The 5 Questions to Ask Any Houston Contractor Before You Sign
The Uncomfortable Truth About Contracting in Texas
Fact 1: Texas has no state-level general contractor license requirement. Anyone can call themselves a remodeler, print business cards, and take your deposit.
Fact 2: The City of Houston does not require a GC license to pull building permits.
Fact 3: Your homeowner's insurance does NOT cover defective workmanship. Damage caused by faulty construction is specifically excluded.
These three facts together mean: in Houston, you are the compliance department. The state won't do it. The city won't do it. Your insurance won't rescue you.
"In Houston, you are the compliance department. The state won't do it. The city won't do it. Your insurance won't rescue you from defective workmanship."
Question 1: "Are You Licensed and Insured? Can I See the Documents?"
Accepting a verbal "yes" is worth nothing. What you need to see:
- General liability insurance certificate: $1,000,000 per occurrence minimum. Ask them to add you as "certificate holder" — 30 minutes, costs them nothing if the insurance is real.
- Workers' compensation insurance: If an uninsured worker gets hurt on your property, you can be personally liable.
- Trade license numbers: TDLR for electrical, TSBPE for plumbing. Both are public and verifiable at the state website.
A real contractor will have a folder ready. A shaky one will promise to "send it later" and never follow up.
When reviewing insurance: ask the contractor to add you as certificate holder on the liability policy (takes 30 minutes, costs nothing if the policy is real). Verify trade licenses at TDLR.texas.gov (electrical) and tdlr.texas.gov (plumbing TSBPE) — both are free public databases.
Question 2: "Is This a Fixed Quote or an Estimate That Will Change?"
78% of Houston renovations exceed their initial estimate. The average overrun is 20%. On a $45,000 kitchen, that's $9,000 in surprise bills.
"78% of Houston renovations exceed their initial estimate — the average overrun is 20%. On a $45,000 kitchen, that's $9,000 in surprise bills you didn't plan for."
Ask directly: "If I sign today and nothing about the scope changes, will this number be the number I pay at the end?"
- "Yes, it's fixed. Here's the clause in our contract." → Good. Read the clause.
- "Yes, except for unforeseen conditions." → Ask for examples. What counts as unforeseen?
- "It depends on what we find behind the walls." → Then ask: what's YOUR allowance for that?
At Craftwork, every quote is fixed for 90 days. If we underestimated something, that's our problem.
Question 3: "Who Is My Day-to-Day Project Manager, and Can I Meet Them Before I Sign?"
The salesperson is almost never the person who will run your job. If the answer is "we'll assign one when the project starts" — red flag. You're about to give someone $40,000 and trust them in your house for weeks.
A good answer: "Your PM will be Sarah. She's worked for us for four years, runs 3-4 projects at a time, and will text you updates daily. Want to meet her next week?"
At Craftwork, PM assignment happens at contract signing. You know their name and number before you hand over a deposit.
Question 4: "Can I See Three Past Projects at My Price Point?"
Ask specifically for projects in your price range — $30K-$50K kitchen, $15K-$25K bathroom. A contractor whose business is built around $150K+ showroom projects cannot execute a mid-market job well. Their overhead structure is wrong.
Also ask: "Can you put me in touch with two of those past customers directly?" Real references are three phone calls away from a sales pitch.
Question 5: "What's Your Written Policy If You Miss a Deadline or Mess Something Up?"
What to look for:
- Milestone-based contracts with written remediation terms. What happens if completion is delayed X weeks?
- A written warranty. Industry standard is 1 year on workmanship. "We stand behind our work" verbally is worth nothing.
- A defined escalation path. Who do you call if there's a problem? One person with no backup is no escalation path.
The Ghost Contractor Pattern
41% of homeowners report being deceived by a contractor (JW Surety Bonds 2024). The pattern: great sales meeting, lower bid, moved fast, 30-40% deposit paid, demo started, contractor got "delayed," stopped returning calls, disappeared. The homeowner is out $15,000 with no recourse.
The five questions above are the filter. A ghost contractor can't answer any of them satisfactorily. A real contractor can answer all five in the first meeting, with documents.
"A ghost contractor can't answer any of the five questions satisfactorily. A real contractor can answer all of them in the first meeting — with documents already in hand."
The Bottom Line
You are the compliance department. If you ask these five questions before signing, you'll filter out 90% of the bad actors before they can take your deposit.
The good contractors want these questions. They've built their business around being able to answer them confidently.
At Craftwork, we walk through our licenses, insurance, fixed-quote policy, PM assignment, portfolio, and accountability terms at every first meeting — before you ask.
Ready to have a first meeting where all five questions have ready answers? Book a transparent first consultation.