You need a Palo Alto hardwood floor restoration and repair specialist to improve your property and potentially get it ready for market.

Before you rush out and hire the first company you find on the web (or get via reference from your Aunt Mable), step back and be strategic.

Unless you have done a business with a contractor before, you’re going to need to do due diligence. Here’s a step-by-step process to help you make an effective choice.

1. “First who, then what”

You might be tempted to figure out what you want done first and then look for the right person/company to do the job. This approach is backwards. There are too many subtleties to the repair/restoration process. You can’t possibly research and understand all the technologies, materials, processes, costs, and constraints for the restoration.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t do some research to figure out whether you want, for instance, laminate flooring or polished concrete. But avoid getting sucked into the nitty gritty.

First, find a great company or person, and then let that company or person help you build a strategy to get the job done right.

2. To make the contracting process seamless, figure out what you don’t want to happen.

You need to set your principles for the project upfront. A great way to do this is to fill in the blanks to the following sentence: “I would delegate this repair/restoration process to somebody else, as long as she …” Answers might include “cap the budget to X dollars” or “finish within three weeks” or “didn’t make any horrible aesthetic choices.” Distill your principles before you start looking for contractors to help you select great people.

3. Once you’ve laid this groundwork, do research but constrain yourself.

Pick three Palo Alto hardware restoration/repair companies that deem “good” based on the thinking you did in step 2. Then interview the contractors about your job. Don’t let the decision-making process drag out too long. It’s not like you’re picking a heart surgeon. You just want a good company that is licensed, ethical and experienced – ideally, one that has legitimately great reviews from satisfied clients who needed similar work.

Once you’ve hired a contractor, track the progress and retroactively figure out whether you made a good decision. Use this process whenever you need to hire a contractor for any repair job.

Please consider connecting with the team here at Elegant Floors for your repair/restoration needs. Find out more about us here at www.elegant-floors.com.