Posted: 11/14/2011 4:53:08 PM EDT
| Is it better to hire a independent contractor or go through the box stores like Home Depot or Lowe's? I've only gone to the box stores so far, mainly to get ideas of what is out there as far as styles, materials and colors. Appliances are going to get shopped all over until I find what I want, but so far I'm liking Samsung and LG products. |
|
Just finished our kitchen renovation last week. It took a month and it sucked. Nothing goes according to plan. We had an independant contractor who was great. He worked long days and his people ran interference when something went wrong with the stuff that was ordered and came in wrong or defective. I was involved in a lot of the work but he fixed the real problems.
The renovation included new tile floors thoughout the first floor, new cabinets, new appliances and extensive electrical work. The cabinet manufacturer is the most fucked up entity I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with, but the contractor fought the fight and got the replacement cabinets replaced in a hurry. |
| A quality contractor is pretty sweet. I am a tilesetter and work for all manner of people in all kinds of situations. Those with a reputable person running the show fare much better than some average guy trying to do it himself through Home Depot. Trust me on this one, I do lots of high end remodels and for sure know what I'm talking about. Ignore almost everything else I say in GD, but take this to heart. Its gonna suck. How much depends on who you have to help figure it out. 20 years of experience doing remodels/ $11 an hour box store guy. Common sense. |
| I did the first two kitchens in my first two places myself. While I did a good job, I see all the flaws and defects, not the overwhelming good work. My latest house I hired contractors. If they screwed things up I didn't find them and I'm much happier not staring at that tile a nano millimeter out of alignment |
| I went to Home Depot because my requirements that the people preforming the work be licensed, bonded, self-insured, and pull permits was too much for the three contractors I got referred to from friends. They'd rather work under the table for cash and bring un-documented laborers into my home. Home Depot was about $800 high on a ~$18,000 project after discounts and rebates. $800 was cheap insurance against something going wrong. |
|
In the biz, so I'm biased. But a good independent contractor can bring a lot more to the table than any of your other choices.
Check the licensing entity in your state. The big boxes traditionally have the largest number of complaints. They don't offer straightforward lines of communication, and make their subcontractors (none of them have in-house employee-contractors) run crazy schedules just to make a buck. Not a recipe for success 
|
|
We'll be finishing a re-model of our condo kitchen and living/dining room. Gutted the area, new wood floors, new cabinets, new wallboard and insulation, new fireplace, new doors throughout, new appliances and granite counters.
Hired a contractor who showed us some recent work he'd done. All done by this Fri. On time for Thanksgiving as promised. Pretty happy though we only have pics but neighbor is impressed. 40 yr old condo. |
|
Lowe's and Home Depot both have a horrible reputation with contractors. They don't pay well, won't back the contractor in a dispute with the homeowner (who are, believe it or not, occasionally wrong about expectations), and generally do not attract even the mid-level contractors in their market.
Then, let's look at the people at big box stores sales levels: Rarely are you going to find anyone working there who's actually qualified to do the design work. The store may advertise membership in the National Kitchen and Bath Association, but the question is, do they have a CKD (Certified Kitchen Designer) who's been through all the training and had to demonstrate proficiency on the required design skills? Like as not, not only no, but HELL no––They can't afford to hire someone like that. The person drawing your plans up, and ordering your $10-15,000.00 cabinet order may be experienced, or they may be the girl who was working in plumbing last week. Want a quality, low headache experience? Go to the NKBA website, find a local member, and actually pay someone the money to do the job right in the first place. Sure, it sure looks like wasted money, but when your installer, plumber, and electrician are standing around in your kitchen trying to figure out how to make the brain-dead cabinet plan the big-box boys gave you work, guess what? You might wind up spending more than if you'd paid a pro to do it. If I were setting out to do it? Spend some time finding a small independent cabinet/kitchen shop locally, ask for references, and then actually do some research with those references. You're likely going to get some cherry-picked "good jobs", but if you can see those, that's a good sign. Find out who they use for installers, and do the same thing. A smart person who's looking for small construction projects to be done isn't going to walk into a big-box store and put themselves into the hands of the people working there. Unfortunately, in most markets, that's asking for trouble. Find an independent, and go from there. A good kitchen design firm is going to have a full stable of trustworthy trades they're used to working with, and who do a good job––They can't afford not to. When you rely on good word of mouth, you need to ensure quality work and customer satisfaction. The big box stores just rely on their easy credit, and don't really give a damn. My brother installed a job for Home Depot four years ago. Just recently, we ran into the homeowner in another context, and he asked her how she liked her cabinets. She said they were great, the installation was good, but that Home Depot still hadn't gotten the correct parts to finish the job out to her... Four years, and they were still missing two finished end panels. She wasn't happy, at all––And, I can't blame her. There's a reason we don't do work for either Lowes, or Home Depot. |
|
Thanks for the replies. The last kitchen I did was in my first house and I did it myself. It was a decent job for the budget I had, but that was 1996.
This one I'm redoing my parent house. They resurfaced the cabinets and put in new counter tops 6 or 7 years ago, but the cabinets are still 20 years old underneath. The refrigerator and dishwasher are probably 10 years old and have seen better days. The range is the same age as the countertops and was bought to match the resurfacing. I also need to redo the floors, which are 20 year old 8 inch tiles and they scream late 80's early 90's (house was built in 1989). The house is empty right now, so it's not going to displace anyone while the work is done. The layout is very open as there aren't any turns in the kitchen area, everything runs along a single wall and there is a bar/island on the opposite side. So if I gut the kitchen and remove the island I can create any layout I want. I'm only limited by budget. I'm expecting the project to cost around $18-$20k, including new appliances. The few people I know who have recently had work done were luke warm on their satisfaction with their contractors. My parents had one of the bathrooms remodeled 2-3 years ago and they hated the contractor once he started the work (took 5 months to complete a job that should have been done in 4-6 weeks). So it seems whoever I hire I will have to watch closely and I already know a couple companies not to hire. |