Not sure what you should do when you have an electrician, plumber or remodeling professional at the house?  Find yourself hovering?  Are you the nervous or laid back type?

You might think it doesn’t matter, but your behavior and willingness to cooperate significantly affects the experience you will have when working with a professional, whether it be an interior designer, contractor, or supplier. So what can homeowners do to make a professional’s job easier and ensure a smooth working relationship?

These questions form the topic for discussion in  eLocal’s latest (#6!) Blog Off series.

Here’s my take on this subject:

When involved in the design process of a custom home, I always made an effort to involve the homeowner in a “walk-through” prior to the rough-in stage of the electrical installation. This is a perfect opportunity to develop a trust relationship between the customer and the professional.

Here is where you can discuss your individual needs with the professional. You can ask questions, and the professional can suggest conveniences to design the system to meet your individual needs. Make sure you communicate information like where you will be placing furniture, what kind of appliances you have, where will you have computers, televisions, entertainment centers, etc.

Having these discussions up front and prior to starting the job will save you money as well. Making changes after the boxes are in and the wire is pulled will cost at least twice as much as getting it right the first time.

As far as trying to troubleshoot a problem for a client, the best thing they can provide is information. What is the problem, when did it start, what were you doing at the time the problem occurred, have you noticed anything unusual prior to, after, or when the problem started. Any information is helpful to the process even if it may seem irrelevant to you.

Then after providing all the information possible, back off and let the professional work. Nothing is more irritating for most people than having someone looking over your shoulder while trying to think and perform diagnostic checks.

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Lots of response from the other experts participating in the Blog Off!  Read eLocal’s blog – click here to view it. Feel free to share how do you react when you have a professional at your house!