The truth about this industry

Here is the thing I wish every Pittsburgh homeowner understood before they call anybody, including us. The industry we live in is closer to the wild west than most consumers would believe. There are inspectors. There are standards. There are codes. All of that exists. But if homeowners truly understood how much of their installation, their project, their service call, their tuneup, their maintenance, comes down to the company they hired rather than the rules and regulations, they would spend a lot more time picking the right company.

I am not saying codes do not matter. I am saying codes are a floor, not a guarantee. Two companies can both pull a permit and pass an inspection on the same job, and you can end up with two completely different results that will play out over the next 15 years. The variable that matters most is who you let in your house.

How should I actually vet a contractor?

This is exactly why we are so committed to Google reviews and the Better Business Bureau. In my experience, those two have been the most reliable ways to rate a company. They seem to have the fairest, most trustworthy processes, and they are hard to fake at scale. So here is what I would do before calling anyone.

• Check Google reviews first. Read them. Look at the volume, the recency, and how the company responds when something went wrong.
• Look at the company’s website and history. How long have they been in the region? Longevity is hard to fake. A company that has been serving your area for decades has been held accountable by thousands of customers.
• Check the Better Business Bureau ranking. Make sure there are no real, unresolved complaints sitting out there.

Why does the company matter more than the code?

Because the inspector sees your job for a few minutes on one day. The company makes a thousand small decisions you will never see. Did they size it right? Did they use new parts? Did they do the evacuation? Did they come back when something went sideways? None of that is enforced by an inspector standing in your basement. It is enforced by the culture and the standards of the company you chose, or it is not enforced at all.

That is the honest reason a company’s reputation is the best predictor you have. A long track record of happy customers is not marketing. It is thousands of homeowners telling you what actually happened after the truck pulled away.

The bottom line for a Pittsburgh homeowner

Spend the extra time up front. Read the reviews, check the BBB, look at how long the company has really been around. With the right company you are getting an outfit that can deliver. With the wrong company, honestly, it is Russian roulette, and you will not know which chamber was loaded until years later when the corner-cutting finally shows up.

If you want to know how we measure up on exactly these tests, take a look at our history and our reviews. Whoever you call, do the homework first. It is the cheapest insurance there is.