Even the best of us will get taken and in times of a down economy it happens even more often than in a thriving economy. Before times got as hard as they are now in residential remodeling and construction I had always stressed the importance of always paying for construction work after it was completed and paying invoices to your contractor in percentages of the actual work being completed.

Why are people with common sense today still giving contractors large deposits before the contractor even sets foot onto the homeowner’s property? Do we feel somewhat compelled to do such out of our deep concern to help others, or are we just trying to follow the requests or requirements of a specific contractor? You probably know where I am going with this: It’s to your detriment, folks, when you give large deposits to anyone before the work is started or materials are even ordered.

Hey, I’m a contractor and yes, even I have had to learn the hard way to trust my own instincts when I have hired people to do various forms of work for me over the years. We all think we know the good from the bad and that we can discern between the picking of someone good versus bad to work for us. We will never make a wrong decision even when we decide to use someone that was recommended to us by a “friend” of ours—yeah, right.