Do you need a new driveway? Great, all you need to do now is find the best driveway contractor for the job. But as many people have discovered, that’s far easier said than it is done. What’s the first order of business when choosing a driveway contractor. Know what kind of driveway you want. As famed iconic baseball player Yogi Berra, known for his tongue twister logic once said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.”
The same is true with driveways. If you don’t tell a contractor what kind of driveway you envision, asphalt, concrete, basalt paver tiles, or brick, the two of you are not on the same wavelength. The contractor can’t read your mind. So the first thing when talking to a contractor, unless you are 100 percent sure what you want is to ask, “What are my options?”
Discover where the driveway contractors are
You’ll also want to discover where the driveway contractors are in your area. And naturally, Google is your friend. But do your research. In larger cities, many companies specialize in driveways and paving. In smaller cities, your choices may be limited, and you may need to make telephone calls to some general contractors to find out if they too are a driveway paver. If given the choice, then a company that specializes every day with driveway work is preferable to one who only does driveway work occasionally, but in smaller cities, your choices may be more limited
Ask friends and family for recommendations?
Do the best recommendations usually come from friends and family? If they had driveway work done, get the name of the contractor. If that doesn’t work. do a Google search for Asphalt Supply Companies near you. Once you locate one or two, explain that you need some driveway work done and ask if they have contractor recommendations. If you still strikeout, then go to places such as Angie’s List or Yelp to find recommendations. Just be sure if you go Angie’s List or Yelp avenue to choose the contractors with the most reviews. A single review won’t cut it.
Pay the driveway contractor a visit
Next, call the concreters contractors and ask for an appointment. Pay attention to even their telephone manners. If they are not friendly and professional, then pass. When you get to the contractor’s place of business, look around and see if the business seems orderly, or if the place a mess. Also, pay attention to how long you have to wait. If you have an appointment, is the owner or the manager ready to meet you on time?
Once you sit down, describe your driveway needs. Have they done recent similar work? Do they have any photos or videos they can show you? Remember, you are judging their professional ability.
Then ask a number of intelligent questions. We suggest:
- Asking how long they have been in business to start. Experience counts in all levels of construction work.
- Ask if they are licensed and insured? They should be happy to show you both.
- Ask them to describe their most recent driveway work similar to yours. Judge carefully as well whether questions like this seem to fluster them.
- Ask how soon they could get started on your driveway work. If they are too busy, there is no point in going further with the interview.
- Ask if permits are necessary and whether they handle the permit. Sometimes this is not necessary but just as often it is required.
- Ask who will be responsible for the work? The owner, a manager, a supervisor?
- Ask if they take care of all clean-up work.
- Ask how long the driveway surface will last and what maintenance is required.
- Ask for references. Never hire any contractor without references. A good contract will always comply and will be ready for your question. Run from anyone who will not provide any. By all means, call the references up. You may hear quite a different story when on the phone with other clients, either good or bad.
- Finally, ask for a written estimate. Never rely on a verbal estimate, only a written estimate counts.
What’s next?
Get at least three written estimates and then compare them. And don’t rush to sign the contract with the cheapest. If the other two estimates are a thousand dollars more expensive ask why? There may have been things that the cheapest contractor did not tell you about that matter greatly to your project.
My parents and I are looking for a contractor to construct a driveway, but we weren’t sure how to choose a decent service until we arrived here. It’s fantastic that you advised ensuring that the paving firm has evidence of licensure and insurance to ensure that they’re trustworthy and capable of safeguarding our property. This appears to be a good tip. We’ll keep this in mind while we search for a paving contractor. Thanks.
I really like your suggestion to call the concrete contractors and request an appointment so you can pay attention to even their telephone manners and avoid them if they are not polite and professional. My mother mentioned that her driveway seems to have grown cracks and holes that seem to get worse as the days go by. I told her she needs an asphalt paving service to fix that problem up. I’ll give her your advice so she may pick a paving company that will get the job done right the first time.
Thanks for sharing that unless you are quite certain of what you want, the first question you should ask a contractor is, “What are my options? ” My dad’s looking for a concrete driveway contractor for his new town house and is finding it hard to pick one. I’ll share this article with him since it gave so many wonderful insights about how to pick a concrete contractor.
Since my parents have decided to buy a new SUV soon, we’re thinking of having our asphalt driveway resurfaced and sealed properly first. It helped when you suggested asking for an appointment with the paving contractor, so you can evaluate their place of business and inquire about their recent work to assess the quality of their services. I’ll be sure to take note of this when contacting a contractor for my paving solutions soon.
I loved that you said that experience is important in all levels of work, so you must consider how long a contractor has been in business. My husband and I are interested in having a gravel driveway installed next Friday. We want the installation to be done right the first time so we can ensure that it will be completed with quality. For sure, we will do your tips to hire the right contractor.
I loved that you said that experience counts in all levels of construction work, so you must consider how long a company has been in business. My husband and I will surely consider this because we noticed that there are cracks forming on our asphalt driveway. We need to have the problems repaired before we hold a party to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary next month, so we will do your tips.
I like that you pointed out that you can get the name of the contractor who may have done the driveway of your friends and family. My husband and I are interested in having a concrete driveway installed next week. Since we want to make sure that the installation is going to be done efficiently for our peace of mind, so we will do your tips.
I loved that you said that the best recommendations come from friends and family, so you must consider asking them. This is something that I will consider because I am planning to have our driveway paved early next week. It has developed cracks and shallow holes, so I want to only hire a highly-recommended paving contractor.
I like that you said that the best recommendations come from friends and family, so you must ask them if they had a driveway done. My husband and I are interested in hiring a professional that could install a concrete driveway for us. We need to ensure that the installation is going to be done properly since we want our driveway to withstand any damaging elements to save money on repairs.
I could not agree more when you said that experience counts in all levels of construction work, so you must consider asking how long a driveway contractor has been in business. My mother mentioned that she needs paving services because her driveway appears to have developed cracks and holes that get worse as the days pass by. I will share your tips with her so she could choose a paving company that can do the job right the first time.
I found it helpful when you suggested asking how long a driveway contractor has been in business to ensure that they are experienced. This is something that I will share with my father who is planning to have his driveway paved for maintenance purposes. He said that he noticed cracks forming on his driveway’s pavement, so he wanted to have the problem addressed as early as possible.
It sure was nice that you suggested asking a driveway contractor how long they have been in business since experience counts. My husband and I want to have asphalt driveways installed next week. It is important for us to make sure that the job is going to be completed immediately since we have a family party that is coming up as well.
The best part of your blog is when you said that experience counts in all levels of construction work, so you must ask how long they have been in business. This is a great tip for my mother who mentioned last night over dinner that she is planning to hire an asphalt paving contractor. She said that the driveway on her house has signs of cracks that she would like to be fixed by a reliable contractor.
It sure was nice when you said that if a friend or family had their driveway done, you could get the name of their contractor. My husband and I want to have our driveway and walkways paved. They have cracks and some shallow holes which could have been due to heavy traffic since our son used to visit us using his work trucks. Also, family events are being held at home. We will do all your tips to find a trustworthy contractor that can do the job right.
You made a good point when you said that you must interview a driveway contractor in order to ask how soon they could start the project so you could check how busy they are. This is something that I will consider since I would like to have our concrete driveway paved. My son used to visit us using his trucks, and I could imagine how heavy traffic must have caused shallow holes and cracks on our driveway. I will do all your tips since I want the project to be completed as soon as possible.
You got my attention when you said that you must choose a paving contractor that is not too busy, especially during the interview. My husband and I want to have our driveway paved because we noticed that there are signs of cracks and shallow holes on it. This must be due to the heavy traffic caused by our son’s truck. We will do all your tips as we want the job to be completed before we leave for an out-of-town vacation.
It sure was nice when you said that you could ask friends or relatives who had their driveways done for some recommendations to a contractor. My husband and I noticed that our driveways have signs of cracks and holes that we don’t want to get worse as the days pass by. This must be due to heavy traffic since we usually use our trucks to travel. We will do all your tips to find a paver that is reputable.
You got my attention when you said that the best recommendations usually come from family and friends, so you may ask them. My husband and I are interested in having our brick driveway restored. It has visible cracks and shallow holes which are affecting the overall curb appeal of our house. We want to find a reliable contractor so we can have peace of mind that the job is going to be done right the first time. Thanks!
It sure was nice when you said that you can seek the best recommendations from friends and family and you can also use Google search for help. My parents are planning to hire an asphalt paving contractor because they want the cracks on the driveway to be repaired. They mentioned that the cracks and shallow holes are due to heavy traffic over the years. I will share this with them so they could be guided. Thanks!
My mom and dad need to choose a paving contractor for their driveway. Thanks for suggesting to ask friends or family for recommendations. I will have my parents ask the people around them for referrals.