April 26, 2026 • 30 mins
Dean shares his ten-step playbook for finding the right contractor, stressing that it’s your responsibility to choose the person who will get the job done. He calls out a common “culture hole” — we rush into projects without considering design — and explains how to vet three or more qualified prospects. Dean’s practical advice starts with checking contractors’ legal credentials online and continues through the consultation: punctuality, appearance, clear communication, and knowing who you’re talking to.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp
the House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. Today on the
show a massively, massively practical topic, one that I get
questions on literally every week, and so again I'm here
(00:23):
to tell you and to help you figure out the
best way of going about finding the right contractor. I
got ten steps to finding the right contractor today and
that's where we are going to go. Also, right around
middle of the show, as we do, we're going to
be taking calls. Let me give you the number right now,
(00:44):
just in case you want to dial in and sit
in the queue. You can listen to the show while
you do the number to reach me. Eight three three two.
Ask Dean A three three the numeral two, ask Dean
A three three two sip and then you just ask Dean.
And when it comes to calls, regardless of what my
(01:05):
topic for the day is, you get to set the agenda.
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
be it architecture, design, DIY, construction issues, inside, outside, decre
anything at all having to do with your home. You
give me a call. We'll put our heads together. I
(01:25):
promise you we'll figure it out. Okay, that'll be happening
in just a bit, right around mid show. Okay. Also normally,
I say, sitting across the table from me, Tina is
somewhere wandering about the halls. She'll be here shortly, so
you hang tight for that too. Tina is here with
us today. All right, let's take a look at this
(01:46):
topic I have. I'm just going to start off by
ripping the band aid off. I need to tell you
something that you're not going to want to hear. But
I have dedicated myself to being completely honest with you
about all of the things that we talk about here
on the program. I want to encourage you, but I
(02:08):
also want to get serious about this with you. It
is not impossible to find the right contractor. I don't
care how many horror stories you have heard or how
many experiences you yourself have suffered through. It is not
impossible to find the right contractor. They're out there, they are.
(02:29):
There are good contractors everywhere. Now do you have to
push through a sea of average, mediocre, and not good
contractors in order to find the best ones? Of course,
that's just the way it is with all of life
in general. But with a good contractor Yeah, you got
(02:50):
to do some looking. But here's the thing, you can
find him or her. But it only happens when you
don't yield up your agency over your home. Okay, this
is like having a loved one in the hospital. You're
not the doctor. You're not the one who's going to
(03:10):
be doing the surgery. You're not the one who's going
to be digging in and getting that's not your specialty.
But you know, you know full and well that in
a modern day healthcare system, patients who are undergoing serious
things in the hospital need to have a patient advocate
there with them, that person who's there keeping them company,
(03:32):
but not just that, also sitting in the chair next
to the bed, making sure the nurses are aware that
this needs to happen next. And then somebody said somebody
was going to come in here with this next, somebody
who is advocating for that patient. Think of your home
as that patient in the hospital room. Okay, you, my friend,
are the advocate. You're the one. Ultimately, some own homeowners
(03:57):
just don't want to hear this. And I've never met
a homeowner who ever said they don't want to hear it.
I just know that this is true from experience. We
just want to We want to look online or you know,
go through our contacts and it's like, oh, yeah, call
this guy. Or if somebody says, oh this person's good,
call them, and we just call him. We just want
(04:18):
to call him. We want them to show up. We
want them to give us the best price and do
the most awesome work ever, and just take care of
my house. Will you please just take care of my house.
I get that, I totally get that. We're very busy
and there are a lot of things going on, but
this is your home. This is the largest single investment
likely that you possess in your life. And when it
(04:41):
comes to this, your home deserves you to be an
adequate advocate for it. And so I'm just telling you
right now, you're in charge. You're in charge of this.
It is on you. I empathize. I sympathize. Folks call in.
They tell me all the time, all this happened to
(05:03):
me and I got taken advantage of, and I feel
you and I feel terrible about that when that happens.
But the honest truth is the honest, honest truth. Is.
This is on you. You are the one, ultimately who is
responsible for finding the people who are going to be
(05:24):
working on your house, and so I want you to
take a beat. It's going to be the first lesson today.
It's not necessarily a step on my list, but it's
the first lesson of the day. Take a beat. Slow
this train down. This is not going to happen, and
it shouldn't happen next week. This project not if you
(05:45):
don't have all your ducks in a row tearing into
your house, working on your house. Doing anything with your
house other than an emergency situation is something that should
be well planned, well thought out, well designed, and well
considered in terms of gathering the right kind of people
(06:06):
together to get it done. It's on you, and I'm
here to help you. I am here to walk you
through it. But you gotta know you need to take
that iron triangle that we often talk about. The iron
triangle is time. It's cost, okay, and its quality. And
(06:28):
everybody wants to just rush the time factor because we're
just in a hurry. But what happens on the iron
triangle is you get to pick two of those sides. Okay,
any two of those sides, you'll pay for it with
the other side. So if you need it done fast
and cheap, guess what you're going to sacrifice quality? If
you need it to be done fast and the highest
(06:49):
quality possible, all you have to do is sacrifice money. Okay,
but most people fall into the third camp. You would
love for the work on your house to be the
highest possible quality and for the best possible value long term. Well,
guess what that means. You pay for it with time.
You take the time. Okay, all right? Are we together?
(07:13):
Are we with it? Are you ready? All right? We'll
dive into the ten steps to finding your right contractor
right after this your home the Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty And.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Guess, as promised, who's sitting across the table from me.
My best friend in all the world, my soulmate, my
business partner, the co owner, co founder of House Whisper,
my fellow designer. On and on it goes later on
today after the show, my fellow gardner, it's gardner in
chief for the backyard of the house. I just follow
(07:54):
orders when it comes to that Tina is here.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
How you do great?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I'm excited because today is garden day.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
You always get excited on garden days.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I do get excited aout garden day.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's a beautiful day. I mean, it's just gorgeous day.
It's a stunner here. I'm sorry if that's rubbing in
somewhere for somebody somewhere else in the country who's not
having a beautiful day. But it is. What is it like?
Mid sixties today and there's a breeze blowing slow sixties
right now and uh yeah, sunny clouds floating through the
sky lazily and a little breeze in the air. I mean,
(08:28):
it's it's a spring day.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
We got some really pretty roses.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
On your head on Friday, clear your throat.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Want to do it? I didn't want to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yes, on Friday we went to our favorite nursery and
we bought some beautiful roads.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
If you live anywhere in uh It, well, I would say,
if you live anywhere in Los Angeles area and uh
and are serious about roses, serious, as serious as the
hunting the library is about roses, then you should go
where we go and where the Huntington Library goes to
(09:07):
buy all of their roses, which is out in phill Mark.
It's a little bit of a drive if you're you know,
not out here in this end of things. But Autos
Auto and Suns Nursery.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
If you're in, if you're a rose nut, it's worth
the track, no matter where you are.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And so the California it is, even San Diego, it
would be worth four hour drive.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
We've been around, We've been around a bit, and I'm
willing to say that Autos is perhaps the finest rose
nursery in the Western United States.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Really, and the people there are so sweet. And they're
not paying us to say any of this. They are
they know roses, they love Rotto.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
They should pay us. Right.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
There was a docent there and she was referring to
each rose as you know, male or she kept saying
she is really great and she, you know, is this.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
It was really fun, all.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Right, So there you go. All right, so we need
to stop.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Talking about you need to talk about contractors.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, ah, another sweet smelling subject. All right, have fun,
all right? So AnyWho shall we dive in ten steps
to finding the right contractor? Step one, here's another one,
that you're just gonna I don't roll your eyes when
I say this. This is perhaps the most important step
(10:22):
for your whole project along the way. And am I
feathering my own bed? No, because you're not gonna hire
me to do this anyway. So I'll just tell you
this first step. Don't look for a contractor look for
a good designer. This is something that is a massive
hole in the mainstream American home improvement industry. Okay, it's
(10:47):
a massive cultural hole. And what do I mean when
I say that. I mean that we jump right from oh,
I want to, you know, remodel my kitchen to calling
a kitchen contractor, or I want to remodel my bathroom
calling the bathroom contractor, or whatever the case may be. Okay,
we skip right over design. We think, oh, well, I
(11:09):
just kind of wanted to be this way and that
way and da da da dah, and we don't run
that through. You know, here's the thing we all know,
or you all know because I am one, but you
all know you're not a professional contractor. You don't have
the skill set or the experience to put the nuts
and bolts together the way they need to go to
do your house and that's why you're going to hire
(11:29):
one to do that. Okay, but not so many people
think through the fact that, you know what, also, I
am not a professional designer. I don't really have a
clue about this stuff. And you're gonna turn to your
contractor and ask them where things should go and how
things should be, and one out of a thousand of
(11:51):
you are going to get the right answers. And it's
not because contractors suck. It's not that way at all.
It's just you need to understand end that a contractor
is a contractor. They acquired their license through experience and
then testing in order to get that license. None of
that had anything to do with design. Contractors need to
(12:14):
show zero proficiency in design in order for them to
acquire their licenses to do what they do. Now, that's
not to say that there aren't contractors out there who
can design some things pretty good, Okay, but you can't
lean on that. You can't count on that. You should
not lean on and count on that. You need trained, experienced,
(12:38):
excellent creative designers helping you along the way. Okay, A
designer is going to do three things for your project
that are invaluable and a step that you cannot afford
to skip if you want everything else on our list
today of finding the right contractor to work out the
(13:01):
right way, we'll talk about it on the other side
your Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Today we're talking about ten steps to finding the right contractor,
and I just want to finish off our step one
and move on. Step one is first, don't look for
a contractor get a good designer. And I promised you
before the break, I was going to explain three reasons
why this is the case. Before the break, I was
(13:35):
mentioning the fact that this is a gigantic cultural hole
in the American home improvement experience. We jump right from
wanting to do something to our homes to talk to contractors,
and we don't get things designed properly. I run into
it every single day of my design career. I come
(13:57):
into homes and I see things like you know. I
was in a home the last week and the call
was for landscape redesign. That's all well and good, great.
There had been some attempts at it. Frustration on the
part of the homeowner and just not really feeling it
hitting home. And you know, I stood inside the house
(14:20):
that had been remodeled a few years back and pointed
out the fact that, okay, well, you know, landscape starts
in here, and the experience of in here has to
first absorb what's out there. So part of what's right
about locating things out there is how do we see
them from in here? Because as outdoorsy as we like
(14:42):
to think ourselves, we still spend seventy eighty percent of
our time indoors, which means that your landscape design, first
and foremost is something to be viewed from inside the house.
And so we went from that step to that step
in that and this is clearly the first time that
they had spoken to a designer that was as holistic
(15:03):
as this, and it completely changed the game for them
as far as the way they were thinking about several
facets of the home. That's what I'm talking about, focusing
those kinds of things. So here are the three things
that good design does. It focuses the vision and is
the only, all caps only way to achieve the experience
(15:29):
that you're looking for. And by the way, you are
looking for an experience you're like, no, Dean, I just
want to replaced my windows. No, you're looking for an
experience that you think those new windows are going to
give you. That's why we redo things for our home.
You're not remodeling your kitchen. Maybe somebody is because because
(15:49):
it's literally falling apart or the sink leaks or something
like that. But most people remodel their kitchen because they
want a different experience in the kitchen. That's what it's about.
Good design focuses the vision and it's the only way
to achieve that experience. Number one. Number two, good design
will focus your budget on that experience. It keeps its
(16:12):
eye on the ball. Experience is the ball. Good design
will focus the budget around that and not let it
trail off to the left or to the right onto
other things. That's the only thing the budget should be
focused on, because that's what you're ultimately paying for. And
number three, and this ties directly into our next few steps.
(16:37):
A good designer who has given you the right design
for your home will later serve as your advocate with
the contractor when the work begins. And who doesn't want
an advocate standing by their side when it comes to
dealing with issues that might come up with the contractor.
So step one in finding the right contractor, stop looking
(16:59):
for a contractor get yourself a good designer. Get the
project figured out first. Now, now it's time to call
a contractor. Step two, you find three or more. Okay,
you don't have to find ten. You don't have to
find five. Five might be nice. I don't know. You
only look for five if, if you know, the first
(17:22):
couple of ones fall off the list. Okay, what you want,
and I'm not saying you only look for three people.
This is what you want to end up with. You
want to end up with three vetted, qualified potential contractors
to do your project. You may have to go through
(17:42):
several of them in order to end up with three
that you feel decent about. Okay, Now where do you
find these? Everybody asks me this every week. Where do
we find them? You can find them a number of
different ways. Number one, I just want to keep it simple.
Let's start. You know, right next to you, perhaps somebody
(18:03):
in your world, somebody at work who you trust or like.
Not that lady you don't like, don't ask her, don't
talk to her. Ever, somebody you likes, somebody you trust
somebody whose opinion you trust at work might be remodeling
or maybe has remodeled lately. Somebody in your family may
(18:25):
have been remodeling or remodeled lately, or had some work done.
One of your friends, co workers, family members. Just start
in your immediate circle, ask the question, find out, and
then take it deeper. Don't take it at face value,
take it deeper. Ask friends, family, coworkers. Look around your neighborhood.
This is one of the most overlooked methodologies, and that
(18:47):
is take a drive, spin out, spiral out from where
you live, starting at the closest streets and moving on out.
You're going to find some project being done. You're going
to find somebody sign on somebody's front lawns saying this
work being done by dah, and then copy that information down.
And you might even feel like walking up and knocking
(19:10):
on a door and saying, Hey, I'm your neighbor. I
live a few streets over. I'm just wondering I saw
the sign here. How's this person working out for you?
If you've got a couple of minutes to chat, go
that way For the references neighborhood projects another one, because
another question is always how do I find somebody close
to me, Well, guess what, there they are. They're working
(19:31):
in your neighborhood. And then after those things have not
brought you everything you want, and you know, there's a
really good chance they will bring you those two steps
right there, your inner circle, your friends, your family, your
co workers, and then your neighborhood. Then you know, go online,
go online, look at home Advisor. You could look at
(19:54):
Angie which is formerly Angie's List, How's pro and build
zoom thumbtack next door. You know, the Internet is literally
littered with contractor connection sites that you can find, and
you put in your zip code and you find you
(20:14):
know people in your area, okay, and then you start
making their calls. Once you have found somebody that you
want to talk to, before you invite them to your home,
you just go ahead and check their legals. This is
step number three. Check their legals. What does that mean?
(20:34):
They're licensed, they're bonded, they're ensured. How can you find
all of this stuff out? You have to hire a
private eye. Nope, all you have to do if you
live in the state of California, well any state you
live in, you go to your state licensing board website
and all that information will be there. In California, it's
CSLB Contractor State License Board dot gov CSLB dot gov.
(21:00):
You can go there right now. You can go there
with a license number. If you don't have the license number,
you can go there with a business name or an
individual's name and you search and you pull it up
and you're like, oh, I can't find a license on
this person at all. Red flag, No deal, No deal.
You want somebody who is licensed, because it's not legal
(21:21):
for them to do the work otherwise. You want somebody
who with their license has carries a contractor's bond, because
that's insurance for you and full liability insurance, which these
days is somewhere in the area of about two million
dollars per incidence liability insurance. If they have employees, you
will also see proof on the contractor State License Board
(21:43):
that they have workers comp insurance for their employees, which
means if somebody gets sick or hurt of their crew
on your job site, you are insured and safe and
protected there as well. So you check their legals before
you even bother calling them, because if they don't pass
the most basic test of they are a licensed contractor
(22:06):
this is not the person for you, Okay, not unless
it's your uncle and you're just basically doing this as
owner builder yourself, which you can do. But we're talking
about today finding the right contractor and they need to
be above board with their business. Okay, there you go.
We're through three. We've got six more to go. We
will achieve our goal today. You hang tight for the
(22:30):
ten steps to finding the right contractor. Right after this
you are Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Thanks for joining us on the show today. We are
talking about ten steps, my ten steps to you finding
the right contractor. We've said, first, don't look for a
contractor get a good designer. We've covered number two, which
is fine three or more vetted prospects, not three or
(23:02):
more people you call three or more that you end
up with, okay, that are worth talking to about bidding
the project. And we've talked about where to find them.
Step three checking their legals even before you call them
for an appointment. In other words, you do the background
check on them at your state's Licensing Board website CSLB
(23:26):
dot gov for the state of California California Contractors State
License Board dot gov. And you want to find out
their license status. You want to make sure that they're bonded,
that they have liability insurance, that they cover workmen's compensation
insurance for their employees. Do they have dings and incidents
(23:46):
and disciplinary action on their license. You want to see
the history of that license before you call them, And
of course you want to make sure they have a
license to begin with. Now let's say that we've got
through all of those things. It's time for a meet
and greet. Step four. The meet and greet, the initial appointment,
(24:07):
the consultation, whatever they want to call it. You are
getting together with these people and this is their initial
job interview with you. Now, there are a lot of
things to talk about during this meet and greet, and
I've got a whole list of questions for you to
discuss that happened during this meet and greet. But I
(24:29):
just want you to be aware that there are a
lot of subjective things that I want you to be
aware of. Are they on time to your meeting? This
is a really, really important thing. If they can't be
on time for a brand new potential work. If they're
too busy for that, then I guarantee you you're going
to see that pattern repeat itself again and again and
(24:52):
again throughout the project, and it's going to frustrate you
and you are not going to have a good time.
So are they on time? Very important question? How do
they look? I don't mean how handsome they are, although
you know I never hurt anything, But the point is
their appearance clean, neat, respectful, that they just you know,
(25:13):
come off, you know, a sweaty job site somewhere half
covered in dirty you know, you know what I'm talking about.
Their appearance is important, just as important. It should be
just as important for you as it was for you
when you went in on your first job interview. Okay,
this is a job interview and you are the boss,
so just be clear about that to understand what's happening there. Okay.
(25:38):
Number three, Their communication skills really really important. Their communication skills.
Communication is what is going to make or break whether
this is an exciting adventure for you having this work
done in your home, or whether it's going to be
pulling teeth. You need somebody who's going to be clearly
(25:58):
talking to you about all the things that you need
to have answered, all the questions you need to have answered,
and also be constantly communicating with you and we'll get
into the specifics of that as the project moves forward.
And the fourth thing here just to make sure you know,
(26:18):
is are you talking to the builder or is this
a sales agent for the builder. It's not a problem
one way or the other. I just want you to
be aware of who it is that you're talking to.
Larger companies may say send out a sales agent. At
smaller companies, it may be the builder themselves. You just
need to know, okay. And this steps us on to
(26:42):
the next part of this interview, which is step five
in the process, and that is to review your designs.
And this is a time to listen and to be
listened to. I cannot emphasize this enough. To listen to
them and to be listened to. And if you don't
(27:02):
feel at any point that you are being listened to,
then this is a red flag and you need to,
you know, make a note of that along the way
reviewing the designs. And here is something by the way,
I never want you to hear while you are reviewing
your designs, and notice because I've made point one that
(27:23):
you've already have yourself a designer, and you already have designs.
This is not the point in the interview where you
ask the builder what do you think should happen here?
What do you think should be going? You know, No,
you're reviewing designs that have been already established. Okay. There
are two reasons for that. One I already mentioned, and
that is that builders are not designers, So don't lean
(27:47):
too heavily in that direction. That would be a mistake
in general. Number two, if we're not handing clear designs
to a builder, we're not going to get a accurate
estimate from them. And believe me, if they can't accurately
estimate it, they are going to pad the estimate to
(28:09):
make sure that they're safe. Right. I always say this
question marks. Question marks are just one little swoop away
from a dollar sign. You do not want too many
unknowns in the design process, in the plan, because if
a builder isn't sure what you want, or if it's
unclear kind of what's gonna happen over there in that
(28:30):
corner of things, then they're gonna guess, and they're gonna
guess high. And that's gonna cost you more money, and
you're not gonna get a refund for that. Okay at
the end of the project, like, hey, I estimated this
much and it only costs this so here's a check
for you. Tim Conway told me one time that actually
happened to him. It's literally the only time I've ever
heard it happening before. Not exactly sure if it actually happened.
(28:52):
But the point is this clear communication, eliminate the question marks.
This period of reviewing design. That's reviewing the designs you
already have established, Okay, not a time where you're asking
the builder, this person you haven't even hired yet to
design your thing for you. Okay, to be clear, all right,
(29:16):
And then the critical questions begin. This is step six.
Ask critical questions. Let me just throw a couple out
for you, and then I'm gonna just tease you for
when we come back to this. How big is the crew,
do you use subcontractors or your own in house people?
How hands on are you personally gonna be with this project?
(29:39):
How often will you be communicating with us when it begins,
and so on and so forth. I've got a whole
list of them for him. You're not gonna want to miss.
But here's the thing. We're approaching mid show, which means
right after the break, we're gonna take a little pause
from this. We're gonna go to the phones and we're
gonna take calls. The number to reach me eight three
three to ask Dean more of with Dean Sharp, the
(30:01):
House Whisper. Right after this, This has been Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app.
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp
the House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. Today on the
show a massively, massively practical topic, one that I get
questions on literally every week, and so again I'm here
(00:23):
to tell you and to help you figure out the
best way of going about finding the right contractor. I
got ten steps to finding the right contractor today and
that's where we are going to go. Also, right around
middle of the show, as we do, we're going to
be taking calls. Let me give you the number right now,
(00:44):
just in case you want to dial in and sit
in the queue. You can listen to the show while
you do the number to reach me. Eight three three two.
Ask Dean A three three the numeral two, ask Dean
A three three two sip and then you just ask Dean.
And when it comes to calls, regardless of what my
(01:05):
topic for the day is, you get to set the agenda.
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
be it architecture, design, DIY, construction issues, inside, outside, decre
anything at all having to do with your home. You
give me a call. We'll put our heads together. I
(01:25):
promise you we'll figure it out. Okay, that'll be happening
in just a bit, right around mid show. Okay. Also normally,
I say, sitting across the table from me, Tina is
somewhere wandering about the halls. She'll be here shortly, so
you hang tight for that too. Tina is here with
us today. All right, let's take a look at this
(01:46):
topic I have. I'm just going to start off by
ripping the band aid off. I need to tell you
something that you're not going to want to hear. But
I have dedicated myself to being completely honest with you
about all of the things that we talk about here
on the program. I want to encourage you, but I
(02:08):
also want to get serious about this with you. It
is not impossible to find the right contractor. I don't
care how many horror stories you have heard or how
many experiences you yourself have suffered through. It is not
impossible to find the right contractor. They're out there, they are.
(02:29):
There are good contractors everywhere. Now do you have to
push through a sea of average, mediocre, and not good
contractors in order to find the best ones? Of course,
that's just the way it is with all of life
in general. But with a good contractor Yeah, you got
(02:50):
to do some looking. But here's the thing, you can
find him or her. But it only happens when you
don't yield up your agency over your home. Okay, this
is like having a loved one in the hospital. You're
not the doctor. You're not the one who's going to
(03:10):
be doing the surgery. You're not the one who's going
to be digging in and getting that's not your specialty.
But you know, you know full and well that in
a modern day healthcare system, patients who are undergoing serious
things in the hospital need to have a patient advocate
there with them, that person who's there keeping them company,
(03:32):
but not just that, also sitting in the chair next
to the bed, making sure the nurses are aware that
this needs to happen next. And then somebody said somebody
was going to come in here with this next, somebody
who is advocating for that patient. Think of your home
as that patient in the hospital room. Okay, you, my friend,
are the advocate. You're the one. Ultimately, some own homeowners
(03:57):
just don't want to hear this. And I've never met
a homeowner who ever said they don't want to hear it.
I just know that this is true from experience. We
just want to We want to look online or you know,
go through our contacts and it's like, oh, yeah, call
this guy. Or if somebody says, oh this person's good,
call them, and we just call him. We just want
(04:18):
to call him. We want them to show up. We
want them to give us the best price and do
the most awesome work ever, and just take care of
my house. Will you please just take care of my house.
I get that, I totally get that. We're very busy
and there are a lot of things going on, but
this is your home. This is the largest single investment
likely that you possess in your life. And when it
(04:41):
comes to this, your home deserves you to be an
adequate advocate for it. And so I'm just telling you
right now, you're in charge. You're in charge of this.
It is on you. I empathize. I sympathize. Folks call in.
They tell me all the time, all this happened to
(05:03):
me and I got taken advantage of, and I feel
you and I feel terrible about that when that happens.
But the honest truth is the honest, honest truth. Is.
This is on you. You are the one, ultimately who is
responsible for finding the people who are going to be
(05:24):
working on your house, and so I want you to
take a beat. It's going to be the first lesson today.
It's not necessarily a step on my list, but it's
the first lesson of the day. Take a beat. Slow
this train down. This is not going to happen, and
it shouldn't happen next week. This project not if you
(05:45):
don't have all your ducks in a row tearing into
your house, working on your house. Doing anything with your
house other than an emergency situation is something that should
be well planned, well thought out, well designed, and well
considered in terms of gathering the right kind of people
(06:06):
together to get it done. It's on you, and I'm
here to help you. I am here to walk you
through it. But you gotta know you need to take
that iron triangle that we often talk about. The iron
triangle is time. It's cost, okay, and its quality. And
(06:28):
everybody wants to just rush the time factor because we're
just in a hurry. But what happens on the iron
triangle is you get to pick two of those sides. Okay,
any two of those sides, you'll pay for it with
the other side. So if you need it done fast
and cheap, guess what you're going to sacrifice quality? If
you need it to be done fast and the highest
(06:49):
quality possible, all you have to do is sacrifice money. Okay,
but most people fall into the third camp. You would
love for the work on your house to be the
highest possible quality and for the best possible value long term. Well,
guess what that means. You pay for it with time.
You take the time. Okay, all right? Are we together?
(07:13):
Are we with it? Are you ready? All right? We'll
dive into the ten steps to finding your right contractor
right after this your home the Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty And.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Guess, as promised, who's sitting across the table from me.
My best friend in all the world, my soulmate, my
business partner, the co owner, co founder of House Whisper,
my fellow designer. On and on it goes later on
today after the show, my fellow gardner, it's gardner in
chief for the backyard of the house. I just follow
(07:54):
orders when it comes to that Tina is here.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
How you do great?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I'm excited because today is garden day.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
You always get excited on garden days.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I do get excited aout garden day.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's a beautiful day. I mean, it's just gorgeous day.
It's a stunner here. I'm sorry if that's rubbing in
somewhere for somebody somewhere else in the country who's not
having a beautiful day. But it is. What is it like?
Mid sixties today and there's a breeze blowing slow sixties
right now and uh yeah, sunny clouds floating through the
sky lazily and a little breeze in the air. I mean,
(08:28):
it's it's a spring day.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
We got some really pretty roses.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
On your head on Friday, clear your throat.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Want to do it? I didn't want to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yes, on Friday we went to our favorite nursery and
we bought some beautiful roads.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
If you live anywhere in uh It, well, I would say,
if you live anywhere in Los Angeles area and uh
and are serious about roses, serious, as serious as the
hunting the library is about roses, then you should go
where we go and where the Huntington Library goes to
(09:07):
buy all of their roses, which is out in phill Mark.
It's a little bit of a drive if you're you know,
not out here in this end of things. But Autos
Auto and Suns Nursery.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
If you're in, if you're a rose nut, it's worth
the track, no matter where you are.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And so the California it is, even San Diego, it
would be worth four hour drive.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
We've been around, We've been around a bit, and I'm
willing to say that Autos is perhaps the finest rose
nursery in the Western United States.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Really, and the people there are so sweet. And they're
not paying us to say any of this. They are
they know roses, they love Rotto.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
They should pay us. Right.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
There was a docent there and she was referring to
each rose as you know, male or she kept saying
she is really great and she, you know, is this.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
It was really fun, all.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Right, So there you go. All right, so we need
to stop.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Talking about you need to talk about contractors.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, ah, another sweet smelling subject. All right, have fun,
all right? So AnyWho shall we dive in ten steps
to finding the right contractor? Step one, here's another one,
that you're just gonna I don't roll your eyes when
I say this. This is perhaps the most important step
(10:22):
for your whole project along the way. And am I
feathering my own bed? No, because you're not gonna hire
me to do this anyway. So I'll just tell you
this first step. Don't look for a contractor look for
a good designer. This is something that is a massive
hole in the mainstream American home improvement industry. Okay, it's
(10:47):
a massive cultural hole. And what do I mean when
I say that. I mean that we jump right from oh,
I want to, you know, remodel my kitchen to calling
a kitchen contractor, or I want to remodel my bathroom
calling the bathroom contractor, or whatever the case may be. Okay,
we skip right over design. We think, oh, well, I
(11:09):
just kind of wanted to be this way and that
way and da da da dah, and we don't run
that through. You know, here's the thing we all know,
or you all know because I am one, but you
all know you're not a professional contractor. You don't have
the skill set or the experience to put the nuts
and bolts together the way they need to go to
do your house and that's why you're going to hire
(11:29):
one to do that. Okay, but not so many people
think through the fact that, you know what, also, I
am not a professional designer. I don't really have a
clue about this stuff. And you're gonna turn to your
contractor and ask them where things should go and how
things should be, and one out of a thousand of
(11:51):
you are going to get the right answers. And it's
not because contractors suck. It's not that way at all.
It's just you need to understand end that a contractor
is a contractor. They acquired their license through experience and
then testing in order to get that license. None of
that had anything to do with design. Contractors need to
(12:14):
show zero proficiency in design in order for them to
acquire their licenses to do what they do. Now, that's
not to say that there aren't contractors out there who
can design some things pretty good, Okay, but you can't
lean on that. You can't count on that. You should
not lean on and count on that. You need trained, experienced,
(12:38):
excellent creative designers helping you along the way. Okay, A
designer is going to do three things for your project
that are invaluable and a step that you cannot afford
to skip if you want everything else on our list
today of finding the right contractor to work out the
(13:01):
right way, we'll talk about it on the other side
your Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Today we're talking about ten steps to finding the right contractor,
and I just want to finish off our step one
and move on. Step one is first, don't look for
a contractor get a good designer. And I promised you
before the break, I was going to explain three reasons
why this is the case. Before the break, I was
(13:35):
mentioning the fact that this is a gigantic cultural hole
in the American home improvement experience. We jump right from
wanting to do something to our homes to talk to contractors,
and we don't get things designed properly. I run into
it every single day of my design career. I come
(13:57):
into homes and I see things like you know. I
was in a home the last week and the call
was for landscape redesign. That's all well and good, great.
There had been some attempts at it. Frustration on the
part of the homeowner and just not really feeling it
hitting home. And you know, I stood inside the house
(14:20):
that had been remodeled a few years back and pointed
out the fact that, okay, well, you know, landscape starts
in here, and the experience of in here has to
first absorb what's out there. So part of what's right
about locating things out there is how do we see
them from in here? Because as outdoorsy as we like
(14:42):
to think ourselves, we still spend seventy eighty percent of
our time indoors, which means that your landscape design, first
and foremost is something to be viewed from inside the house.
And so we went from that step to that step
in that and this is clearly the first time that
they had spoken to a designer that was as holistic
(15:03):
as this, and it completely changed the game for them
as far as the way they were thinking about several
facets of the home. That's what I'm talking about, focusing
those kinds of things. So here are the three things
that good design does. It focuses the vision and is
the only, all caps only way to achieve the experience
(15:29):
that you're looking for. And by the way, you are
looking for an experience you're like, no, Dean, I just
want to replaced my windows. No, you're looking for an
experience that you think those new windows are going to
give you. That's why we redo things for our home.
You're not remodeling your kitchen. Maybe somebody is because because
(15:49):
it's literally falling apart or the sink leaks or something
like that. But most people remodel their kitchen because they
want a different experience in the kitchen. That's what it's about.
Good design focuses the vision and it's the only way
to achieve that experience. Number one. Number two, good design
will focus your budget on that experience. It keeps its
(16:12):
eye on the ball. Experience is the ball. Good design
will focus the budget around that and not let it
trail off to the left or to the right onto
other things. That's the only thing the budget should be
focused on, because that's what you're ultimately paying for. And
number three, and this ties directly into our next few steps.
(16:37):
A good designer who has given you the right design
for your home will later serve as your advocate with
the contractor when the work begins. And who doesn't want
an advocate standing by their side when it comes to
dealing with issues that might come up with the contractor.
So step one in finding the right contractor, stop looking
(16:59):
for a contractor get yourself a good designer. Get the
project figured out first. Now, now it's time to call
a contractor. Step two, you find three or more. Okay,
you don't have to find ten. You don't have to
find five. Five might be nice. I don't know. You
only look for five if, if you know, the first
(17:22):
couple of ones fall off the list. Okay, what you want,
and I'm not saying you only look for three people.
This is what you want to end up with. You
want to end up with three vetted, qualified potential contractors
to do your project. You may have to go through
(17:42):
several of them in order to end up with three
that you feel decent about. Okay, Now where do you
find these? Everybody asks me this every week. Where do
we find them? You can find them a number of
different ways. Number one, I just want to keep it simple.
Let's start. You know, right next to you, perhaps somebody
(18:03):
in your world, somebody at work who you trust or like.
Not that lady you don't like, don't ask her, don't
talk to her. Ever, somebody you likes, somebody you trust
somebody whose opinion you trust at work might be remodeling
or maybe has remodeled lately. Somebody in your family may
(18:25):
have been remodeling or remodeled lately, or had some work done.
One of your friends, co workers, family members. Just start
in your immediate circle, ask the question, find out, and
then take it deeper. Don't take it at face value,
take it deeper. Ask friends, family, coworkers. Look around your neighborhood.
This is one of the most overlooked methodologies, and that
(18:47):
is take a drive, spin out, spiral out from where
you live, starting at the closest streets and moving on out.
You're going to find some project being done. You're going
to find somebody sign on somebody's front lawns saying this
work being done by dah, and then copy that information down.
And you might even feel like walking up and knocking
(19:10):
on a door and saying, Hey, I'm your neighbor. I
live a few streets over. I'm just wondering I saw
the sign here. How's this person working out for you?
If you've got a couple of minutes to chat, go
that way For the references neighborhood projects another one, because
another question is always how do I find somebody close
to me, Well, guess what, there they are. They're working
(19:31):
in your neighborhood. And then after those things have not
brought you everything you want, and you know, there's a
really good chance they will bring you those two steps
right there, your inner circle, your friends, your family, your
co workers, and then your neighborhood. Then you know, go online,
go online, look at home Advisor. You could look at
(19:54):
Angie which is formerly Angie's List, How's pro and build
zoom thumbtack next door. You know, the Internet is literally
littered with contractor connection sites that you can find, and
you put in your zip code and you find you
(20:14):
know people in your area, okay, and then you start
making their calls. Once you have found somebody that you
want to talk to, before you invite them to your home,
you just go ahead and check their legals. This is
step number three. Check their legals. What does that mean?
(20:34):
They're licensed, they're bonded, they're ensured. How can you find
all of this stuff out? You have to hire a
private eye. Nope, all you have to do if you
live in the state of California, well any state you
live in, you go to your state licensing board website
and all that information will be there. In California, it's
CSLB Contractor State License Board dot gov CSLB dot gov.
(21:00):
You can go there right now. You can go there
with a license number. If you don't have the license number,
you can go there with a business name or an
individual's name and you search and you pull it up
and you're like, oh, I can't find a license on
this person at all. Red flag, No deal, No deal.
You want somebody who is licensed, because it's not legal
(21:21):
for them to do the work otherwise. You want somebody
who with their license has carries a contractor's bond, because
that's insurance for you and full liability insurance, which these
days is somewhere in the area of about two million
dollars per incidence liability insurance. If they have employees, you
will also see proof on the contractor State License Board
(21:43):
that they have workers comp insurance for their employees, which
means if somebody gets sick or hurt of their crew
on your job site, you are insured and safe and
protected there as well. So you check their legals before
you even bother calling them, because if they don't pass
the most basic test of they are a licensed contractor
(22:06):
this is not the person for you, Okay, not unless
it's your uncle and you're just basically doing this as
owner builder yourself, which you can do. But we're talking
about today finding the right contractor and they need to
be above board with their business. Okay, there you go.
We're through three. We've got six more to go. We
will achieve our goal today. You hang tight for the
(22:30):
ten steps to finding the right contractor. Right after this
you are Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Thanks for joining us on the show today. We are
talking about ten steps, my ten steps to you finding
the right contractor. We've said, first, don't look for a
contractor get a good designer. We've covered number two, which
is fine three or more vetted prospects, not three or
(23:02):
more people you call three or more that you end
up with, okay, that are worth talking to about bidding
the project. And we've talked about where to find them.
Step three checking their legals even before you call them
for an appointment. In other words, you do the background
check on them at your state's Licensing Board website CSLB
(23:26):
dot gov for the state of California California Contractors State
License Board dot gov. And you want to find out
their license status. You want to make sure that they're bonded,
that they have liability insurance, that they cover workmen's compensation
insurance for their employees. Do they have dings and incidents
(23:46):
and disciplinary action on their license. You want to see
the history of that license before you call them, And
of course you want to make sure they have a
license to begin with. Now let's say that we've got
through all of those things. It's time for a meet
and greet. Step four. The meet and greet, the initial appointment,
(24:07):
the consultation, whatever they want to call it. You are
getting together with these people and this is their initial
job interview with you. Now, there are a lot of
things to talk about during this meet and greet, and
I've got a whole list of questions for you to
discuss that happened during this meet and greet. But I
(24:29):
just want you to be aware that there are a
lot of subjective things that I want you to be
aware of. Are they on time to your meeting? This
is a really, really important thing. If they can't be
on time for a brand new potential work. If they're
too busy for that, then I guarantee you you're going
to see that pattern repeat itself again and again and
(24:52):
again throughout the project, and it's going to frustrate you
and you are not going to have a good time.
So are they on time? Very important question? How do
they look? I don't mean how handsome they are, although
you know I never hurt anything, But the point is
their appearance clean, neat, respectful, that they just you know,
(25:13):
come off, you know, a sweaty job site somewhere half
covered in dirty you know, you know what I'm talking about.
Their appearance is important, just as important. It should be
just as important for you as it was for you
when you went in on your first job interview. Okay,
this is a job interview and you are the boss,
so just be clear about that to understand what's happening there. Okay.
(25:38):
Number three, Their communication skills really really important. Their communication skills.
Communication is what is going to make or break whether
this is an exciting adventure for you having this work
done in your home, or whether it's going to be
pulling teeth. You need somebody who's going to be clearly
(25:58):
talking to you about all the things that you need
to have answered, all the questions you need to have answered,
and also be constantly communicating with you and we'll get
into the specifics of that as the project moves forward.
And the fourth thing here just to make sure you know,
(26:18):
is are you talking to the builder or is this
a sales agent for the builder. It's not a problem
one way or the other. I just want you to
be aware of who it is that you're talking to.
Larger companies may say send out a sales agent. At
smaller companies, it may be the builder themselves. You just
need to know, okay. And this steps us on to
(26:42):
the next part of this interview, which is step five
in the process, and that is to review your designs.
And this is a time to listen and to be
listened to. I cannot emphasize this enough. To listen to
them and to be listened to. And if you don't
(27:02):
feel at any point that you are being listened to,
then this is a red flag and you need to,
you know, make a note of that along the way
reviewing the designs. And here is something by the way,
I never want you to hear while you are reviewing
your designs, and notice because I've made point one that
(27:23):
you've already have yourself a designer, and you already have designs.
This is not the point in the interview where you
ask the builder what do you think should happen here?
What do you think should be going? You know, No,
you're reviewing designs that have been already established. Okay. There
are two reasons for that. One I already mentioned, and
that is that builders are not designers, So don't lean
(27:47):
too heavily in that direction. That would be a mistake
in general. Number two, if we're not handing clear designs
to a builder, we're not going to get a accurate
estimate from them. And believe me, if they can't accurately
estimate it, they are going to pad the estimate to
(28:09):
make sure that they're safe. Right. I always say this
question marks. Question marks are just one little swoop away
from a dollar sign. You do not want too many
unknowns in the design process, in the plan, because if
a builder isn't sure what you want, or if it's
unclear kind of what's gonna happen over there in that
(28:30):
corner of things, then they're gonna guess, and they're gonna
guess high. And that's gonna cost you more money, and
you're not gonna get a refund for that. Okay at
the end of the project, like, hey, I estimated this
much and it only costs this so here's a check
for you. Tim Conway told me one time that actually
happened to him. It's literally the only time I've ever
heard it happening before. Not exactly sure if it actually happened.
(28:52):
But the point is this clear communication, eliminate the question marks.
This period of reviewing design. That's reviewing the designs you
already have established, Okay, not a time where you're asking
the builder, this person you haven't even hired yet to
design your thing for you. Okay, to be clear, all right,
(29:16):
And then the critical questions begin. This is step six.
Ask critical questions. Let me just throw a couple out
for you, and then I'm gonna just tease you for
when we come back to this. How big is the crew,
do you use subcontractors or your own in house people?
How hands on are you personally gonna be with this project?
(29:39):
How often will you be communicating with us when it begins,
and so on and so forth. I've got a whole
list of them for him. You're not gonna want to miss.
But here's the thing. We're approaching mid show, which means
right after the break, we're gonna take a little pause
from this. We're gonna go to the phones and we're
gonna take calls. The number to reach me eight three
three to ask Dean more of with Dean Sharp, the
(30:01):
House Whisper. Right after this, This has been Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
Popular Podcasts
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com