Your home’s concrete floors are your pride and joy: After all, they are easy to maintain and should stand the test of time.

There’s just one problem: They look like — well, concrete. It’d be nice to make your floors a little warmer and more inviting. Whether your interior concrete floor is a garage floor, basement floor, or a showroom floor applying the stain is the same.

The good news? This is more than possible with concrete floor stains. If you’re serious about livening up your concrete floors, here’s a rundown on how to choose the best stain for staining concrete floors. Before you grab your plastic sheeting and clean the floor take at least 24 hours to learn about staining.

Let’s get started!

Acid Stains

An acid stain offers depth and natural color to a concrete floor. If you’re like many other homeowners, you’ll be drawn to the variegated and transparent finish associated with this type of stain. 

Another benefit of this type of stain is that it is long-lasting, which makes it perfect for areas that experience high traffic. In addition, it will not chip, peel, or fade.

Note, though, that acid stains are typically available in earthy tones — for example, a soft blue-green, terra cotta, brown, or tan. Also, once you apply this type of stain, you’ll have to remove residual acid from the surface.

Acid staining is a bit unpredictable or risky as the color derived from an Acid-based stain is based on a chemical reaction based on the chemistry of your existing slab.

Selecting Water-Based Stains

A water-based stain offers the benefit of coming in many more hues when compared with acid stains. For instance, you can get these stains in orange, vivid yellow, black, and white. 

On top of this, a water-based stain won’t interact with concrete. So, you can rest assured that the stain will remain consistent.

The challenge with this type of stain is that many are not even stains. They are in the paint family and they are more of a coat of stain. We don’t recommend these types of stains which are found at home depot and applied with a paint roller. For this reason, correcting a mistake can be more challenging.

The durability is mostly dependant on the concrete sealer chosen.

Choosing Hues

As a general rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to choose a stain that works well with your living space’s existing color scheme. 

Of course, this may make it harder to sell the home or redecorate it later. In light of this, it might be better to choose a color that is more neutral, like a tan or brown. 

Brown is especially popular because it works well with all types of furniture. This is the same reason why the majority of wooden floors are brown.

Also, keep in mind that a darker hue won’t have to be cleaned as often compared with a lighter, as darker colors are better at hiding dirt.

You could also utilize several colors on one floor to produce a design or pattern. This can have a dramatic impact on your living space.

Dyes

Concrete dyes are the most predictive and durable solution for coloring concrete. They have a fast dry time and work with polishing systems or one or two coats of sealer.

These can be mixed with water or solvent in a specialized pump sprayer in a circular motion. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SPRAY SOLVENTS WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL. YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF WITH A FLASH FIRE. IT HAPPENS. PLEASE CONSULT.

How We Can Help with Staining Concrete Floors

Did you enjoy our tutorial on staining concrete floors? Our goal in putting together this guide was to help you to make a stain selection that you won’t end up regretting months or years from now.

However, in addition to providing tips on staining concrete floors, we can help you to find a reputable concrete contractor near you.

Contact us to learn more about how you can make the most of your next concrete project, and feel free to also share this tutorial with family and friends!

The post Staining Concrete Floors appeared first on Concrete Index.

This article is for consumers and contractors to assist them in Identifying a good improvement contract. A well-written contract is one of the best tools to facilitate communication regarding the terms of an agreement.

In a home improvement project, this helps the contractor and homeowner lay out the terms and expectations for creating accountability. But a good agreement contract is helpful for commercial construction as well.

Having a good contract doesn’t guarantee results but it sure is a good outline for communication.

Many states have different requirements for home improvement contracts depending on whether there are license requirements or Licensing boards.

Some states have different requirements for font sizes or disclosures. Whether required or not, It makes sense to lay out the terms to make sure the parties involved are on the same page.

In my opinion, if these items are not present, the contractor should be disqualified from winning the bid as it introduces unnecessary risk, poor communication and a sign of bad organization.

• Contractor Contact Information & Lic Number (if required) at Top.
• Purchaser Information
• Property or real estate Address of Project.
• Description of service

For homeowners or other consumers, you want descriptions laying out the details of the project.

• Description of materials and equipment used

Was there a promise to use a certain type of material or can the contractor use any grade of material?

• Contract Price
• Progress payment schedule with payments equally spread for work done.

High down payments are a red flag for the purchaser. In some states, it’s illegal to ask for more than 10% down. Lopsided progress payments where contractors are getting the lion share upfront can be a red flag.

In some cases that involve customer materials, its common for contractors to ask for special material deposits. Progress payment schedules should be fair to both parties. Giving too much upfront puts purchasers in a position on weakness.

On the other side, contractors should be quickly compensated at predetermined competition points to enable them to push forward.

Generally, you can get better terms from more established companies then smaller operations. Larger Contractors may have better terms with their vendors to front materials. More established contractors are more aware of their rights and are less paranoid or desperate regarding payments.

Choosing the best price from a less experienced contractor usually comes with added nonsense with regards to payment terms.

• Work schedule: Approximate start date and completion date and Access to project
• Purchasers acceptance and Signature agreement section.
• Lien notifications and other required disclosures. (check if you have state contractors licensing board requirement)
• In many cases, a contract may have a shop drawing or other supporting illustrations to communicate details.

In Conclusion, a detailed agreement is a cornerstone for communicating expectations of a project. It doesn’t mean that a contractor presenting a thorough agreement is grounds for hiring them, but if they don’t have one its definite grounds for not hiring them.

The post What should a concrete contract and proposal look like? appeared first on Concrete Index.

By Steven L. Williamson

Cement Shine

Houston, Texas

Updated August 03, 2019

As an epoxy floor installer with a few million square feet under my belt, I can tell you I am sick of hearing statements like:

• “We have the best, premier epoxy around”
• “the most durable epoxy around”
• “This stuff will stick to anything”
• “It’s virtually bulletproof”
• “it’s military-grade”
• “it’s chemically resistant to everything”
• “it’s 100% solids resin so it is the best”
• “it’s UV resistant”
• “it’s harder so it’s better”
• “it’s a moisture-resistant”
• “low VOC’s it’s earth-friendly”

If you can Imagine I use A LOT of epoxies so I’ve heard everything from some of the most uninformed epoxy salespeople around looking to land a high-volume client. The statements above are so general and so misleading it’s time to have a ‘Come to Jesus meeting” on this topic.

How do you make any sense of these statements especially if you are in the business of installing epoxy flooring and have the task of ensuring the epoxy you install over time will be the best overall product for the long term of your customers’ floor? Working with substandard materials can quickly end your epoxy installing aspirations.

How to get the Best Epoxy for Floors?

To start, let’s take the first statement. “We have the best epoxy around”

Compared to what? Exactly. How do we compare epoxies or benchmark them to others?

If you were looking at comparing stocks because your stock-broker told you “This is the best choice” what would you do? You would grab a prospectus on the company and benchmark it against other stocks in the same industry.

If you were buying a car you would analyze the specs on the cars, comparing it to other cars in its class to make sure you bought the best value with the best specs for the type of car you want. Why don’t we do this with epoxy coatings? Well, I have to, because when you spend millions on epoxy, you tend to learn a bit about epoxy quality, desirable and undesirable characteristics to find the best epoxy and value.

While some characteristics of epoxies are only learned from using the products you can learn a lot one important way.

You can determine this by looking at the product datasheets for the epoxy coatings you are comparing. They are the spec sheets or the prospectus of the epoxy product. You can learn a lot about a product by reading this document.

On the product datasheet, you should find standardized laboratory coating testing hopefully done by a 3rd party laboratory. If the manufacturer doesn’t disclose these standardized test results by a third party then you can safely disqualify this epoxy coating as a candidate for your flooring.

Epoxy Coatings tests and what to look for on Product data sheets

First off you will need to look at what the product is recommended for. If you are using this epoxy for something it wasn’t designed for then you need to know.

Solids Content

It may say 100% solids resin, it could say 95% or 65%. What does this mean? In short, in the coatings world, it means how much of this product will be present when the epoxy flooring cures or “dries.”

Does this mean that 100% is better than 95%? Not necessarily. It just means the product doesn’t evaporate and lose build. When looking for a primer, you might want a product that is 95% solids and 5% solvent.

Solvents are carriers that carry products. The solvent may carry the epoxy into the concrete substrate much more effectively than a 100% product. And on a 2nd coat do you think something with solvent will better re-emulsify the base to create chemical adhesion.

Maybe. The point is epoxies are formulated for different purposes and drawing a quick conclusion based on a products’ solids content is elementary.

EPOXY VOC Content

If you are in the coatings world I don’t have to tell you that in the US the EPA in recent years been increasingly focused on lowering the Volatile Organic Compounds.  I can’t say that low VOC’s have anything to do with quality as many 100% solids epoxies have zero.

You also couldn’t say that a product with low VOC’s is safe as there are many toxic obscure solvents not regulated by the EPA or affected by VOC laws.

So low VOC’ does not necessarily mean a product is safer or “earth-friendly” or less toxic as I can think of a number of resins that would put you on your knees, fumes that debilitate you, because your respirator is useless as the fumes absorb into your skin and eyes.

These are ‘low VOC’ products so don’t confuse it with not being toxic or earth-friendly. It did take some time for manufacturers to reformulate their products after the stricter laws passed.

Recommended Epoxy Thickness and coverage Mils

Obviously applying an epoxy floor coating thicker than recommended would not be advisable. But when comparing apples to apples you may find that the coverage is lower or higher than the other.

Higher coverage is influenced by product viscosity and sometimes solids content. You could see how coverage and MIL thickness would have an inverse relationship. The thinner you spread it the epoxy the further the coverage. Is thicker always better?

It depends on the coating and what it’s designed for. Some polyureas or polyspartics you wouldn’t want to think because they would be too rubbery. Some primers go down thinner and some moisture barrier primers have to be a certain thickness or MILS to work properly so just follow the recommendations and realize this is one of many factors of your comparison.

How do you measure Epoxy Abrasive Resistance?

How do we compare epoxies’ abrasive resistance among each other? A Taber abrasor CS-17 calibrase wheel with 1000 gram total load and 500 cycles. The Taber resistance test is essentially a piece of testing equipment that is basically two sanding wheels that are applied to a coating product at 500 cycles to determine product loss. 1000 mg of the coating is placed below the sanding wheels and sanded 500 rotations.

The sample is removed, cleaned, then weighed. The results are recorded in mg loss.

A product with 16 mg loss would be called more abrasive resistant than one with a 44 mg loss. But one thing to keep in mind polyspartic coatings may react much differently than a “normal” epoxy.

Do you need high abrasion resistance in a body coat or primer? Abrasion resistance is most important for Topcoats, and I don’t many people using normally epoxies as topcoats as these days there are many better options. Looking at this data and knowing how not to interpret it is just as important as knowing how.

Epoxy Floor Abrasive Resistance testing equipment

HOW DO YOU MEASURE EPOXY ADHESION?

420 psi @ elcometer (concrete failure, no delamination)

A pull test following the guidelines of test standard ASTMD 4541 is the standard for testing adhesion in coatings. A floor usually fails somewhere between 400 psi and 500 psi. What we want to see here is a concrete failure, meaning

the concrete comes up with the coating. Generally, a cylinder is placed on the floor and through suction, it is pulled. If there is a concrete failure that’s at 400 psi it doesn’t mean failure at 500 psi dictates more adhesion it may just mean the strength of the concrete at the field test was stronger.

Do we judge urethane’s to the same standard of adhesion when we know that they generally have worse adhesion direct to concrete? We don’t typically use urethane’s as primers so generally adhesion tests are going to be most important with primers or epoxies we are applying directly to concrete. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRZ2aRCFoVg

Epoxy Coating Pull Test

DIFFERENT EPOXY COATING STRENGTH & DURABILITY MEASUREMENTS

WHAT IS EPOXY FLEXURAL STRENGTH?

9,700 psi @ ASTM D790

According to the American Society for Testing and Materials,

“These test methods are used to determine the flexural properties of un-reinforced and reinforced plastics, including high modulus composites and electrical insulating materials utilizing a three-point loading system to apply a load to a simply supported beam (specimen). The method is generally applicable to both rigid and semi-rigid materials, but flexural strength cannot be determined for those materials that do not break or yield in the outer surface of the test specimen within the 5.0 % strain limit.”(ASTM*)

Epoxy Flexual Strength results

In general, the flexual test is bending the product at three points to determine at which PSI it fails. The higher the number the better the flexural strength. But humor me for a minute. Do you think if a 4000 PSI slab with 400 PSI flexural strength cracks that a 9700PSI flexural strength coating is going to hold the substrate together with vertical separation? I’m not an engineer but have probably seen more of this first hand.

* https://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/resolver.cgi?D790-17

https://www.astm.org/Standards/D790.htm

WHAT IS EPOXY COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH?

7,400 psi @ ASTM D695

Compressive strength is measured by crushing the epoxy in a press and measuring at what PSI the product fails. What if your 6 inch slab is 2000 PSI. Is a 12 Mil epoxy coating with 10,000 PSI going to strengthen the concrete floor? Probably doesn’t hurt, but you see what I am saying. There are certain coatings or resins that are strong but perform much differently to compression so assuming that high PSI failure is best for every situation would be a generalization.

** http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/resolver.cgi?D695

WHAT IS EPOXY TENSILE STRENGTH?

6,100 psi @ ASTM D638

Tensile strength in epoxy flooring is the resistance of a material to breaking under tension. This is also communicated in terms of failure at a given pounds per square inch(PSI).

WHAT IS A GARDNER VARIABLE IMPACTOR TEST?

50-inch pounds direct – passed

Falling Dart Impact (Gardner Impact) ASTM D4226 & ASTM D5420 is defined by Intertek Group as,

“Falling dart impact…. is a traditional method for evaluating the impact strength or toughness of a plastic material……The test sample rests on a base plate over an opening of specified diameter. An “impactor” sits on top of the test sample with a nose of specified radius in contact with the center of the test sample. A weight is raised inside a guide tube to a predetermined height, then released to drop onto the top of the impactor, forcing the nose through the test sample. “(Intertek***)

While there isn’t a flooring epoxy that I know of that is bulletproof. With the garner variable impactor test, you are looking for a pass with the same procedures when comparing coating results. *** http://www.intertek.com/polymers/testlopedia/gardner-impact/

What is EPOXY SHORE HARDNESS?

Many are Shore D= 86 and better.

Shore hardness is communicated in terms of a scale from 0-100 with 100 being the hardest measurement. The test used is called a Durometer. The test involves a spring-loaded indenter. The depth of the indenter penetration

determines the measured hardness. According to Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich, Founder of SubsTech, a leading professional on Materials Science and Engineering,

“Hardness of hard elastomers and polymer materials… is measured by Shore D scale. Two different indenter shapes (see the picture below) and two different spring loads are used for two

Shore scales (A and D). The loading forces of Shore A: 1.812 lb (822 g), Shore D: 10 lb (4536 g).” *,**

Hardness Testing Epoxy Flooring

Shore Hardness chart to compare Epoxy

* https://www.teknorapex.com/thermoplastic-elastomers-and-measuring-shore-hardness-chart **https://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=shore_durometer_hardness_test

How to determine EPOXY FLOORING CHEMICAL RESISTANCE?

Chemical resistant charts are also featured on most product datasheets. Some epoxies have higher chemical resistance or different thresholds to different chemicals. The key is finding a coating that works best for the facilities’ needs.

Chemical Product Epoxy Resistance to Chemical Product

Acetic Acid (20%) Excellent

Acetone Not Recommended

Acetylene Excellent

Alcohol – Ethyl Excellent (temperature < 120oF, 50oC)

Alcohol – Isopropyl Excellent

Alcohol – Methyl Good (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Aluminum Chloride Excellent (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Aluminum Fluoride Good (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Aluminum Hydroxide Good (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Aluminum Sulfate Excellent (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Amines Excellent (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

Ammonia – Liquid Excellent (temperature < 72oF, 22oC)

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/chemical-resistance-epoxy-d_786.html

Conclusion for Best Epoxy Flooring Selection

In Conclusion,

the best epoxy, most durable epoxy, or most adhesive epoxy are just statements. These statements can be verified by interpreting testing results. In my opinion, epoxy flooring material should be chosen with floor use in mind.

Traffic type whether foot, vehicular, or airplane should be considered. You don’t want to over-engineer an Epoxy Flooring system as you wouldn’t want to under engineer one either.

Finding the best quality and value for your specific epoxy flooring needs should be determined by someone that has experience and understanding for interpreting these standard epoxy test results.

So the next epoxy salesperson that to says to you, “We have the Hardest epoxy ever made!” I expect you to retort with, “What were the results of its shore hardness test?”

Store Link

The post How to Find the Best Epoxy for your concrete floor appeared first on Concrete Index.

A guide for hiring epoxy coating contractors, a standard for service

Hiring an epoxy flooring contractor can be a daunting task. Many people have the same type of concerns when searching for the right contractor.

• How do I find a company that uses quality and commercial grade epoxy resins?
• How do I know if they know how to properly install these products?
• How do I not get scammed?
• How do I get the best value and price for an epoxy floor?

All these questions are answered in our ‘Buyers guide for choosing the right epoxy flooring contractor’.

One unique thing about epoxy flooring contractors is that there are very little barriers to entry. Virtually anyone can run an ad online or in a directory as an epoxy flooring contractor, pick up some DIY ‘epoxy” locally and incorrectly install it.

This leads to many headaches for the owner of the project. Many times, the failure of these floors happen when the contractor is long gone.

What sets apart a professional from someone that decided yesterday to become an epoxy flooring contractor?

• Does the contractor have online reviews?
• Is there a disproportionate amount of negative reviews?
• Is the contractor a member of the BBB?
• Is the contractor a member of industry groups?
• Will the contractor provide customer references?
• Is the contractor a manufacture approved installer?
• Does the contractor hold a 2-million-dollar General liability policy and workers compensation?
• Does the contractor specialize on concrete flooring finishes or are they a bag of unrelated construction services?

The key to finding the right installer is finding someone that has a history or record of accountability to their customers.

Ultimately you risk putting yourself in the position of paying twice for your floor. Once after it fails or the unaccountable takes off and then twice to fix it.

I see it every week and am not thrilled to see people get taken advantage of.

To illustrate my point here’s two fictional story’s that are based on real life.

Bob and Johnny are neighbors. Both spend a lot of time in their garage watching football and generally avoiding their wives constant honey-do lists.

Bob and Johnny were talking one night after watching the game that getting an epoxy floor coating system would be nice.

The next day both went looking to find some pricing and invited some epoxy flooring contractors over for some bids.

Johnny used the ‘buyers guide for hiring an epoxy flooring contractor’ and settled on a company that met all the criteria in the guide.

Bob a retired engineer just used his own judgment and figured he could figure out if someone knew if they knew what they were doing.

Bobby was determined to get the absolute best price. Bobby settled on a team known as the Nantucket Bros.

Nantucket Bros Epoxy experience:

The Nantucket Bros sold themselves as general contractors that have business cards that say “we-do-it-all” surely an epoxy floor on a small garage was no match for them.

And the price was $300 less than Johnny’s contractor. They didn’t bother to do any paperwork as a handshake seemed genuine.

The next day Bobby gets a call from Richie Nantucket.

“Hey Bobby, Richie Nantucket here, hey I need to pick up some cash, I need to go pick up the material, so we can start.”

“Sure Richie, how much do you need?” said Bobby.

“I need 75% of the amount,” said Richie.

“Wow, that sounds like a large deposit Richie” “well ok Richie, I trust you” exclaimed Bobby.

Richie shows up with a $150 an epoxy kit he got at a big box store. Bobby questions him but Richie explains he’s done this before and it will be fine. Bobby wonders why he needed so much money.

Richie also picked up some pool acid for $7 and mixes it with water and mops it on the concrete floor. It fizzes, and Richie explains he is prepping the surface.

Richie brings the hose in the garage and squirts the floor clean. During the process, Richie accidentally hoses the drywall pretty good.

Bobby is getting increasingly concerned but doesn’t want to cause a scene so doesn’t say anything. In the meantime, Bobby goes online and checks out the product and learns that the surface should be dry for application.

He also learns that it’s closer to being a paint than epoxy resin. He tells Richie that the product cannot be applied wet and Richie goes home and agrees to apply it tomorrow.

The next day Bobby waits around wondering when Richie will be back to apply the “epoxy” on his floor. Finally, at 1 pm Bobby calls Richie.

Richie is just waking up after a hard night of celebrating with the other Nantucket brothers.

Richie tells bobby he will be there in twenty minutes. Two hours later Richie shows up (bloodshot eyes)

Richie realizes he doesn’t have everything he needs to install the product. He leaves and returns an hour later. Richie starts to mix the product on the driveway and spills it on the driveway.

Richie grabs some acetone out of Bobby garage and pours it on the driveway and wipes it up with a rag. Oh no, Richie just de-glossed and removed the stain from Bobby’s beautiful driveway.

Hopefully, Bobby doesn’t notice.

Richie pours the product on the floor and starts to roll it. (why is it so sticky, why are the hairs of the roller sticking to the surface) Richie wonders why he can’t get the coverage to finish the floor.

Richie stops and tells Bobby he needs to go get another kit of the product. Richie tells Bobby he needs $400 more to get some more material.

Bobby asks him about what happened to all the money he gave him yesterday. Richie says it’s gone. Bobby figures well, I’m not giving him any more, this is it.

Richie gets another kit and finishes the rest of the floor. He throws a handful of flake over the surface. He cleans up and goes.

The next day Bobby starts researching epoxy and wonders why there wasn’t a top coat installed. He calls Richie at the Nantucket Bros. but no one will answer.

Three days later Bobby parks his car in the garage and realizes that where his tires sit the coating is starting to peel. He calls the Nantucket Bros and no answer.

Bobby must now hire someone to fix this and do it right.

Epoxy the right way

Johnny’s experience after using the ‘Buyers guide for choosing the right epoxy flooring contractor’.

After doing pre-research on the company, Johnny invites XYZ contractor to bid his project. The contractor provides Johnny with a written and detailed proposal.

It includes the square footage; the commercial flooring material being used, color, and flake broadcast coverage with a chemically resistant topcoat.

It lays out a clear progress payment schedule based on the progress of the small job. The estimator is dressed nice, has a nice truck and is knowledgeable about all questions asked.

The paperwork lays out the clear terms and conditions of the flooring system and products and service.

XYZ is an epoxy floor systems specialist that has a track record of reviews and happy clients. They only install epoxies and urethane cement coatings.

Johnny asks XYZ contractor to send over some references and product data sheets on the later. XYZ agrees and follows up.

Johnny asks for an insurance certificate to be emailed to him as well. XYZ complies.

The price of XYZ is a few hundred more than the next quote but everything feels right.

Johnny hires XYZ and finds a scheduled date with the estimator that is available. Johnny pays a reasonable deposit to cover some of the custom material order and to hold the place in the schedule for this busy company.

The crew shows up and mechanically grinds the concrete floor. 

They achieve a surface profile of a 3 which is recommended on the product data-sheet.

They are done with the prep very quickly as their machines were designed for this, and the crew does the same thing every day, and it shows.

They mix the material on the surface or a piece of cardboard to avoid spills. They squeegee the syrupy commercial grade epoxy resin then back roll it with a specialty roller made for industrial floors epoxy application. This product is chemically resistant epoxy and easy to clean.

They throw the flake and clean up are in their truck most before Johnny can get out the door. The crew tells Johnny they will be back to scrape the floor and apply a highly chemically resistant and slip resistant polyspartic in the morning.

The crew returns and finishes fast. Johnny is able to pay his invoice the next day online. Johnny loves the floor and expresses it to the estimator who calls him after the work is done to confirm everything is good.

Johnny thinks he could have done it himself because XYZ made it look so easy.

Don’t get stuck with the Nantucket Bros.   I hope this helps.

The post Finding the right epoxy flooring contractor appeared first on Concrete Index.

Google Spreadsheet and video.

E Junk file

EDumy course

The post Business plan made easy for any type of concrete contractor appeared first on Concrete Index.

Hiring any contractor should require a little research and a little work. If you want to get lazy, that on you.  If you want to do the best you can do to avoid undesirable outcomes, then follow these tips. 

The first thing that anyone must be honest about is their general state of mind. Have you been screwed before by a contractor? 

If you have its important to be aware of these feelings and try and not project them on a potential good future contractor.  The odds are that any contractor you have hired has been screwed harder than you could ever be. 

I’m not saying ignore gut feelings or anxiety. Just be aware of it while using these guides and step by ste processes to help weed out unqualified help. 

Yes, use your gut.  How do you fell about the person presenting to you? Do they seem knowledgeable in their trade? Do you notice any character flaws? 

What type of vehicle did they show up in? 

How were they dressed? 

Where they pushy or were they educational and respectful? 

Did they respect the fact that you were getting several bids and will be making this decision on your own time when you are ready? 

If your state issues licenses do, they have one? 

Do they have a business address or real location? 

How do thier reviews look? 

What is their rating on the BBB? 

What does their written proposal look like? Read this too 

Do they have references? 

Do their Google reviews look good? above 4 stars? 

Do they care about their companies’ reputation? 

Are they involved with industry groups and associations that provide accountability? 

Do your expectations and theirs line up? 

The post 10 Tips for selecting the right Contractor appeared first on Concrete Index.