Thinking about changing your garage door? Have a Door in very bad shape that is in need of major repair? Have a noisy door that just needs to be maintained? These problems may seem simple to solve. Just pick a Garage Door company and give them a call, right? WRONG.

Choosing the wrong Garage Door Dealer could have disastrous implications on both your house and your wallet! We’re going to list a few ways for you, the consumer, to find a reputable, stable company for your next garage door project.

1. State Licensed

First and Foremost, above anything else, is the garage Door Dealer state licensed? If the answer is no, move on. No questions asked. When you hire a state licensed contractor, you know you are getting a company that does things the right way. They won’t cut corners and put your safety at risk. They have taken the time to learn their trade and are knowledgeable and experienced enough to do it the right way the first time. You should always look for a contractor’s license that starts with CRC, CBC or CGC. Occupational licenses are not the same as a contractor’s license!! Don’t be fooled by anyone that tells you otherwise! In addition, the company you choose should be displaying their license number for everyone to see. Question any company that doesn’t show their license number.

2. Insurance

This is more like 1A! You should always, always, ALWAYS make sure the company you hire to work on your home has insurance! This rule is true for any trade! If a garage door dealer does not have sufficient insurance and makes a mistake, it could cost you thousands!!! Any reputable contractor should have a minimum of $1,000,000 insurance coverage to make sure you, the homeowner, never has to pay for any mistakes they make! In addition to General Liability insurance, your contractor MUST have Worker’s Compensation Insurance! If they are not willing to show you they have it, then they probably don’t! If a worker hurts himself in your home and doesn’t have proper worker’s comp insurance, YOU are liable for their medical bills!! Do yourself a HUGE favor, properly vet any company you hire to work on your home! Insurance is a must!!

3. Reputation

Research your contractor! Visit multiple sites and get a good idea of how reputable they are! Read the reviews, do not just take their overall rating at face value. A lot of third party sites have shady tactics to make businesses pay for their positive reviews. You want to avoid those sites and focus on the websites that take a neutral stance and do not ask for any money from the business. Sites such as www.angieslist.com and www.homeadvisor.com are extremely reputable third party sites that simply act as a neutral party between the customer and company. They take no stake in what the company has to offer them in return for reviews. Websites such as Yelp and the BBB make companies pay expensive ‘monthly dues’ in exchange for better ratings and allowing good reviews to be seen. Also try to determine how many customers a year a company sees versus how many reviews they get. If a company sees over 10,000 people in a year and receives 1200 positive reviews versus 7 poor reviews, you have to take that into consideration against a company that has the same number of poor reviews and does a quarter of the business. Finally, visit their webpage. This is the most likely landing spot for reviews, good or bad.

4. Experience & Stability

How long has the company been in business? How much has it grown since it started? You want to make sure if you call a company in 5 years for a warranty, that they’re still around.

There’s nothing worse than purchasing a product with a lengthy warranty only to find out they went out of business when you need them. Sure, there’s no way to predict a company’s future, but their past is a pretty good indicator. If they’re a start up with no license or insurance… well, buyer beware. If they’ve been around for a long time, they’re licensed & insured, and the overwhelming majority of their customers seem to love them, then you should be able to rest easy knowing you’ve got a pretty solid company that knows what they’re doing.

Have I mentioned we’re State Licensed, Insured, have won the Angie’s List Customer Service Award 5 years in a row, have been rated 5 Stars by Consumer Home Services Review and have been in business for nearly 20 years??

State Lic. CBC1254791

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