Home repairs and improvements can be costly, and summer is a good time for the scammers to be out there. So watch out if someone sends you—or delivers to your door--a brochure offering to do an expensive job for an unusually low price. Or worse, to make a free inspection of your home. These are the tricks of a dishonest home repair firm. Remember that you usually get what you pay for. And sometimes, it is not a good idea to cut corners.

Free inspections usually turn up plenty of expensive repairs you don’t need. Some shady companies will take advantage and offer to do the job on the spot. A faulty repair job and a big bill is what you are left with. Protect yourself by always getting several estimates for every repair job and compare prices and terms. Check to see if there is a charge for estimates. A reputable company will not charge for estimates.

Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations. A good source is your Realtor, who should be familiar with many different contractors. Or ask the contractors themselves for references. Be sure to check them out yourself. Look at the work done for others very closely and ask the homeowner questions about the firm - its professionalism, its pricing, and, importantly, was the job done in a timely manner as promised?

Contact the Better Business Bureau at 858-496-2131 to check out the company’s reputation before you authorize any work.

Never pay with cash. And never all in advance. An appropriate way is to make payments in installments—one-third at the beginning, one-third when the work is nearly completed and one-third after a satisfactory job is done.

Recently, a man came into the Police Storefront office, very upset about a contractor who did various jobs in his house, mostly plumbing. He asked for a reference, got it, called the lady who used the contractor and was informed that the work he did was good. He also called the Better Business Bureau, which had no files on him. The work, he explained, was handled in an inept manner; he even had to call someone else to help finish the job. He was smart enough to pay him only a deposit at the beginning, with the remainder after he had finished.

However, later, after checking his bill in detail, he decided to check the prices he was charged for parts. He checked the identical parts at various discount hardware stores and learned that the contractor had in all cases tripled (and more) the prices that the items cost. We think that he should have checked more references (that lady he called could have been a set up). Also, ask for an estimate for parts. We know this might be hard, but here’s a suggestion: "I will pay you x-amount for labor, and I will pay for the parts separately when you give me the receipts."