Imagine hiring a painter who moonlights as a magician. You’d wonder which version you’d get come painting day: Da Vinci with a brush or just smoke and mirrors. Enter the hacking contractor. They are not your typical Joes, with their blueprints and toolboxes. These guys have a completely different set of blueprints. Read more now on hackstage builders

Dealing with contractors is like opening a mystery novel. Sometimes you turn to the next page hoping for a clue, and sometimes, well… you end up with missing chapters. Bob, my neighbor, once hired someone to remodel his bathroom. By the end of the project, it appeared that the man had turned the room into an art studio. There’s a lesson there somewhere–choose your help wisely. Choose someone who can make your dreams a reality, not just paint them on.

Have you heard the phrase “every penny matters”? If you are stingy with your money, it can result in a situation whereby your contractor disappears faster than Houdini mid-way through the job. It’s not necessary to find the Holy Grail to achieve quality. Making informed decisions, reading between the lines of the contractor, and sometimes seeing through the fog created by jargon are all part of the process.

Have you ever listened to a pitch from a contractor? It’s filled with words that could tangle up a dictionary. Why does laying tiles sound the same as landing a spacecraft? Honesty is scarce, like finding a unicorn at a cowboy rodeo. If they stumble over the basics when wearing hard hats, that’s a big red flag.

Communication is still the key. This is a lesson that I learned while repairing my backyard. I thought the contractor understood what I wanted, a landscaped oasis complete with a fountain. Instead, I got what looked like a desert scene in a spaghetti western. It’s a humbling reminder that expectations need clear words, not assumptions.