.
4. “What happens if you discover something unexpected once demo starts?”
   Why it matters: There's a right way (tell you, get approval in writing, price the change) and a wrong way (just invoice it). Listen for the right way.
5. “Do you have liability insurance and WorkSafeBC coverage?”
   Why it matters: If someone gets hurt on your property and the contractor doesn't have coverage, you're liable. Ask for proof, not just a yes.
6. “What's your warranty?”
   Why it matters: Terms, duration, and what's covered. “We stand behind our work” isn't a warranty.
7. “Can I see completed projects and talk to past clients?”
   Why it matters: Photos are easy. Actual conversations with previous homeowners are harder to fake.
8. “Who's my point of contact during the project?”
   Why it matters: If it's “it depends” or “whoever's on site,” expect communication gaps.
9. “What's your typical payment schedule?”
   Why it matters: Warning sign: contractors who want large deposits upfront (more than 10–15% of the total) or who want final payment before deficiencies are resolved.
10. “What's your timeline and what could make it slip?”
    Why it matters: Honest answers about likely delays (permit timing, material lead times, inspections) are a sign of experience.

Red flags to watch for

• Quotes with no line items.“$85,000 for the whole kitchen” is a red flag. Line-item quotes force the contractor to think through scope and let you compare fairly.
• Large upfront deposits. 10–15% at contract signing is reasonable. 40% or more before any work starts is a cash flow warning sign.
• Quotes dramatically below others. If two contractors quote $80k and one quotes $50k, the low quote is missing scope, missing permits, or missing experience. Ask specifically why the number is lower.
• “We don't need a permit for that.” If the municipality says you do and the contractor says you don't, someone's going to be wrong — and it won't be the municipality.
• No physical office address.Not a dealbreaker for smaller contractors, but if they're operating out of a truck and a P.O. box, what happens if there's an issue in 18 months?
• Pressure to sign fast.“This quote is only good for 48 hours” is a sales tactic, not a construction reality.
• Vague about warranty.A contractor who can't tell you their warranty in concrete terms either doesn't have one or doesn't plan to honor it.
• Suggests cash for a discount. This usually means no GST, no WorkSafeBC coverage on that portion of the work, and no paper trail if something goes wrong.

How to compare quotes fairly

The single biggest mistake homeowners make is comparing the bottom-line number rather than the scope behind it. Three quotes at $60k, $75k, and $95k look like three price points — but they're probably three different projects.

Before you compare prices:

• Line up the scopes.Is quote A including permits and quote B isn't? Is one assuming existing electrical is fine and the other quoting a service upgrade? Do they both include demo and disposal? Cabinet grades, tile brackets, appliance allowances — all of it needs to match for the comparison to mean anything.
• Compare what's allowance vs. fixed. A low quote with big allowances often ends up more expensive than a higher quote with specified materials — because the allowances run out mid-project.
• Weigh the contractor, not just the quote. If you trust contractor A more than B, and the quote is 10% higher, pay the 10%. The cost of the wrong contractor usually exceeds the quote difference.

Questions to ask past clients

When a contractor gives you references (and they all will ask for some), these are the questions that actually matter:

• “Did the final invoice match the original quote? If not, why not?”
• “Did they finish on time? If not, how late and what was the reason?”
• “How was communication during the project?”
• “Did anything need attention after the project? How did they handle it?”
• “Would you hire them again?”
• “Is there anything you'd want to know before hiring them that you didn't know at the time?”

The last question is the best one. It surfaces things that neither the contractor's marketing nor the testimonial on their website will tell you.

One final thought

The goal of hiring a contractor isn't to save every possible dollar. It's to get the project you want done by someone you can trust. Those two things are related, but they're not the same.

A contractor who saves you $5,000 upfront and adds $20,000 in change orders isn't a bargain. A contractor who quotes 10% higher but delivers what they said, when they said, for the price they said, usually is.

Whoever you hire, we hope this guide helps you hire them with confidence. And if you want us on your shortlist, browse our renovation services or have a look at the Why Huntley comparison and decide for yourself.