You have had the kind of week where the car is in the wrong driveway and somebody still needs a bathroom sink fixed. So when the friendly man with the tape measure says the estimate is free, you say yes. He walks the room, makes some notes, and then turns a clipboard around on your kitchen counter.
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That clipboard is the part that matters. The number he gave you is a sales number. The page under his pen is the contract. They are not the same paper, and at the end of a long day it is easy to treat them as one.
Know what the free visit is
A free estimate means they are offering you a price. It does not mean you have bought anything. That is fine, and most people who come out to look are doing it in good faith. Still, before you read a single line on the signing page, say out loud what you have been given so far: a number, a scope, and a start window. Then look at the signing page and ask which of those it actually contains.
Check the clock on the page
Four lines set the timing, and they are easy to skim past.
How many days the price holds. A quote that expires quickly is asking you to decide before you have talked to anyone else in the family. Ask for the exact day it ends and write it in both calendars.
The deposit. Find the amount, the due date, and whether it comes back if the job never starts. Ask what happens to it if you cancel and which conditions have to be met. Do not sign until you can say the answer back in your own words.
The cancellation line. Look for how you must cancel (in writing, by phone, to whom) and how many days ahead. Some pages count business days and some count calendar days. Ask which one this page uses.
The start date. Is it a promise or an approximate window? If the crew is coming on the afternoon your kids need a ride, that gap matters.
Read the scope like a grocery list
Go line by line through what is included. A clear scope names the materials, the brand and model if they matter to you, the removal of what is there now, haul-away, permits if any apply, and cleanup. If you see words like allowance, as needed, or to be determined, ask what happens when the allowance runs out and who decides what counts as needed. Those phrases are where the total tends to grow.
Then find the change order clause. It should say that extra work needs your written approval before anyone does it, and it should say how the extra gets priced. If the page says work will proceed on verbal approval, that is worth a conversation before the pen moves.
Find the two warranties
There are often two promises here, and they are not the same thing. One is the manufacturer's warranty on the part. The other is the company's promise on its own labor. Ask which one is written on the page, how long each one runs in plain words, what each one covers, and who you call when something goes wrong. Ask whether the promise follows the house if you sell it someday. Put that phone number in your phone before the crew leaves, because you will be reading this page again on a night when nothing is working.
Before anyone signs
Ask for a clean copy of everything you are about to sign, and take a photo of every page, including the blank ones with the initial boxes. Ask the person to walk you through each page out loud, and write the answers in the margin in your own handwriting. If they want a signature today and you want a day to read it, that is a fair thing to say. A good company will give you the day. If they push, that tells you something too.
Once it is signed, put the start date on the kids' row if anyone needs to be home for the crew, and the cancellation day on Mom's row if she is the one who would have to act. Collisions go in lemon, the way they always do. The paper will not make your week easier, but it will make the next conversation with the company a lot shorter.