8 Tips on How to Choose a Loft Boarding Company for New Homeowners

Finding the right experts to provide boarding for your loft requires knowing your options. Here is how to choose a loft boarding company for new homeowners.

The United States has hundreds of millions of single-family and multi-family homes in use. Heck, a whopping 17 million homes across the country are even vacant!

Looking at figures like volume of homes isn’t as impressive or as telling though as when you look at volume of quality homes that exist in a place. In our opinion, when it comes to unique, useful, and downright stunning spaces, most households still are playing catch up.

One of the top things we’re finding that those interested in improving their spaces are investing in is hiring a loft boarding company and getting a loft built out. If you’re interested in doing the same thing, keep reading to discover how you can find the perfect boarding company for your loft project with minimal effort!

1. Know Your Budget

As you set out to find the right loft boarding company for your project, before you go too deep down the rabbit hole, you must know your loft boarding budget. Your budget will allow you to automatically exclude or include various contractors you’ll come across via the next few steps.

If you don’t have a budget in mind as you’re engaging people, you might end up spending a lot of time courting a partner that you ultimately won’t be able to afford once a quote comes to pass.

Know what you want to spend, make that clear to contractors as soon as possible, and you’ll end up wasting a lot less time. You can pull information from this site to better understand loft boarding costs.

2. Talk to Friends

Armed with your budget, it’s time to start building your shortlist of prospective loft boarding companies. In our opinion, the best place to start your search is by talking to friends and family members.

Did your parents have a loft built that they love? Does one of your co-workers have a loft-style bedroom?

By taking in recommendations from those you love, you could quickly stumble upon the perfect builder.

3. Weigh Reviews

Online reviews are incredibly valuable when it comes to one’s ability to quickly assess contractors. So don’t neglect to use them!

Head over to Google or Yelp and type in “loft boarding contractor”. See which options come up in your area and note any builders that have 4-stars or better and 10 or more reviews.

We’d also put a premium on anybody that has reviews from the last 3 months.

4. Pay Attention to Portfolios

Loft boarding is as much of an art as it is a science. To understand a contractor’s approach to the artsy side of the job, the best thing you can do is look over their previous work.

Most loft boarders worth their salt will showcase their work on their website while others may have photos of their work they can show you during an in-person consult.

Any loft builder that has no track record of builds they’ve conducted should either be seen by you as someone that’s just starting out or somebody that’s being dishonest about their years of experience crafting lofts.

5. Take Meetings

You’ve created a short-list of experts based on conversations with friends and online searches. Your next step to finding the perfect loft boarder is to start talking to professionals.

Make phone calls and/or shoot off emails to get time on loft builder’s calendars. When you meet, talk to them about your project, your budget, and see if they’d be willing to explore your space to give you a quote.

The easier it is to get on your loft company’s calendar and the more excited they seem to meet up, the more attention you should pay to a particular contractor.

6. Value Estimates in Writing

Like any contracting company, a loft boarding company has a vested interest in being as vague as possible in their estimates. This insulates them against problems with jobs that end up running up costs. You, on the other hand, value concrete information in estimates that enable you to plan for what you’ll spend.

While it can be hard to find a contractor that’ll give you an airtight estimate, prioritize working with loft builders that are willing to put as much in writing involving their job and what they’ll charge you as possible.

7. Look for Flexible Release Clauses

Sometimes a working relationship goes south mid-job. If you’re dissatisfied with your loft company while they’re building, do you have the flexibility you’ll need to let them go in whatever contract you sign?

Look for that flexibility when negotiating terms in your contract and understand what you’ll have to pay and what you can save should you choose to terminate a job mid-stream.

8. Go With Your Gut

Picking loft boarding experts can be tough, even with the guidance we’ve shared. Rather than getting overwhelmed with your choices though, once you’ve exercised some of the diligence we’ve talked about, our advice to you is to just go with your gut.

By leaping, you avoid the worst mistake you can make when hiring contractors which is experiencing analysis paralysis.

Bring on the Right Loft Boarding Company for Your Job Today

Owning a loft is a wonderful experience that adds square footage and value to your home. If you’re excited to enjoy those benefits and more, make time to hire the right loft boarding company for your job today.

We’re hopeful that the tips we’ve shared will help you to that end!

For more information on all things lofts, real estate, and more, we invite you to explore some of our newest write-ups in our blog.