Deciding on the best home improvement company to bring your dream renovations into reality is an incredibly important choice to make. Substantial home improvement projects are endeavours that you really want to be completed perfectly the first time around, so you need to be highly vigilant and astute with your selection.
You will usually find a wealth of local home improvement companies near you via various means. The real task is deciding which of the many options is the best one to move forward with!
The best way to think about choosing a home improvement company is to imagine that you’re hiring someone for a job. You would interview a variety of candidates, narrow those candidates down and then thoroughly compare and contrast the final few to make as much of an informed section as possible.
Here are our top tips to find the best home improvement company near you to work with…
Industry Research
If you’re new to the home improvement game, you want to educate yourself on the various improvements available as well as the lingo. This knowledge will give you insight into the exact works that you require, and enable you to have more productive conversations with companies when they come in for a consultation.
A company can only give you an accurate estimation when they are provided with all of the relevant information, which is why having a solid foundational knowledge yourself is important. You’ll also be far less likely to have the wool pulled over your eyes in terms of quotation costs, as you will have read up on modern costs beforehand!
Ask Your Family & Friends For Recommendations
If you want to fast-track your search for a trustworthy home improvement company, a great way to find suitable candidates quickly is by asking your family and friends. You can trust your family and friends (surely?) to give an honest review of their experience with a company.
Also, you’re more than likely to find multiple options when asking around your nearest and dearest, and you may even find a company to move forward with purely from their recommendations. For those who like to be as efficient as humanly possible, this is a good route to take.
Search Online
In just a few seconds and with a few taps on your phone or keyboard, you’ll be able to find countless home improvement companies near you to peruse through. Having just typed in “home improvement companies near me” into Google, 1,070,000,000 results were generated.
If you can’t find a company to move forward with from that number of options, well…I dare say there’s no hope for your renovation project. You can get an immediate feel for these companies by visiting their websites to assess their services and capabilities, and there will undoubtedly be one who ticks all of your boxes!
A good rule of thumb for reputability is how easy it is to find out about and contact a company. If a company lacks the basics of a modern digital presence i.e. a website, local business listing or social media presence, you’ll more often than not want to avoid them.
Social Proof
Speaking of social media presence, successful home improvement companies will be using social media platforms as a portfolio to showcase their capabilities and completed projects.
You will likely find an array of photos from various projects to look through and if you’re lucky, video content to view. Video content is especially reassuring as there is nowhere to hide on video. You can see the workmanship from all angles and conduct a thorough investigation into the quality of any installations.
You may also find video testimonials where customers of completed projects are interviewed, and they speak in-depth about their experience with the company. Customers that are happy to do video testimonials is usually a good sign that they are highly satisfied with the outcome of the project and their experience with the company.
Using social proof is a fantastic way to see what a home improvement company’s capabilities truly are. For example, if you’re looking for a very particular renovation element for your extension or improvements, does the social proof showcase experience in this type of installation on past projects? Or, if you’re looking to achieve a very unique renovation, does the social proof represent a company who can complete very unique renovations that are outside the box?
Furthermore, a home improvement company that invests in having high quality photography and videography to assist their marketing efforts is an added sign of trustworthiness. Obviously, a company may not showcase all completed works or any negative outcomes. However, if a company is regularly posting about new completed works that look to be to a very high standard, that tends to be a very good sign.
Reviews & Reputation
In the modern age, there are numerous avenues where you can learn about the reviews and overall reputation of a company. Those which have a large number of reviews, high review scores and positive written reviews will speak volumes for what your potential experience with a company could be.
The majority of businesses now have a Google My Business page. You can find this by typing in the name of the company that you’re looking to research into Google, and you’ll most likely see their GMB listing immediately, along with their overall review score between 0 to 5 stars and the written reviews they have received. You can delve into the individual reviews for a more thorough investigation, and Google even helps sort reviews by topic for added convenience.
There are additional websites that are purely dedicated to providing independent reviews of businesses such as Trustpilot or Feefo. These are open, online review platforms where any customer who has had experience in buying a product or service from a company can leave reviews. A company can also invite their customers to leave reviews too.
Reviews are valuable resources to determine the true reputation of a company, and useful tools when deciding which to move forward with or whittle down.
Ask The Right Questions At The Consultation
Any home improvement company worth their salt will provide free site consultation as standard. By now, you should be making enquires with the potential companies who have remained from your initial list, and be booking a consultation with them. During this consultation, you will have the perfect opportunity to quiz and get a feel for that specific company. Before this takes place, think about the specific questions you will want to ask:
- Do you have any examples of similar works that you’e completed?
- What materials would you use based on our requirements? Or recommend using?
- Who will be our point of contact if we went ahead with you?
- How often will I be informed of updates?
- How long do you expect the project will take to complete?
- Can you assist us with attaining planning permission and buildings regulations approval?
These are just some examples, but it would be good to jot down all of the questions you intend on asking well ahead of when you meet with the representative!
References
References from a company’s previous clients is a great way of understanding how a company truly works. Reference checking is common practice in the industry, and a reputable company will be able to provide you with a sizeable list of reference contacts to call. You can ask for this during or after your consultation.
On these calls, make sure to get the most bang for your buck in terms of information gathering, by asking the right questions. Examples could include:
- Was the project completed on time?
- Did the workers keep the site clean and tidy?
- Did you face any issues during the project? If so, how were they rectified?
- Were the builders & workers punctual
- How would your rate the company’s communication?
- How has the work held up since completion?
- Was the cost reasonable?
The more open a company is to providing multiple references, the better! It will help ease your mind that the company is an honest and professional one.
Additionally, you may want to keep your ears peeled when you call these references. If someone has had a good experience with a company, they will sing their praises without any hesitation. However, if the experience wasn’t good, you may notice some heavy pauses or indirect answers to your questions.
Try to read between the lines, as the person you’re speaking to may be engaging in some quintessential British-isms i.e. being very polite and not wanting to say anything too unkind.
Visit Finished Projects of References
For those who have made the cut at this point, decide which references of theirs that you would like to arrange a visit with in person. Select the ones who seem the most open and welcoming, ensure that their projects are as similar to yours as possible, and choose those that live relatively close to you for convenience.
These visits serve as a great opportunities to firstly see completed projects up close and personal. Secondly, they allow you to see how a company’s construction and workmanship hold up over time. You can also ask the references whether they’ve required any maintenance, services or repairs since the project’s completion, and how the company was in handling those fixes if any.
Accreditations, Insurance & Guarantees
An extremely easy way to whittle down your list of remaining options is to ask for proof or documentary evidence of their accreditations. If a company possesses these, it is an added reassurance that they are able to complete the job safely and legally.
Moreover, you should always make sure that a company has limited liability insurance in case they damage your home during the renovation process. You can always ask the company for a copy of their insurance policy and check that they are up to date.
Anyone who doesn’t have the right credentials, as well as those who are hesitant or take too long with providing the information you request, should be struck off your list.
Guarantees on all works done is another extremely important factor, as they ensure that a company is committed to putting any issues right as part of the service. The industry standard for a guarantee is 10 years but they can vary. Therefore, it’s always best to enquire about the exact inclusions before you sign any dotted lines!
Get Various Quotes From Different Companies And Compare Them
The time has come to get some quotes in! These quotes should be well-defined, itemised and breakdown costs for labour, materials and other expenses clearly. We recommend that you get at least three quotes or more from different home improvement companies.
Then, it’s down to you for the final call! One thing we will say is don’t base your final decision on price alone. As the old saying goes, “buy cheap, pay twice.” You could go for the cheapest option, but end up paying for it down the line.
Factor in all of the previous points mentioned above, as well as your gut feeling with which company you think would provide the best service, commutation and aftercare.
Choose a local and full service home improvement company
If you need a final way to help decide between the remaining candidates, ensure that the company you choose is both local to you and a full service home improvement company.
When choosing an established home improvement company in your local area, you are likely to get a more personal, bespoke service than what you would see from a one which operates nationwide. Local companies will also have a much better understanding of the area requirements, and be able to source and transport materials at a lower cost, cutting down on both time and expense for you.
Finally, opting for a full service home improvement company will remove a lot of hassle and headache for you. You want to work with a company who can take an entire project from inception to completion. This will save you having to work with a separate architect, apply for planning permission and buildings regulations yourself, and deal with separate companies for various portions of the project…the latter can end up being quite the logistical nightmare!
You will have one clear line of communication with one company who will handle the entire process, and make the project as stress-free and as easy as can be.
Choose West Midlands Home Improvements
If you are looking for the best home improvement company in Birmingham & the West Midlands, look no further than West Midlands Home Improvements. We have…
- built up a fantastic reputation in the region
- a plethora of photos and video content for you to browse through on our Facebook & Instagram pages as social proof of our amazing work
- FENSA, NICEIC, Gas Safe Register, LABC & GGFi certification
- public liability insurance
- only ever used the highest quality products in all of our installations (in fact we source it from our very own builders merchant)
- a 10 year guarantee on our services
- provided FREE site consultations and quotes since our company’s inception
- always been able to provide competitive pricing which doesn’t compromise on quality
- always been a full service home improvement company
As you can see, we tick all of the boxes which is why we firmly believe that we are the best home improvement company within the region!
We are also one of the only companies in the West Midlands to provide 0% finance options on all of our double glazing products. Whether it be single storey extensions, double storey extensions, kitchen extensions or any of our other renovation services.
Get in touch with our brilliant team today for a FREE consultation, and start the easiest process to achieving your dream renovations that you will ever experience!
