Because of the often high costs and frequent horror stories that homeowners tell about their experiences with contractors, the industry ranks number two in public dissatisfaction, just behind automotive. So says Jiyan Wei, which is why he launched BuildZoom.com with his childhood friend David Peterson to level the playing field and give homeowners insight into which contractors are good and which aren’t.
“Our goal is to provide homeowners with a free, public resource to help them better understand what’s happening in their neighborhoods,” said Wei, whose site aims to help the average person “find a contractor you can trust, for free.”
Wei realized that there was a lack of data on contractors after he purchased his own home years ago. “I had a hell of a time finding good contractors,” Wei said. “Even when you find those guys, you can’t research it. Yelp reviews are sparse. When contractors move to another area, there’s no paper trail. There was absolutely no information out there. I thought that was a big problem.” The idea for BuildZoom sprung from this “general lack of information on who’s out there and what they’ve done.”