I've sat across the table from a lot of contractors — some I'd hand my own house keys to, and some I wouldn't let near my mailbox. The difference almost never shows up in the sales pitch. It shows up in how they answer the questions that make people slightly uncomfortable.

So before you sign anything — a contract, a deposit check, a "let's get started" text — run through this list. It's the same one I use to decide whether a contractor earns a spot in our network, just written so you can run it yourself.

1. Ask to see the license, and actually look at it

Every state handles licensing a little differently, but the principle is the same: a legitimate contractor can produce a current license number on the spot, and that number can be looked up through your state's licensing board. If someone hesitates, gets vague about "their guy who handles that," or asks you to just trust them — that's your answer.

It takes two minutes to verify. Do it before the conversation goes any further.

2. Get proof of insurance from the company, not just a screenshot

Ask for a certificate of insurance (a COI) sent to you directly by their insurance carrier. This matters because anyone can edit a PDF, but an insurance company sending a certificate on your behalf means the policy is active and you're covered if something goes wrong on your property.

What "enough coverage" usually looks like for residential work

  • General liability coverage of at least $1 million
  • Workers' compensation, if they have any employees on the job
  • A certificate naming you (or confirming you're covered) for the duration of the project

3. Call references, and ask the question they're not expecting

Most homeowners ask references "were you happy with the work?" Almost everyone says yes. The more useful question is: "What would you tell them to do differently next time?" A good contractor's past clients usually have a small, specific answer. A red-flag contractor's references either go suspiciously silent or seem like they're reading from a script.

Ask for at least three references, including one job finished within the last six months and one finished a year or more ago. Recent work tells you about current quality. Older work tells you whether it actually held up.

"You only pay when you win the job — no upfront fees, no monthly subscription." That's the kind of clarity you should expect from anyone you're about to hand a deposit to. If the terms feel foggy before you've signed anything, they won't get clearer after.

4. Pay attention to how they talk about the bid, not just the number on it

A contractor who walks you through their bid line by line, explains what's an allowance versus a fixed cost, and tells you upfront what could change the price is doing you a favor — even if their number is higher than someone else's. A contractor who just hands you a total and says "trust me, that's a fair price" is asking you to skip the part where you actually understand what you're paying for.

5. Watch the deposit request

A reasonable deposit — often somewhere in the 10–30% range depending on the size of the job and what materials need to be ordered upfront — is normal and fair. What's worth pausing on is anyone asking for the majority of the project cost before any work begins. That arrangement puts nearly all of the risk on you, and a contractor confident in their own work generally doesn't need to ask for it.

6. Ask what happens if something goes wrong mid-project

Things come up on almost every job — a wall opens up and there's something behind it nobody expected, a material is back-ordered, the timeline shifts. The answer to "what's your process when that happens?" tells you more about how the next three months will go than almost anything else on this list. Listen for a contractor who describes a process (a call, a written change order, a conversation about options) rather than a shrug.

7. Trust the parts of the conversation that feel "off"

If someone pressures you to decide today, badmouths every other contractor you mention, or gets cagey about basic questions — that discomfort you're feeling is data. Pressure kills good decisions. The contractors worth hiring are, almost without exception, the ones who give you room to think it over.

Or skip the legwork entirely

Every contractor in our network has already cleared this exact list — license, insurance, references, and a real conversation. Tell us about your project and we'll introduce you to two or three who fit.

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The bottom line

None of this is about being suspicious of every contractor you meet — most of the people in this trade are good at what they do and proud of it. It's about giving yourself a simple, repeatable way to tell the difference before you've handed over a deposit, not after. Run through these seven checks, trust what you notice along the way, and you'll walk into the project with a much clearer picture of who's actually going to be in your home for the next few weeks.

A note from David: This is the same checklist — license, insurance, ratings, references, and a real conversation — that every contractor in the GroundWork network has to clear before I'll introduce them to a homeowner. If you'd rather not run it yourself, that's exactly what we're here for.