Quality is one of those words that is often used but seldom defined. Too often, the way a remodeler defines a quality job and the way a customer defines it are two different things. Until recently, there was no such thing as industry quality standards. Consequently, each contractor defined his or her own set of standards, which varied from remodeler to remodeler and, often, from client to client. Few of these standards, if any, were incorporated into contracts, leaving the remodeler wide open for disputes. For example, a contractor might know that a large, exposed wood beam that develops some small splits is not a problem. But to a customer who's envisioned furniture-quality woodwork, the splits mean the remodeler is incompetent or has used substandard materials. Faced with dissatisfied clients, most remodelers either redo the work (with no change
