According to Megan Reger, owner of Black Diamond Paving in Fremont, there are three aspects to choosing the right paving contractor and working with them to get a quality job. The first is fairly straightforward and the second two are more involved, but all three are about customers getting to know a contractor and his or her work. A contractor shouldn't be working harder than a customer to find a solution, she says—it‘s a partnership.
First, Ms. Reger recommends finding a small group of reputable contractors from which to solicit proposals. Confirm that the contractor is licensed and carries workers’ compensation and verifiable certifications. Going with a Diamond Certified contractor makes this easy, because the company research has already been done. Asking friends and neighbors for the names of good contractors they’ve worked with is another good approach. Ask a contractor for references, but keep in mind they’re only going to provide the names of favorable ones. One way around this is to ask for their three most recent projects’ contact information. By doing all these things, you can weed out disreputable contractors.
Ms. Reger likes to compare the second step to consulting a doctor about a health problem. When visiting a doctor, a patient has a responsibility to communicate—the doctor can't just guess what’s wrong. The same is true with contractors. Get involved, inform the contractor of your requirements, and answer questions. Also, listen to the questions the contractor is asking. The best contractors will know to solicit important information. Then, once a proposal is in hand, do some research and verify that the proposal meets your requirements.
The third step is to be on site during the work—at least check in every day or so and ask questions about exactly what’s being done. Unless you’re already an expert in construction, you won’t know whether the contractor is using the right kind of compaction equipment, whether they’re rolling it quickly enough, or if they’re packing the edges correctly. By being on site and asking questions, you can help ensure you’re getting exactly what you paid for.
“It’s terrible to say,” says Ms. Reger, “but it‘s very easy to cheat in this industry. If you say you‘re putting down four inches of asphalt on 10,000 square feet and only put down three and a half inches, you’ve just made a ton of money and the customer’s probably not going to know the difference for years.”
By being involved, asking and answering questions, and working as a partner with the contractor, you can be assured the work is being done properly.
