Im looking for a contractor right now. Ive got some reccomendations from other people but am still being a little cautious, as some of the people in the past have been a little sketchy to say the least. Any advice?

it can be tough to find a good reliable contractor. Hold on to a good one if you can because most really good contractors that do this kind of work are really busy. If a contractor is asking for alot of money upfront it can be a bad sign, because alot of them have open accounts with supply houses. Bad contractors have been known to take cash upfront and then not do the work, so be careful.
Also another good sign is that they have insurance, you can get a copy of it sent to you. That can help you verify that they are reputeable.