Finding a good contractor — like breaking up — is hard to do. What came first, the cheap polyurethane or the cheap contractor?
People worry about people paying contractors tons of dollars for work that is going to be spectacular but which will go largely unnoticed, that some culture of financial loss will overtake them.
No one worries about repeating a shoddy job for thousands — literally, thousands — of dollars, just because the upfront cost, the labor, and the supplies, were cheaper at the outset.
If I’m borrowing a little in rhythm, timing, and structure, you’ll have to excuse me. I wax highly fidelitous sometimes, particularly when I’m inwardly criticizing the folly of normal folk and need a good internal dialogue to follow.
What has me spouting home contracting complaints couched in John Cusack monologues?
It’s people, of course.
And not just any people.
Cheap people. Who waste their money time and again.
Let’s take your average Joe. Or Joy. Let’s actually say Pat.
Average Pat doesn’t know anything about contract work. S/he doesn’t know anything about flooring, or hiring labor for floor work, or buying the right supplies for future-proofing their floors.
Pat shouldn’t have to. That’s what the experts are for.
What Pat also shouldn’t have to do is sift through MOUNTAINS of bad contracts who buy cheap crap that they can apply wrong for as little money as possible.
But Pat does. And so we wax philosophical and a little disparaging.
Come on, Pat. Think about it. Have you ever heard that saying about things that seem too good to be true?
Well yeah, it holds true for all the things. Especially home contracting, maintenance, and remodeling.
Take contract work applying polyurethane for floors. For one, unless you are extremely pressed for time — don’t. Just don’t. You can learn how to do this easily on the Internet, and will probably do a damn sight better job than the contractor who shall not be named.
Since, you know, he’s hypothetical and doesn’t have one.
But if you are pressed for time, here’s the tip: don’t look for the cheapest fool out there, offering to do it for way too little.
Why? Because you’re hiring someone qualified to operate nothing so large as a push lawnmower, armed with what may as well be vinegar with a vial of nail polish thrown in.
Instead, find the polyurethane you want and price it out. Then contact the contractor whose prices fall around this cost, plus a few hours’ worth of work at no less than about $25 per hour.
That’s on the low end for labor, but it beats out anyone who learned to do flooring from their dad last week.
Going this way will be more expensive upfront.
But it will be LESS expensive in the long run, because you won’t have to 1) reapply again within days because the crap job doesn’t even appear to be blocking a droplet of water, 2) reapplying a few months later because you are tired of looking at the scuffed and badly chosen protective layer, or 3) have to reapply within a year because it’s just not holding up against the test of time.
So when you boil it down, like with anything worth doing, polyurethane for flooring is best done right and for the right amount. If you aren’t giving someone a living paying them, you aren’t paying for the right someone.
