Whats your idea of Quality?

In my last Blog it got me really thinking about quality, craftsmanship and hacks. So my question is what is your level or expectation of quality? I have been in homes where I have seen some really bad craftsmanship and then get critiqued on my work when it was far nicer than any work done in the rest of their house. So was that customer under the illusion or told that the previous work done was quality? Everyones expectation of quality is so drastically different it is hard to judge that and that will make or break an estimate as well.

Estimating a project I will take into consideration quality level, budget, and time. I adjust my level of "quality" for every project I do because like I said not everyone wants or needs a Ferrari. 98% of customers are on a budget just like quality, the budget has a broad range of what high and low means. Ive given estimates that some people say I'm crazy high when in reality probably under bidding it. To customers saying I need to raise my prices when just before I gave them the quote I was shaking because I felt it was ridiculously high.

I love social media and the internet for examples as well as educating myself. At the same time I really believe they give customers and even other contractors this false sense of what bad, good, great, and elite quality is because all that is ever posted is perfect work and usually very high end. When in reality most customers can't afford that level of quality and those contractors who talk down on others work probably can't produce a quality product but think they can. The internet is an outlet to showcase your best work and get attention but the downfall is no one puts price tags for that work, they don't put time lines on that work, and they don't put on there what it truly took to produce that image such as experience, tools, etc.

How to create a fulfilling customer / contractor experience is to understand one another. Other than doctors and your partner, contractors are coming into your home, your "safe space" its a very intimate experience. If you have a contractor that truly cares and wants to give you what you need it takes honesty, communication, and patience. No I'm not saying your asking them to marry you but its darn close. When I walk into someones home I want to know habits, style, functionality, overall figure out how they live. Its good to talk and get pictures of what they expect and make sure that will work for them and their home. I don't want to remodel a bathroom for a customer just because they found a "cool" picture on pinterest.

Over all, Im tired of contractors saying "I'm the best" because in reality there is always someone better than you. You might do great work but be humble, there is a very thin line between cocky and confident. The whole saying "praise in public, criticize in private" has seem to disappear. I will point out things that I have done and what other contractors have done (in my opinion) is wrong and explain to my employees there is a better way but I will not post or publically talk down about a specific company because I don't know the back story to why they did what they did.

Honesty is key to being a quality contractor. I want to help everyone I can, weather that be another contractor or customer I want to make sure everyone is getting a finished product they can show off. My dream is to see contractors working together and not making the next tradesman pissed off because of the common attitude that the next guy will fix it. Once everyone realizes that if we all work together with better communication we will be producing a higher quality product and making larger profits. So get out there and make things happen, lets all make a difference.

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