If you’re looking at garage door installation or garage door replacement, you’ve probably already found that you have quite a few options when it comes to hiring.
The garage door installation industry in the U.S. employs about 64,789 people, but not all those people are equally qualified or will give you a comparable experience.
So, how can you find the right company to hire? Here are five questions to ask before you make any decisions:
1. Do You Offer Service Plans or Warranties?
Many homeowners see the word “warranty” and immediately think that they’re protected. But some businesses use service plans, warranties, and guarantees to give customers a false sense of security. Actually dig into the warranty that’s being offered and ensure it’s providing you with the coverage you want and isn’t distracting you from bad service upfront.
2. How Long Have You Been in Business?
There’s a relatively high turnover rate for all businesses in the home construction and repair industry, which means that working with a newbie company is a risk. If something goes wrong, just a few months down the road, the company could be gone—leaving you with no recourse.
If you can work with a garage door repair and installation company that has years of experience and a good reputation in your area, that’s absolutely the best way to go, even if it costs slightly more.
3. Are You Licensed, Insured, and Bonded?
Garage doors are heavy, and that makes installing them or the electric openers that operate automatic garage doors a sensitive process. Garage doors can weigh up to 1,000 pounds on the heavy end, meaning they can cause serious injury if proper care isn’t exercised. Additionally, the average opener raises and lowers doors of 150 or 200 pounds more than a thousand times every single year.
In order to protect yourself—both from injury or liability should someone else be injured—you’ll want to make sure your garage door installation company is bonded and insured. This means that it uses only licensed and highly trained installation technicians.
4. What Payment Methods Do You Accept?
Especially at certain times of year, there are an unfortunately high number of door-to-door housing scams being run, and some of these involve garage doors. If a company comes to you, quotes you a low price for a new garage door, and then wants you to pay in cash, that’s a huge red flag.
5. Will You Provide Me With References?
The best endorsement you can get for a company is a former customer saying they’d hire the company all over again. Ask for a list of references you can contact before you sign any papers, and then do some follow-up on your own with online review sites and the Better Business Bureau to make sure the company you’re considering working with truly has a top-notch reputation.
What else should homeowners know before hiring a garage door company? Add your thoughts in the comments.
