Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132sponsored by BUSINESS TIP Last weekend our friend Bob Youngs showed us an article pub- lished in the June 2016 issue of Consumer Reports. Portions of the article are available online, although the printed version is more detailed. The article is writ- ten as advice before hiring a con- tractor, and some of the advice is spot-on: • Bring your contractor into the project during the design phase (if working with an architect). • Get everything in writing. • Changing your mind after the work is underway is the biggest mistake homeowners make, and it can be the costliest, too. • Deal with your general contrac- tor, not your subcontractors. Unfortunately, there’s a fair amount of advice that’s just plain wrong. If you want to hire a con- tractor who is financially stable and will still be in business down the road, this is the advice to avoid, and here's why. Wrong advice: always negotiate A contractor who knows how to price their work properly won’t have room to negotiate. They’ve estimated the total cost of the project, then added on whatever they need to meet their over- head needs and make a reason- able profit. If they priced the job properly, what’s left to negotiate, unless you don’t want them to make a reasonable profit? You can ask, but a contractor who knows their business will tell you that they’ll adjust the price if you adjust the scope of the Hiring a contractor: truth vs. myths By Michael Stone 24 TileLetter | August 2016