You know exactly how you want to remodel your home, but you still need to locate a reliable contractor. Fortunately there are a number of online resources to help with this task, particularly websites that allow homeowners to rate and review contractors.


Angieslist.com is the biggest and best known review website, collecting reviews about contractors of all kinds from both members and nonmembers. The contractors are given grades from A to F, and customers are encouraged to give detailed reports about their experiences. Consumers’ reviews are not anonymous and data collection is certified, so you know that ratings haven’t been influenced by a malicious competitor or fake reviews by the company’s staff. Companies have the chance to respond to reviewers’ comments, so you can get their side of a story in case of a disagreement. Angie’s List also offers a dispute resolution service.


Angie’s List is supported by membership fees collected from consumers, and gives you unlimited access to the names and ratings of every company in your category. Then you decide who to contact. Angie’s List is such a reliable resource it is even used by real estate agents looking for service providers and contractors who are seeking subcontractors.


Yelp.com: Yelp is a great resource for finding local restaurants, stores, hair salons, and services such as remodeling. As with other sites, reviewers can give up to five stars and write reviews describing their experience. The good aspect is that neither contractors nor customers pay for the free service. The downside is that you may not find a lot of reviews in the category you are looking at – and reviews are anonymous so they are a little less reliable. Still, it is useful to visit Yelp to see people’s opinions – both negative and positive – of local contractors.


Checkbook.Org: This is the online version of Consumer’s Checkbook magazine, a local version of Consumer’s Report. A nonprofit organization, Consumer’s Checkbook does not accept any advertising, but you must pay a membership fee for access to the site, which provides detailed, thoroughly researched consumer ratings of service providers in a number of fields. However, it only provides reviews for a limited number of metropolitan areas in the country.