Tuesday, January 10, 2012

How to Find the Right Contractor for Your Basement Remodel

Word of mouth or referral is usually the strongest  way to find a contractor for your basement remodel or basement finishing project, but what if your don't know anyone that has had their basement done?
You could look in the yellow pages (yes Virginia there is a YP), or do what millions of other people do, Google it.  Type in the keyword, in this case Basement Remodel, and you will get a search results page. These results are broken down into 3 main categories;
  1. Pay Per Click Advertisements. Just as the term implies, someone paid to be here.
  2. Highly optimized sites designed to get a high organic search ranking
  3. Google Local results. Local businesses with ties to the community.
http://www.centennial-construction.biz

Google is the worlds #1 search engine and brings together more customers with businesses than any other form of marketing or advertising.  But how do you trust what Google says?  Well, here a few things to know about the businesses that show up in Google

In example 1, a company is paying for the space, just like TV or radio but for a lot less money. Anyone can run  Google ad with a little as $25! 

In  example 2, a highly optimized site means someone may be spending thousands of dollars a month to a professional CEO company to do what ever they do to get that position.  Businesses with high organic results spending a lot of money to be their typically are decent companies. However if yo look at our image, the #1 organic isn't a company that does basement remodels or basement finishing but am internet marketing company that sells digital information. Won't do you much good if you are looking for a contractor, which brings us to
http://www.centennial-construction.biz
Example 3. Google Local search results. local companies, usually with a Google verified Places account that have ties to the community (local) and are sometimes reviewed.

When looking for a local contractor for your basement remodel choose #3.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Basement Remodeling - When is it time?


You’ve run out of space if….


  • Your dining room has to be reserved a month in advance
    • Your exercise room is where the in-laws sleep when they visit
    • You only need one outlet for whole house vacuuming
    • You have visitation right to the bathroom
    • Your office is the kids playroom
    • Bunk beds designed for two now sleep 12
    (borrowed from www.blueskyremodelingdenver.com)
    Let's face it running out of room sucks and leaves few options. One of course is to buy a large abode, the other is to suffer through it and the best and our suggestion is to add room with remodeling or basement finishing.

    If you need, or want more space you have a couple of options: Finish the basement (one of our favorites) or perhaps converting the garage (another likeable idea).  Centennial Construction Basements and Garage Conversions can help.