· By Brittany
How we screen a contractor (the Porchlight Method)
"Find me a good plumber" sounds simple until you try it. The reviews are gamed, the cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest job, and the person who answers the phone at 8pm isn't always the one you want in your basement. Screening a contractor well is mostly knowing what to check and in what order. Here's the standard we follow before we ever tell you who to call.
1. License and insurance — the non-negotiables
Before anything else, we confirm two things: that the contractor is licensed for the work in your state, and that they carry current liability insurance (and workers' comp, if they have a crew). This isn't paperwork for its own sake. If an uninsured worker is hurt on your property, or unlicensed work fails an inspection, the cost lands on you. We ask for the numbers and we verify them — a license you can't confirm is the same as no license.
2. The right kind of experience
"Twenty years in business" doesn't help if those years were spent on new construction and you need a delicate repair in a hundred-year-old house. We look for experience with your kind of job: the specific system, the age of the home, the scale of the work. A roofer who does insurance claims all day is the right call after a storm. A different roofer is right for a planned replacement. Matching the pro to the problem is half the work.
3. References that actually reference
Anyone can hand you three names of people who liked them. We ask for recent, local jobs that resemble yours, and when it matters, we make the calls. The useful questions aren't "were you happy?" They're specific: Did they start when they said they would? Did the final price match the quote? What went wrong, and how did they handle it? Every contractor has a job that went sideways. The good ones have a straight answer about it.
4. A quote you can actually compare
The number on a quote is meaningless without what's behind it. We look for an itemized scope: what's included, what's assumed, what would change the price. Two quotes that look $2,000 apart are often quoting two different jobs — one includes hauling away the old unit and pulling the permit, the other doesn't. We normalize them so you're comparing the same work, and we flag the vague ones. A quote that won't itemize is telling you something.
5. The red flags we won't ignore
Some signals end the conversation. A demand for a large cash deposit up front. Pressure to decide today. No written contract. A price that's dramatically lower than everyone else's — which usually means a corner is about to be cut, or a "change order" is coming. We'd rather tell you a job is going to cost what it costs than steer you toward a number that falls apart halfway through.
6. A recommendation, not a list
Here's the part that's different. A directory hands you ten names and wishes you luck. The whole point of screening is to narrow, not to widen. So we end with a recommendation: the one we'd hire, two solid alternates, the price range to expect for your zip code, and the exact questions to ask before you sign. You stay the decision-maker — but you're deciding between good options, with the homework already done.
Why the standard matters
The reason to have a method is that it's repeatable. The same checks, every time, whether it's a plumber or a roofer or someone to open the pool. It means the recommendation you get isn't a hunch or a favor to somebody's brother-in-law — it's the result of the same disciplined process, applied to your specific situation.
That's what we mean when we say a recommendation is researched. Not a search result. Not a name someone remembered. A short, honest answer to the question you actually asked: who should I call, and what should I expect when they show up?