For most people, including contractors themselves, hiring specialists to perform any type of expensive work where they have no expertise is scary. For example, who doesn't dread hearing a "noise" that shouldn't be there coming from the car and realizing the fate of the car-and the wallets-must be placed in the hands of an auto mechanic?
Hiring construction contractors is extremely nerve-wracking to homeowners unless the contractor is hired through word-of-mouth. While Walls & Ceilings columnists write about fair contracts for subcontractors so they have piece of mind about getting paid-remember that homeowners like to see ironclad written representation of the work they are paying for, as well. This is especially of concern since today's headlines love good stories about bad contractors.