You’re standing in a house that smells like the bayou and someone is talking fast. A handshake feels human. A handshake also evaporates.
You need a short written contract: who, what rooms, what they’ll remove, what they won’t, start date, money, and how changes get approved.
It can be ugly. It can’t be blank.
Do this now
- Write the legal company name, TDLR number, address, and a real phone.
- List rooms and tasks. “Fix the house” is not a scope.
- Put the price, deposit, and draw schedule on the same page.
- Add that extra work needs your written okay before they do it.
- Keep a photo of every signed page in a shared folder tonight.
Clauses that matter in a flood week
Start date, not “as soon as we can.” What’s included in haul-off. Who buys materials. Who is responsible if they hit a pipe. Cleanup at the end. A statement that they won’t file extra insurance work without showing you. You don’t need a law firm for that paragraph. You need it in ink.
Change orders are where jobs blow up
They open a wall and find more. That’s common in Houston slab-on-grade houses after a slow drain-down. The honest move is a written change with a price before they keep tearing. The bad move is a surprise invoice when your living room is already a shell. Pause the saw until you say yes.
Language and witnesses
If English isn’t the language you think in, get the contract in the language you do, or have a person you trust read it aloud. Don’t use the contractor’s helper as your only translator. Sign in front of someone on your side if you can. Date it. Initials on every page if it’s more than one.
Verify live. Status changes hourly. Confirm the company name matches TDLR before you sign. No license number on the page is a stop sign.
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