The Internet has seen an explosion of resources for homeowners, ranging from e-commerce companies to sites that give remodelers new ways to hire contractors for projects big and small.
There are more than a dozen remodeling resource sites, ranging from targeted contractor directories to sites that let customers rate home repair professionals to services that schedule appointments online.
Here’s a look at six services that offer more than mere lists of contractors to help you steer clear of obstacles on the rocky road to remodeling success.
Word of mouth is key to finding competent contractors offline, and there are ways to do the same online. Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com) has just come to Chicago with its ratings Web site that collects consumers’ experiences, and ranks home repair and remodeling professionals on an A-to-F system. Homeowners pay $45 a year to use the service.
Mary Hanover, of Lisle, tried Angie’s List when she needed an electrician to repair damage to her home caused by lightning.
“I felt good being able to call somebody that rates contractors and tells you their charges,” said Hanover. “A good thing about this site is that contractors cannot get in the list unless a consumer has used them, and gives a report on them.”
The service-provider report form asks consumers to grade the overall service experience, prices, quality of work, responsiveness (promptness in returning calls), punctuality and professionalism (for example, cleanliness, courtesy).
Indianapolis-based Angie’s List asks customers to rate the contractor’s service from A to F–from excellent to lousy. Then it takes the average rating of those reports and posts the final result for each service provider, with the number of reports received for each one.
Angie’s List does not let customers post comments on individual contractors (think of the lawsuit possibilities), and only lists online the companies that get A to C ratings–the best ones.
“That is the idea of the Web site, to provide customers with the best service providers available,” said Angie Hicks, Angie’s List’s founder and chief marketing officer.
But if someone wants to know about a specific company, he’ll be able to access all the information about it by making a phone call to Angie’s List or requesting that information through e-mail.
“In that case, the customer can get all reports, including D to F ones, if they apply to that particular provider,” said Hicks.
“The majority of companies listed have a long standing with us, so most comments are not the type of thing like, ‘The contractor you recommended stole money from my house.’ But if we receive a comment that is not appropriate, we can remove the offensive part, and leave the contractor on our list with a bad standing,” she explained.
Another site, ServiceMagic.com, lets you know what other customers have said about contractors and offers referrals to a wide range of service people, from building contractors to maid services. It doesn’t charge homeowners because its revenues come from fees paid by contractors.
ServiceMagic gives customers the chance to rate the service professionals before, during and after the project. Its five-star scale (excellent to unsatisfactory) rates timeliness, cleanliness, budget, quality, value, communication and courtesy.
The Golden, Colo.-based company recently acquired Handyman Online, a Web site that had received many complaints from unsatisfied customers before becoming part of the ServiceMagic’s network. ServiceMagic didn’t assume any of Handyman Online’s liabilities, however.
“We have no control of what happened before,” said Allison Gray, public relations executive at ServiceMagic.
The company now offers a $500 rebate on labor if the customer is not satisfied with the contractor’s work. “We can also kick them out,” she said. To stop problems from growing bigger, ServiceMagic also created a speed resolution call center. “In this business you can’t guarantee that there won’t be problems, but the longer the problem goes, the harder it is to solve it,” said Gray.
Some wary consumers don’t feel so comfortable with this kind of audience-participation Web site.
“You really don’t know how much of that [customers’ postings] is true,” said Tammy Ward, of Prattville, Ala., who said she prefers myHomeKey (www.myhomekey.com) because the free Web site offered her a prescreened repairman to fix her refrigerator–and gave her a guarantee in case she was dissatisfied.
A range of experts
The home repair Web site recommends professionals ranging from the biggest names in the industry, such as Sears, GE and the Home Service Store, to small neighborhood businesses.
“We are not a matching service that just gives you names of handymen. We find the best contractor for each homeowner, and we set appointments online for home maintenance, repair and improvement,” said Eric Zausner, myHomeKey’s president and chief executive.
For Gordon J. Vollmer, of Buffalo, N.Y., choosing a company out of the phone book was not a guarantee; so he contacted myHomeKey. “I needed an expert to clean the air conditioning system. When I called them, `boom, boom,’ they put everything right there for me,” he said.
MyHomeKey specializes in home maintenance services and partners with another free site, Redwood City, Calif.-based ImproveNet, which prescreens remodeling contractors and guarantees the results. The company says it can offer the guarantee because both parties know what to expect when they meet through ImproveNet.
“So many problems with home improvement projects occur because the expectations of the homeowners and contractor are not spelled out in a good contract or confirmed in writing as changes are made during the process,” said Scott Bly, ImproveNet’s vice president of professional services. “We hope our program raises general awareness about what a good home remodeling contract needs to include.”
Zausner added: “In this business you have three categories: maintenance [corporate cleaning, checking an air conditioning system], repair [fixing electrical failures, with an average expenditure of $400] and home improvement [new roof, etc., with an average expenditure of several thousand dollars]. MyHomeKey offers all three categories, but ImproveNet specializes in home improvement. So lots of people go to their site and ask for things ImproveNet doesn’t offer. They can refer them to us. On our side, we have them on our home improvement network as one of several providers and can refer people to them as well.” “We’re also different in our approach and how we work,” Zausner said, “because the people that come to us usually want the things solved `right now,’ so we have real-time service, and we schedule appointments on line.”
ImproveNet says that since 1997 it has processed nearly 300,000 job requests from homeowners, valued at more than $6 billion. One of those was Gretchen Cordill’s.
She moved to a Lake View condo two years ago. Then she was a 25-year-old single woman who wanted to have her kitchen fully remodeled and had no idea where to start.
“My father was in Kansas. That was the first time I had to do it all on my own,” she said.
Making a choice
After receiving four estimates, she chose one contractor who completely gutted and rebuilt her kitchen, replacing cabinet fronts, oven and cook-top, cabinets, refrigerator, countertops and dishwasher.
“The contractor was actually great so I used ImproveNet again for my bathroom remodeling,” said Cordill.
Most homeowners never pay for ImproveNet’s services. The revenues come from contractors, design professionals, and advertising fees.
For a service that is 100 percent focused on Chicago and its suburbs, try The Home Improvement Network (www.thehomeimprovement.com) for free contractor referrals and prescreened service providers.
The company was launched by Pete Thomas, a Northern Illinois University graduate who had never planned a career related to home-repair services.
Thomas decided to start his own network of home repair service providers after listening to a legion of frustrated homeowners, while working as a franchise manager for College Pro Painters, a franchise painting business that recruits students to paint houses in the summer.
“I knew there was a desperate need for this kind of service. Homeowners were frustrated because some companies put their ads in the Yellow Pages but were so busy they never answered the calls,” he said.
Thomas said The Home Improvement Network meets with recommended contractors in person, makes sure they have insurance, and checks their performance and reliability.
Each homeowner is referred to at least three companies.
The business model is based on a monthly fee paid by the contractor, based on the number of referrals received.
“We are like a marketing agency for them. But if there is a problem we can arbitrate the situation, terminating them from our program if necessary,” said Thomas.
Though accessible online, most people contact The Home Improvement Network over the phone, according to its founder.
The Home Service Store (www.trusthss.com), based in Rutland, Vt., charges $48 a year for its services, but says you get a lot for your money.
The service, which manages home maintenance, repair and improvement tasks in more than 130 markets nationwide, provides affiliated tradespeople who guarantee their work, HSS says. The company has a local office in every major market. Members can call 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week for emergency repairs. Services include air-conditioning repair, design and construction, brick and stone masonry, carpeting and flooring, landscaping and lawn care, carpet cleaning and mortgages. HSS offers financing for big projects, too.
