Picking a contractor

This is by far the most important decision one makes for the remodel.
Assuming you want to go with a general contractor this will impact the whole project in terms of flexibility, budget, timeline and overall quality of the remodel.

It is customary to get at least three quotes.  We got 4 quotes and one was by far the cheapest.  The general rule of thumb is to go with the middle quote not the highest and not the lowest.
We went with a company called Ali's construction.  Ali was not the median quote.  He was almost 25% cheaper than the rest.  In such a situation it becomes very hard to make a logical decision.  Even though we liked the other contractors, we could not really compare when the price was so much lower.

Ali and all the people at his company were really nice people.  The only problem was they had many, many projects and it sometimes became really hard to get their attention.  So we ended up project managing a lot of the project.  Stephanie at the office was great.  Even though she knew very little about construction she often tired hard and got the job done.

Here are some suggestions when you're picking a general contractor:

1.  When getting the contract, make sure you go through the plans in detail and make sure all is accounted for.  We missed the fact that there was no allowance for a fireplace.  The tiling on the deck was not covered.

2. Evaluate the allowances realistically.  We had unrealistically low allowances for tiles, for windows, and for many other things.  The best thing to do is to go to the vendors and get some rough estimates. ask the contractor who the vendors are and go and talk to them if you can.

3. One of the great things about Ali was he knew a lot of vendors who sold materials to him significantly lower (wholesale prices) and he was willing to pass those savings to us.  Something to find out when you talk to the contractor.

4. Check references over a timeline.  So some projects that were done several years ago and some recent ones.  Go to those places and visit.  Most people love to show off their beautiful homes and love talking!

5. Ask for an itemized estimate list.  No costs per square foot.

6. Make sure there is a person onsite at least half the day supervising and managing the order of work.  Should the kitchen tiles be ordered when the bathrooms are being done?  What is the order of things that need to be done.  This is the most important unless you or a representative can be at the site for long periods of time everyday.  This was the mistake we made.  As sub-contractors showed up they sometimes did not know what to do and we had to figure out things.