What Best of Houzz Actually Measures, and How to Read Contractor Awards

Every contractor website has a row of badges on it. Very few homeowners know what any of them mean, which makes them close to useless as a way to choose who works on your house. This is a short guide to reading them properly, using Best of Houzz as the example because it is one of the more transparent ones.

What does Best of Houzz actually measure?

Best of Houzz is given once a year in two separate categories, and the difference matters.

The Design award reflects how popular a professional's completed project photos are within the Houzz community. The Service award reflects client ratings and reviews. So one is essentially a measure of the work people admire, and the other is a measure of what it was like to hire them. A firm can win one without the other.

What neither award measures is price, schedule reliability, or whether the company is a good fit for your specific project. Those you still have to find out yourself.

Which signals are worth weighing?

When you are hiring for something as large as a whole-home remodel, a few things separate a meaningful signal from decoration:

• Does the recognition repeat? One award year is a snapshot. Several consecutive years means the standard held while the team, the subs, and the schedule all changed.
• How many reviews sit behind the rating? A perfect score across three reviews tells you almost nothing. Volume over time is what makes an average trustworthy.
• Do the reviews describe projects like yours? A contractor with glowing reviews for bathroom refreshes has not proven they can run a six-month whole-home job.
• Can you verify it? A badge that links to a live profile or article is checkable. A badge that links nowhere is a graphic.

What signals mean less than people think?

Logos of national outlets are the most common one. A press release syndicates to hundreds of sites automatically, so an outlet logo usually means a release was distributed, not that a journalist investigated the company. It is fine as a credibility marker, but it is not evidence of build quality. We say that as a company that just had its own award announcement picked up widely, including on GlobeNewswire.

Membership badges work the same way. Belonging to an association usually means dues were paid. Useful context, weak proof.

How we would suggest using all of it

Treat awards and ratings as a filter, not a decision. Use them to build a short list, then judge the short list on things awards cannot capture: how clearly someone explains scope, whether they walk your house before quoting, and whether their past projects match the complexity of yours.

For reference, Fin Home Custom Contracting has earned Best of Houzz six years running, from 2021 through 2026, and holds a 5.0 rating across 27 client reviews. We would still tell you to check the reviews themselves and look at projects the size of yours before you call anyone, including us. Our whole-home remodeling work and the client stories are both there to be read.

Where we work

Fin Home Custom Contracting is based in Farmers Branch and takes on remodels throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, including Dallas, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, Coppell, Irving, Keller, and Flower Mound.

If you are scoping a large remodel and want a straight answer on what it will take, you can review our whole-home remodeling services or schedule a consultation.