Welcome to another Q&A session where we answer questions from homeowners around Maple Valley and King County.
Today's question is:
The owner shares that his perspective on this has evolved over the years, having seen brand-new companies with only a few reviews deliver phenomenal work, and long-established companies with hundreds of reviews leave homeowners with a nightmare experience. While reviews matter and a consistent red flag in reviews is worth taking seriously, he doesn't think they should represent the entirety of a decision. He suggests weighing how comfortable a homeowner feels with the people they've talked to, checking reviews and reputation, and specifically asking for references, since no one can speak to a company's work better than a past client. He also recommends reviewing a company's portfolio for consistency and the type of work being showcased. On pricing, he flags both unusually low and unusually high bids as red flags, explaining that an outlier price, in either direction, usually signals something is fundamentally off with that company or their quote rather than reflecting genuinely better value or lower cost.
I've been doing this a long time, and I've had people ask me that question many times, and I think my opinion on it has changed over the years. I've seen brand-new companies with only three reviews that have a phenomenal owner and phenomenal carpenters, simply because they happen to be new. I've also seen companies that are twenty years old with five hundred reviews where a homeowner has an absolute nightmare experience. So even though I think reviews are important and worth looking at, unless you see a glaring red flag or a consistent glaring red flag across reviews, I wouldn't weigh a hundred percent of your decision on a company's reviews. I'd weigh it on a few factors: do you feel comfortable with the people you've talked to and worked with, have you looked at their reviews and do they have a good reputation, and I'd almost say if somebody has absolutely no bad reviews ever, that might be a red flag in itself, especially in construction. I'd also recommend homeowners ask for references, because nobody can give you an opinion about a company better than someone who's had work done by them, and we always have references we can provide anytime a homeowner is interested. I'd also look at their portfolio, whether it's on their website or in a physical book, and check for consistency in their work and whether it matches the type of work you're looking for. If you look at those few things, their portfolio, how you've felt in your engagement with them, and their reviews and references, that should typically point you toward the right choice. Then there's the question of price, and something most homeowners should know: the bid that's way higher than everybody else and the bid that's way lower than everybody else usually have a very good reason behind them. Honestly, that's the biggest red flag I'd look for. When you meet with a company that's significantly less expensive than everyone else, or significantly more, it's not because they're so much better or so much cheaper, it's because there's something fundamentally wrong, missing, or off with that quote or the company itself. You don't want to pick the person who's twenty thousand dollars less than everyone else, or twenty thousand dollars more, because there's usually a reason behind that gap. If you combine those factors with that kind of red flag awareness, you'll typically find the right company to go with.
