Whenever you're hiring a company for any home improvement work, you should always check their references.
Get names and phone numbers (the Contractor should be proud of any past work and happy to give the information) and call them.
Calling another homeowner "out of the blue" can be hard to do, but armed with the right questions it can be relatively painless.
Since you're probably going to be spending thousands of dollars on this contractor and you're going to have that person in your home for several weeks (or months), it's important to know who you're dealing with.
When you contact the contractor's references, always ask -- at least -- these four questions: 1) Did the Contractor stay on schedule and follow the terms of your contract? 2) Did the Contractor listen to your concerns, respond to problems, and seem concerned about resolving the issues? 3) Were you pleased with the work and were you pleased with how it got done? (okay, so it's two questions!) 4) Did the Contractor make all the necessary corrections to any problems? By making sure the contractor has the skills to do your job right, you'll have a much happier home renovation experience.
And you can avoid being one of those remodeling "horror stories" that you're always hearing about.