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Houzz Review

Tuesday, March 19th

2024 Contractor Service Reviews

Houzz Review 3 Star Rating

Houzz

3 Star Rating
  • "A+" Better Business Bureau rating
  • Connect with pros for free
  • Connect with contractors and designers
  • Over 2.7 million pros for hire

Houzz is an all-inclusive company with services to help people come up with ideas to build and maintain the home of their dreams and furnish it. They have grown into a community of millions of homeowners who shop their website and find contractors through them too.

Contracting is not their focus

Although contractor-finding is an option through Houzz, it's not their main product. Almost anyone familiar with this company likely bought a new rug or dining set through them, not hired someone to fix their roof.

Home remodeling only

Houzz' contractor-finding tool is typical of what you'll find anywhere else: enter your project location, answer questions about it, and get connected with pros for free. They say there are over 2.7 million professionals available through their site and over 100,000 people are connected with a contractor each month. However, we noticed that the options for services all revolve around home remodeling and design. If you just need some trees removed, a water heater installed, or your driveway leveled, Houzz isn't going to cater to that.

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Bring your ideas to life

If you're in the market for a remodel, Houzz might be a good option if you need design work. As part of your contractor search, you can find someone to help your ideas come to life if you're starting over with part of your home or business. This is the bread and butter of Houzz.

Keep your communications organized

Once you choose what type of project you're going for, you let Houzz know the square footage, price range, and timeline. You'll be shown a series of pictures you can select that highlight the style you're going for. These match you to designers who created and completed the projects you see. From there you can browse your options by reading reviews from other customers, seeing photos from their projects, viewing awards they've received and more. You can message them directly and make notes about your conversation. In addition, the site allows you to track the status of your conversation in case you're working with multiple designers and need to keep things straight.

See active licenses

Houzz doesn't outline the credentials required for professionals to be listed on their site, but you can see that the contractors have an active license, how long it typically takes for them to respond, and what unique tools they provide to help with your process (like 3D visualization).

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Reviews primarily for furnishings

Houzz has an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau and overall good reviews from customers. The tricky thing about this is that almost all of it is in regards to the home furnishing side of their business, not their contractors. You can see customer reviews on the individual contractor profiles (if they have any), but outside of that, it's hard to say how useful their matching tools are.

Just average for most contractor-type projects

What Houzz focuses on, it does very well. But, since Houzz mostly caters to remodels and not day-to-day maintenance issues, they've earned an average rating from us. They're just not well-rounded enough to really rank with the higher-ranked services on our list.

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Where Can You Find the Best Contractors?

Every homeowner knows that as the years go by, house repairs and projects never end. Not everyone knows how to fix or build everything required to keep a home beautiful and fully functioning. And even if they do, does anyone really have time for all that? Whether it's patching a roof, pouring cement, fixing the plumbing, or bringing a remodel to life, you'll probably "need a guy" to help you out.

Contractors are a great option for home repair and upkeep solutions because you can find one who's an expert in their field and work with them directly to get the job done. You can sidestep big companies that often take longer and charge higher fees. Contractors make their own schedules, have their own equipment, and can work with you on pricing rather than having to charge what a big company might.

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Contractor Service FAQ

A contractor is someone who runs their own business and sells their services to others. They are often highly-trained people who have worked for big companies in the past, but decided to break off and make their own schedule. Contractors communicate directly with clients to arrange agreed upon pricing, project details, and a timeframe for getting the job done.
You can hire a contractor to help with almost anything you can think of when it comes to fixing or remodeling a home or office. Some areas of expertise might include repairing home appliances, painting, building a deck, carpentry, laying a foundation, yard maintenance, tiling, installing windows, and much more. Anything that is needed for home maintenance and requires specific knowledge can be taken care of by a contractor.
The real question is where are you going to hire a contractor if it isn't online? If you want to get in touch with someone who might give you a better deal than a big company, the best way is to use a service that has a big list of available professionals. This way you can read reviews from other customers, see their pricing, get familiar with their background, and ensure they pass a background check before deciding if you want to hire them or not.
Depending on the service you use, you'll either be matched with the best candidate for the job you are requesting or be given a list of people you can contact. Regardless of how the process works, you always have the final say in who you hire. If you're automatically matched with someone and you don't feel like they're a good fit, you can reject the match and be paired with a different contractor. In addition, you can always request the service pro you want if there is someone you've liked working with before!
Yes! Since you're hiring someone who is an expert in their field of work, they have all of the essential tools to complete the project. The only exception would be if you're wanting tile installed or a new window or door, you'll need to buy those beforehand. You're purchasing a service from the service pro, not a product.
Most sites that connect individuals with contractors are completely free! The platforms make money by charging service professionals a fee for leads they receive in exchange for letting them be part of their network. The only thing you'll need to worry about paying for is the actual cost of services once you've found someone to come do a job for you.
You can usually have a contractor to your home in just a few days after booking them. Most of the time you can view a calendar of available dates and times from the site you use. You'll select the hours you want someone to come work to make sure that you're home when they arrive! This also helps the system narrow down the available professionals in your area.
As long as you use a highly-rated company that matches you with your contractor, you shouldn't have to worry about whether or not you're getting a good service pro. Most of the time, contractors are vetted with background checks, license verifications, and the standing of their company before being available to work in someone's home. As long as you do your own research about the company you're using and their processes before hiring someone from their site, you don't need to worry!
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Continued from above...

Looking online to find a contractor has become very popular in recent years. Scouring the newspapers or looking for yard signs is long a thing of the past. Today there are companies whose sole purpose is to connect homeowners with handymen skilled at all types of crafts. But among these companies there is still a wide variety of features, checks, and services that you should be aware of.

It's important that you're able to build a relationship with your contractor enough that you feel comfortable having them in and around your home. Finding a contractor online allows you to vet your prospective handyman (or woman) by checking their business license, reviews, pricing, previous projects, and more. Using the right platform to find a contractor will give you peace of mind that you're in good hands and will get your job done professionally and efficiently.

There are quite a few companies to help connect you with contractors, so we have provided important information for you to consider when deciding who to go through:

  • Search functionality. How easy is it to browse all the potential candidates for hire? You will want a lot to choose from and easily be able to access all relevant information about them. How easy is it to message a contractor and get an appointment scheduled?
  • Cost. Is there a fee associated with using the database to search for contractors? How much does it cost to get a bid for your project? Do contractors pay to put their name and information on the site and allow you to access it for free?
  • Reputation. Have contractors on the site fulfilled the jobs they were paid for? Does the site require thorough background checks of the contractors they promote on their website? What is their rating from the Better Business Bureau?

Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best sites to find contractors for hire. We hope this information helps you find the right person to take care of your home projects!

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