The call came on a Tuesday. Woman in Nassau, voice shaking. She'd handed $18,000 to a contractor who promised a full kitchen renovation. They gutted the room, roughed in some wiring, and vanished. Six weeks. No calls returned. No crew. Just a shell of a kitchen and a bank account $18,000 lighter.
She asked me to come look at what was left. I walked in and the first thing I saw was exposed wiring hanging from the ceiling — live. No wire nuts. No junction box. Just bare copper waiting for someone to touch it.
I've been painting and renovating in the Bahamas since 1992. I've walked into the aftermath of bad contractor jobs more times than I can count. And here's the thing that still gets me after 34 years: most of these disasters were preventable. Not by knowing construction. By knowing what questions to ask before the first dollar changes hands.
Here's what nobody in the trade will tell you about hiring a contractor: the bad ones aren't looking for uninformed homeowners. They're looking for trusting ones. There's a difference. An uninformed homeowner asks questions. A trusting one doesn't. The contractor who took that woman's $18,000 didn't target her because she didn't know about kitchen layouts. He targeted her because she never asked to see his license, never asked for references she could actually call, and never — not once — asked him to prove he'd done the work he said he'd done.
That last one is the one that separates the pros from the predators. Every time.
The Five Questions That Expose a Bad Contractor
I've been on both sides of this. I am the contractor. I know what the bad ones look for, and I know the questions that make them squirm. Here they are.
1. "Show me three jobs you finished in the last six months — and give me the homeowners' phone numbers."
Not references. Not a portfolio. Actual phone numbers of actual people whose houses they worked in recently. A good contractor hands these over without blinking. A bad one suddenly has reasons why he can't. "Privacy concerns." "They're out of town." "I mostly do commercial work."
I've had homeowners call me as a reference. I welcome it. If a contractor won't let you talk to past clients, there's a reason — and it's never a good one.
2. "Walk me through exactly how my deposit gets used."
This is the question that separates legitimate operators from the ones running a Ponzi scheme with your money. A real contractor can tell you: $X goes to materials, $Y goes to the first week of labor, $Z is held for the next phase. They have a draw schedule. They have receipts.
The contractor who took $18,000 and disappeared? He couldn't answer this question because the answer was: "It goes into my pocket and I hope the next client's deposit covers your job."
3. "What happens if you find something wrong behind the walls?"
Every renovation uncovers surprises. Rot. Bad wiring. Plumbing that should've been replaced 20 years ago. A good contractor has a change order process — written, signed, priced before work continues. A bad one either pretends surprises never happen, or uses them to inflate the bill by thousands with no documentation.
4. "Who's doing the actual work — you or subcontractors?"
Nothing wrong with subs. I've worked with excellent subcontractors for decades. But you need to know who's in your house. If the answer is vague — "my guys," "the crew" — push harder. Get names. Get licenses. A contractor who won't tell you who's showing up is a contractor who doesn't want you to check their background.
5. "Can I test the electrical work myself before final payment?"
This one stops bad contractors cold. I don't mean you need to be an electrician. I mean you need a $27 tool that tells you whether an outlet is live, whether a switch actually controls something, whether the "finished" wiring is even connected.
I recommend every homeowner own a non-contact voltage tester. The Klein Tools NCVT-1 is the one I see on every serious job site. You hold it near an outlet or a wire, and it lights up and beeps if there's voltage. No contact. No risk. No electrical knowledge required.
Here's why this matters: I've walked into "finished" renovations where half the outlets in a new addition were dead. The drywall was up. The paint was on. And none of it worked. The homeowner had already paid in full because everything looked done. A $27 voltage tester would've caught it in 30 seconds — before the final check was written.
What the uninformed homeowner does: Pays the final invoice because the walls look good and the lights turned on during the walkthrough.
What the smart homeowner does: Spends five minutes with a voltage tester verifying every outlet, every switch, every fixture before signing off. The NCVT-1 takes no skill — press the button, touch near the outlet, watch for the beep. If it doesn't beep, that outlet isn't live. Period.
The Deposit Rule That Protects Everything
Here's a rule I've watched save homeowners from disaster for 34 years: never pay more than 10–15% up front. On a $20,000 renovation, that's $2,000 to $3,000. Enough for materials and mobilization. Not enough to disappear with.
If a contractor demands 50% before starting — and I've seen it — walk away. They're either financing your job with your own money or they're planning to take it. Neither one ends well for you.
What This All Comes Down To
You didn't hire a contractor to gamble $20,000. You hired one to transform your home. The difference between those two outcomes isn't luck. It's the five questions above and the willingness to verify what you're paying for.
I've spent 34 years watching the gap between what homeowners assume and what contractors deliver. Close that gap before the work starts and you'll never be the person calling someone like me to clean up a disaster.
If you're serious about protecting yourself on your next renovation, keep a voltage tester in your toolkit. The Klein NCVT-1 is what professionals reach for — reliable, simple, and $27. Check every outlet before you sign that final check.
For more advanced verification — checking whether circuits are delivering the right voltage, not just whether they're live — the Klein MM400 multimeter is what I carry on every job.
Get the free guide — free.
I put 34 years of job-site experience into this. No opt-in walls, no courses to buy — just the guide.
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