Do:
1. Research your contractor thoroughly.
2. Sign a specific, well-defined contract.
3. Treat your contractor as a partner, not an adversary.
4. Compare large-ticket items using consumer reports.
Don’t:
1. Hide your budget from your contractor when seeking bids.
2. Rush your project to construction—if your contractor has a long lead time before beginning a project, that’s a good sign.
3. Start the build-out before your materials have been ordered.
