The asphalt on your property is far more important, and potentially costly than you might realize. While it initially seems like a simple solution for customer parking or moving supplies in and out of your facility, it’s actually an asset that needs to be maintained and properly cared for regularly.
Without regular maintenance, your asphalt will start to show signs of wear and tear long before it’s expected to, and it can create some dangerous situations for customers, as well as end up being a major business expense.
The solution to that problem is to hire the best asphalt contractor you can find to have them inspect the asphalt, determine what needs to be done, fix it as needed, and even sealcoat it to greatly increase its lifespan.
Of course, having the asphalt installed by that same high-quality service in the first place also does wonders for the longevity of your investment.
How do you choose a contractor that knows what they’re doing, though?
Today, we’re going to give you a list of requirements you should look for when choosing the right commercial asphalt contractor.
Let’s get started.
1: Research
This is a primary requirement for hiring any service. Services don’t come cheaply, and if you just go with the first option you come across, you can end up wasting a lot of time and money on subpar services.
Before you start making phone calls, you need to get online, do a quick search for the asphalt contractor services in your area, and choose several of them that look like potential hires.
Take some time going over each service’s website to see what they offer, claims they make about their service and other general bits of information.
However, it doesn’t stop there. You need to research further to see how those companies stack up in terms of customer satisfaction and the services they have rendered in the past. Any company can claim to be the best, but you want to find out what others are saying before you take their word for it.
Look for any signs of incomplete jobs, improper work behavior, unsatisfactory installations, and other problems. Reviews should come from a wide variety of sources because some sources can be flooded with nonsense or paid reviews.
This phase alone should help you narrow your choice down to a small handful of options fairly quickly.
2: Get a Referral
You can streamline much of your research process by simply asking for a referral. If another business you have a good relationship with recently got their asphalt reworked, try asking the owner for a referral to who did it for them.
You will still want to research the company before making contact, and you might find another option, but you at least know you have one good company whose results are easily checkable.
3: Reach Out
This step is going to narrow your options down even more. When choosing the right commercial asphalt contractor you obviously want to hire a company that cares about its clients and puts forth a professional effort. Once you have narrowed the list down to 4-6 options, start reaching out to ask about their services, talk to the representative in charge about what you should expect, whether or not they’re licensed appropriately, and other general questions.
This gives you a chance to speak directly to the people who will be doing the work. If you get any red flags such as rude behavior, shady answers, or similar problems, you can cross that company off your list.
4: Speak with Other Contractors
If you know any contractors or people who have worked with contractors before, you need to ask them the same type of questions we listed for your initial outreach step. You can essentially cross-examine their answers. Remember, a company’s job is to try to sell you a product. Some companies are unethical when it comes to that. Cross-examing their answers with ones from an uninvolved source can lead you in the right direction.
However, your main question should be about the price. How much should you expect to pay and how much work is being done to justify it are two key questions in that category.
5: Price Quotes
Now, you’re finally ready to start getting price quotes. You’ll want to call each company still on your list, give them as much information about the job as possible, and ask how much they want for it. You’ll also want to compare this to the general costs you got by asking other clients or contractors you couldn’t hire.
It’s important to realize that simply picking the cheapest option isn’t the best idea. You’ll want to know exactly what will be done for the price, consider any reputation differences that might make one service more expensive than another, etc.
However, all prices should be fairly close to the standard price unless you have very unique circumstances affecting the project. Even then, the price shouldn’t skyrocket.
6: Verify Claims
Finally, pick two options that are most attractive to you, and starting with your favorite option, verify their licensing claims.
A website might claim that they’re fully licensed to do everything possible, but all that information can be fabricated. Just think about how many shady, fake retailers are on the internet just taking people’s money without ever sending products, and you’ll get the point.
Luckily, licenses are all public records, and you’re just a Google search away from determining whether or not the company is actually licensed. The company should also be able to provide proof of itself.
The reason we said to choose your two best options is just in case your favorite option falls short at this stage. If your first choice checks out and everything else is great, go ahead and commit.
Choosing the Best Commercial Asphalt Contractor Takes Time
Choosing the right commercial asphalt contractor is not always an easy task. Your company’s asphalt needs are crucial to its day-to-day operations. You can’t afford to hire some shady company just because they say they’ll do it cheaply.
You want to follow each step in this guide to ensure you find the best commercial asphalt contractor possible. You’ll appreciate it when you get a long-lasting asphalt installation that saves you money in the long run.
