I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. Therefore, I would be violating state law somewhere if I offered you legal advice.

I can, however, relate a couple of stories from experience emphasizing the importance of a written contract. I can also tell you that experts who suggest that you might be able to get away with just an oral agreement if the value of the work is less than, say, $1,500 must have a lot of money to throw away. For most of us, with mortgages, bills, childcare costs, and the like, $1,500 is a lot of money.

I don’t care what is being done and who is doing it: get it in writing. And if you are concerned enough about the agreement you are about to make, hire a lawyer to draw up a contract between you and your remodeling contractor, or have an attorney review the agreement, either before you sign or at least before the rescission period expires so you can pull out without losing anything.

Here is another of those scary stories 1 use to make my points.

Many years ago, I needed a new roof on my house. I went through  the traditional method of finding a roofing contractor-the Yellow Pages, three names, three estimates. The contractor I chose seemed to know what he was talking about. When I proposed a written agreement, he became indignant, however, saying that his reputation and the references he provided (three of my neighbors) were better than a written agreement.

Tagged: agreement, contract, contractor, legal, tips, trick, written