In addition to getting a written estimate from contractors, as a Wildwood Crest spouter recommends, get references. The same thing happened to me. The contractor kept upping the charge throughout the project to renovate my bathroom and when he supposedly finished, it was not usable and I had to hire someone else to fix everything. And most days they didn't work more than three hours. There are contractors around here who make a living this way knowing they won't get sued. And then they complain about foreigners taking their jobs.