"Nothing beats chatting with neighbors who've had work done... they'll give you the good, bad, and ugly."
Totally agree with this. When I moved into my first place last year, I relied heavily on online reviews to pick a painter. Everything looked great at first glance—clean lines, nice finish—but a few months later, paint started peeling in weird spots. Turns out they skipped primer in some areas to save time (and probably money). Wish I'd talked to neighbors beforehand; later found out they'd had similar issues with the same company. Lesson learned: online reviews can be helpful, but nothing beats real-life experiences from people who've actually lived with the results for a while.
That's frustrating... I've had similar experiences. When we redid our driveway, I went with a contractor recommended by a friend. The job looked amazing initially, but a year later, cracks started popping up everywhere. Turns out the contractor subcontracted to someone else without mentioning it. Makes me wonder—do you all usually ask upfront if contractors handle jobs themselves or subcontract them out? Seems like an important detail that often gets overlooked.
Yeah, I learned this the hard way too. I always ask now if they're subcontracting—it's amazing how many contractors don't mention it unless you specifically bring it up. Honestly, subcontracting isn't always bad; sometimes specialists do a better job. But transparency is key. If they're upfront about it, I'm cool with it... but sneaking it in without mentioning? Big red flag for me. Plus, it helps to know exactly who's accountable if something goes wrong down the line.
Had a similar situation when we redid our deck last summer. Guy we hired seemed solid, good reviews and all. About halfway through, I notice completely different people showing up to finish the job—turns out he'd subcontracted without mentioning it. The new crew wasn't terrible, but communication got messy fast. When some boards warped after a couple months, it was like pulling teeth trying to figure out who was responsible for fixing it. Eventually got sorted, but lesson learned: always ask upfront who's actually doing the work. Like you said, subcontracting itself isn't necessarily bad—sometimes specialists do amazing work—but not being transparent about it just sets everyone up for headaches later on.
"subcontracting itself isn't necessarily bad—sometimes specialists do amazing work—but not being transparent about it just sets everyone up for headaches later on."
Yeah, transparency is key. Reminds me of when we had our roof replaced a couple years back. The guy we hired was upfront about subcontracting the gutter work, which was fine by me since gutters aren't exactly his specialty. But then the gutter crew showed up without any heads-up, and I kid you not, they accidentally took down my neighbor's gutters instead of ours. 😂 Talk about an awkward conversation over the fence later that day...
Luckily, they sorted it out pretty quickly (and my neighbor got shiny new gutters out of the deal), but it definitely reinforced the idea that clear communication matters just as much as skill. Subcontractors can be great—just gotta know who's showing up and when!
