4 great websites for researching contractors

Hiring a contractor to work on your home can be scary, especially if you just moved to a new neighborhood and the only people you know are your Realtor and your next-door neighbor.

So how can you avoid getting ripped off? One way is to check out contractors through websites that let consumers rate their services. Whether you’re looking for a plumber or a podiatrist, these sites put the power in the hands of the people doing the paying. You’ll find out directly from fellow homeowners who can do the job right — and who to avoid.

But not all ratings sites are created equal. Here are four options — two free and two that charge a fee — and how they stack up.

Angie’s List

How it works: Angie’s List is a catchall of information for 250 different categories of service providers, from contractors to doctors to caterers. Every review is vetted by an Angie’s List staffer to ensure it’s legit — the owner can’t submit a glowing review for his or her own company or enter a scathing review about a competitor. The reports are detailed and grade the areas of service the contractor offers. Also, if a business leaves you high and dry, Angie’s List can follow up on your behalf.

Need to know: That layer of quality control comes at a price — you’ll pay $6.95 a month to access the information, or you can buy a year or multi-year subscription to lower the per-month cost. Only members can rank contractors, which limits the number of reviews and companies reviewed when compared to free sites.

Our take: The fee is worth it if you’re tackling a major home improvement project.

Checkbook

How it works: This site is an arm of the Center for the Study of Services, an independent nonprofit consumer organization that’s been around since 1974. Checkbook ranks thousands of companies related to homeownership and beyond (depending on the region), plus sends undercover shoppers to stores and service providers to make sure they’re providing accurate price comparisons. The site and submissions are regulated, too — no company’s review goes live after one anonymous post.

Need to know: Checkbook is offered only in seven regions: Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Twin Cities, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Delaware Valley, and Washington, D.C. Plus, it’s a fee site ($30 a year).

Our take: Excellent site — if you live a covered area.

Yelp

How it works: Yelp is a free, consumer-driven site in every sense. Reviews come from customers who can write as much or as little as they want about any service provider — the site brags that it rates everything from martinis to mechanics. The strongest regional coverage is in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle, but new regional sites are spreading quickly through the United States and Canada. That’s because Yelp has a social networking aspect, which prompts users not just to rate companies, but also to meet up and form groups founded through the site, which helps it catch on in new areas.

Need to know: Since anyone can rate a company, you don’t know where the reviews are coming from, or if the review is being produced by the company or a competitor. One bad review doesn’t mean the contractor is awful, just as a glowing review doesn’t means that he or she is the best in the business.

Our take: Yelp offers buckets of information, but the reviews aren’t quality controlled. Take everything with a grain of salt.

Kudzu

How it works: Kudzu offers a few points of entry for searching, whether you want to start with a general category and zero in, or search immediately for a specific company. Like Yelp, you can add your opinions to the rankings and sites. Kudzu also offers information in addition to ratings — check out the “advice” and “guide” sections for short, easy-to-read articles about a wide range of topics, from how to find a temp agency to making your back yard kid-friendly (and kid-proof).

Need to know: Kudzu accepts advertisements, so pay attention to what you’re clicking. If it’s a sponsored link, someone paid for it to show up near the top of your search. Also, while Kudzu allows ratings for companies all over the country, it’s not equally strong in all areas. Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas are the best coverage areas.

Our take: Like Yelp, Kudzu allows everyone and anyone to rate services, so be critical of rankings since they’re not being checked. But if you live in one of those four core cities, Kudzu offers a wealth of information.