I am looking to have vinyl siding installed on my home. Are there any advantages to getting a quote from Lowe's or Home Depot instead of contacting contractors directly? It seems that this is just adding a middle man that needs a cut of the profit. Does going through a store provide additional warranty on the work or anything else for peace of mind? HD and Lowes to my knowledge do not have any contractors on staff. Meaning that they outsource all of their services to local contractors. you get a warranty from a company you know will probably honor it in a year you can sometimes - not all the time - use their financing and may be able to have zero interest for a year if your credit is good enough (if you don't pay it in that time you do pay back interest) edit: Adding in another pro since I forgot about why I have used them going back 15 years ago. During one of my flips I couldn't find a licensed plumber - well I could but I was new to flipping in the area and was under an immensely quick timeline, so the bids I was getting were high but the worst part is no one would guarantee a deadline.

I got a 4k plumbing bid from bigbox but stipulated that it must be done within 10 days or money back. I couldn't believe the supervisor at bigbox signed it... Day 9 they were 20% done. I called and informed supervisor and took pictures (with a real camera). 4 plumbers finished the next day. I doubt bigbox was worried about the job but sure the supervisor was worried about his. But if you can get them to agree on timelines it is probably very easy to deal with your credit card company to decrease amount. HD/Lowes make money by jacking up the normal price by 20-100%. I have seen very simple small bathroom installations get 20k quotes. Just thinking I could do 20 of these a year and live very nicely just by doing bathrooms. They do very little to vet out contractors. Usually these are guys who aren't drumming up enough business on their own. For the bigger companies that HD/Lowes deal with you aren't getting their best people. The only thing that HD/Lowes does is take contractors off their list once they have had issues.

you will now have a middle man to deal with that will be fed part of the information/issues from you and part from the contractor. Also you will have to deal with admin issues with the middle man. ductless split air conditioner dual zoneI have seen many times HD/Lowes mess up these small contracts and leave something off or promise something to one side and not the other.1.5 ton air conditioner prices in delhi you could have multiple contractors for a seemingly easy job. lg ac units dubaiThere is no one "owning" who is going into your house. Good luck taking one of the big boxes to court if you can't resolve an issue. Most of their small print would probably make you file hundreds of miles away and moves things out of small claims.

You are also dealing with a legal team. Back in the day I had a friend who was using one of the "orange" ones to sub subcontract... He had several disputes. He basically got a letter from their lawyer banning him from their stores after he filed a police report.I would only use them if you feel that you don't have any reputable businesses around you that can do the work (not reputable Joe from craigslist - and nothing wrong with using Joe if you are confident on what you need to do) or if you feel you are just the type of person everyone takes advantage of. According to Home Depot's website, they provide a year of warranty on anything that is done. Of course this has the added benefit that they're a huge company with the ability to cover any problem you may find yourself in. On that note, any reputable contractor will have insurance sufficient to cover any mishap that they cause and should also warrant their work. If you hire an independent person there is a slight risk that they go out of business (including retirement) before their warranty is over whereas there is almost no risk of Home Depot shutting its doors in a year.

At the end of the day, if you use the big box store as a middleman you save yourself the hassle of vetting/finding a contractor and you get the peace of mind of having a giant company standing behind the work. If you are confident in your ability to choose a good reputable contractor then using Home Depot/Lowe's probably doesn't provide meaningful benefits. Big box sub (HD, Lowes, Sears, etc.) or direct negotiation with contractors is the same - you still need to do your own due diligence on an individual level. Lots of hustlers out there even reputable contractors who will charge the housewife/clueless bro set double/triple the going rate because they can. Roofing, painting and plumbing especially. Sometimes big box will do a national deal with a national/regional subs such as granite countertop installs or appliance delivery/setup that is well below what a local contractor will charge and they do decent work. And if they screw it up you have a corp office you can go to and pound on tables and throw chairs if necessary (figuratively, you know what I mean).

Conversely, too many times people hire the local contractor with a nice "face" guy who sells the job thinking they're getting craftsmen who've been doing custom cabinetry for 30 years only to find the job subbed out to a bunch of illegals with no clue and then wonder why they get sloppy work and some stuff missing from the house when they're done. Get multiple quotes, some references (from qualified consumers who know what a quality job is supposed to look like), and even do some comparative shopping yourself on materials at the big box or building supply house. Contractors typically get 20-30% + discount on materials but they charge you retail. And if they load up their crews with illegal day laborers they're making even more. I know, I'm Mr politically incorrect but that's the world we're in now. There are plenty of good honest crews out there but you need to do your homework. Shopping and comparisons are always helpful to get what you want and need. You should compare prices and quality, and don't be scared to ask your contractor for help picking out materials.