Seven Questions That Tell You Whether a Fort Myers Contractor Is Worth Hiring

Anyone can print a truck magnet. These are the questions that separate a licensed contractor from someone who disappears with your deposit — and what a good answer sounds like.

Southwest Florida is a good place to be a remodeling contractor and a hard place to be a homeowner hiring one. The building boom brought in a lot of excellent crews and a lot of people who own a truck. Since Ian, that ratio got worse, not better.

You don't need to become an expert to sort them out. You need seven questions.

1. What's your license number, and what does it cover?

Ask for the number, then check it yourself on the Florida DBPR site. It takes ninety seconds. A certified building contractor license — ours is CBC1269816 — covers structural work, permitting, and the full scope of a remodel.

If someone tells you the job is too small to need a license, or that they work under somebody else's, that is your answer. Keep calling.

2. Who is actually going to be in my house?

This is the question that catches the most people. Plenty of remodeling companies are really sales offices: they quote the job, then hand it to whichever subcontractor is free that week. You get one crew for demo, another for tile, another for plumbing, and none of them are responsible for the last one's mistakes.

Ask directly whether the crew works for the company. A vague answer means subcontractors.

3. Can I see a job you finished three years ago?

Anyone can photograph a bathroom the day the glass goes in. What you want to know is how it looks after three Florida summers — whether the grout is still tight, whether the door still closes square, whether anything has moved in the shower pan.

A contractor with nothing to hide will make that call for you.

4. What's your waterproofing spec?

This is the one a bad contractor can't fake. Ask what goes behind the shower tile. You want to hear a specific product — a wet-rated backer board or a membrane system — and you want to hear that it's standard.

If waterproofing appears as a line item you're allowed to decline, you are being quoted a bathroom that will fail. In this climate that isn't pessimism, it's arithmetic.

5. Who pulls the permit?

The contractor should, always. If someone asks you to pull an owner-builder permit for work they are doing, they're moving the liability onto you and probably can't pull it themselves.

6. What happens when you find something behind the wall?

You will find something. Rotten subfloor, a drain in the wrong place, wiring that predates the code book. The right answer isn't "that won't happen." It's a process: we stop, we photograph it, we price the fix, and you approve it in writing before anyone continues.

A contractor who has never had a surprise hasn't opened many walls.

7. What's the payment schedule?

Deposits are normal. A deposit that covers most of the job before anything happens is not. Payments should follow progress — something up front for material, draws at real milestones, and a final payment once the punch list is done and you're satisfied.

Never pay for the whole job in cash up front. Nobody legitimate will ask you to.

The short version

A license you can verify, crews you can meet, references you can call, waterproofing that isn't optional, permits they pull themselves, a written process for surprises, and payments tied to progress. Seven for seven and you're probably in good hands. Two or three misses and you should keep looking.