Homeowner guide

How to Choose a Remodeling Contractor in Northern Virginia, Maryland and DC

By Sam Kazanci, owner and founder of Fairfax Kitchen & Bath · October 23, 2026

What should you check before hiring a remodeling contractor?

Use this list for every contractor you are considering. If one can't answer a line clearly, that tells you something.

1. A license you can look up. Licensed in your state for this kind of work, checked on the official state website, not just a number on a business card.
2. Insurance, including workers’ compensation. Ask for the certificate of insurance. If a worker is hurt in your home, this protects you.
3. A place you can visit. A showroom or office with a real address and a phone number that has been the same for years.
4. A written contract. The scope of work, what is included and excluded, the payment milestones and the warranty, all in writing.
5. A detailed estimate. Every material and line item listed, with allowances for what you have not chosen yet and anything undecided marked "to be determined".
6. Who pulls the permits. The contractor should handle every permit and schedule every inspection, not you.
7. Materials before demolition. Ask when your materials will be ordered and where they will be before your room is torn out.
8. The labor warranty. How long it runs and what it covers, in writing.
9. Who runs your job. The name of the person who manages your project, and how you will reach them during construction.
10. Real reviews. Recent reviews on Google and Houzz, ideally from homeowners near you with a similar project.

Print the checklist

What are the red flags when hiring a contractor?

These are the three we see most often. Each one comes from real calls and real jobs since 2015.

Red flag 1: The contractor who disappears halfway through

The fear we hear most often: you sign a contract, make a payment, and the contractor stops answering the phone. The kitchen sits half-finished. We get calls from homeowners in exactly this spot, asking if we can finish a job another company walked away from.

Since 2015, we've learned the best protection is checking a company before you sign. Can you visit them? Are they licensed where you live? Do they put everything in writing?

Fairfax Kitchen & Bath has 3 showrooms you can walk into, in Fairfax, Sterling and Bethesda, and we've had the same phone number since 2015. We are licensed in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. At the bottom of every page of our website, we link to the official state license lookups, so you can check our numbers yourself in the right place. Every job has a written contract with the scope of work and the payment milestones, and every job has its own group chat with your designer and project manager.

The red flag: a contractor with no place you can visit, no license you can look up, or no clear contract.

Our advice: look up the license on the state's website before you pay anything. It takes two minutes.

Red flag 2: When the lowest bid becomes the most expensive

Most homeowners get 2 or 3 estimates, and they should. Compare apples to apples: two estimates for the same kitchen often don't price the same job. One includes demolition, plumbing, electrical and real material allowances. Another leaves some of that out to make the number look smaller.

First, the honest part: every remodel can have change orders. Old homes hide things behind walls, and you may change your mind on a material. We tell every customer this up front. People make honest mistakes too. A proposal might say “paint the walls” without saying “patch the holes first”. That's why the details matter.

The red flag is different. It's a number that is low on purpose, to win the job, with the real cost coming later in change orders.

When the goal is winning the job, there's pressure to make the number look smaller. At Fairfax Kitchen & Bath, our own software doesn't allow that, for our own designers too. A designer can't send you a proposal until every needed material and detail is in it. Anything not decided yet must at least be marked “to be determined”, with an allowance, so you always know where you stand. If you choose something above an allowance, it's a change order. If you choose something below, you get a credit.

We also only use materials from our verified suppliers. A bargain faucet from an unknown online seller is new, and it works. But how long will it last, will it still perform in 10 years, and who backs it if it fails? A Kohler or Delta faucet costs more for a reason, and we stand behind what we install.

The red flag: an estimate far below the others, with vague lines and no allowances.

Our advice: compare what each estimate includes, not only the total. If one is far below the others, ask why.

Red flag 3: The contractor who starts demolition without a plan

A remodel looks simple: tear out the old, put in the new. The hard part is everything before demolition. When a contractor starts too early, nothing is ready: materials aren't ordered, permits are pending, crews aren't scheduled. Then a job sold as 4 weeks leaves a family without a kitchen or a bathroom for months.

Our rule: we don't start until we're ready to finish. Your design and selections are final. Every permit is in hand. Every material is in our own warehouse. Our crews are scheduled phase by phase.

A recent example from summer 2026. Loudoun County's own permit processing dashboard says it starts checking most residential applications within 10 business days. We applied for a bathroom permit, replacing a tub with a new shower, on July 22. Three weeks later, the county still had not started that check; it told us it had a backlog. The building permit was issued on August 28, more than 5 weeks after we applied. The electrical and plumbing permits, which follow the building permit, were issued on September 28. That is more than 2 months from application to having every permit in hand, for a job that had been scheduled to start in mid-August. Our customer was frustrated, and even some of our own team wanted to start anyway. We said no. Without knowing when the permit would come, a gutted bathroom could have sat for weeks.

Here's what we've learned: a working bathroom, even an old one, is better than a torn-out one waiting on a permit or a cabinet. That's dust and a construction site in your home, with no end date.

The red flag: “We can start tomorrow.” Ask for the plan for everything after demolition.

Our advice: don't rush the start. A few more weeks of planning saves months of living in a construction zone.

How do I check a contractor's license in Virginia, Maryland or DC?

Contractor licenses are issued by the state (in DC, by the District), so check them on the official government website. A number on a truck or a business card is not proof.

1. Virginia: open the DPOR License Lookup, search the company name or license number, and check that the license is current and its class fits your project.
2. Maryland: open the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) license search and search the company or license number.
3. Washington, DC: search the business license on the District's official license lookup.

What should a good remodeling estimate include?

• The scope, room by room: what is removed, what is built, what is installed.
• What is included and what is not, in plain words.
• Every material you have chosen, and an allowance for each one you haven't, so you know the budget for tile, fixtures and the like.
• Anything undecided marked “to be determined”, never just left out.
• Demolition and disposal, permits and inspections.
• How change orders work: above an allowance is a change order; below it, you get a credit.
• Payment milestones and the warranty, in the contract.

What questions should you ask a contractor before hiring?

1. Are you licensed in my state? What is the license number?
2. Can I see your certificate of insurance, including workers’ compensation?
3. Who will be in my home every day, and who manages the job?
4. Who pulls the permits and schedules the inspections?
5. Which materials are included, and what are the allowances for the rest?
6. What is not included in this estimate?
7. How do change orders work, and how are they priced?
8. When do you order materials, and will they be here before demolition?
9. How long will construction take once you start?
10. What does your labor warranty cover, and for how long?

Frequently asked questions