Kitchen Remodel - Hiring a Professional

I’ve likened a kitchen remodel to training for a marathon. Before you start training, you need a good pair of running shoes. There are lots of good ones on the market, and you have to try some on before you find the pair that fits. Not every shoe works for every runner, and the price tag and quality can vary greatly. The same applies to the professionals who will help us create our new kitchen.

Our kitchen remodel is straightforward with no major change to the floor plan won’t change, so we don’t need an architect. I could use a general contractor,but I want a certified kitchen designer, so s/he can look at our space with an experienced eye. We’re only doing this once, so I want to know all my options to get the most out of the kitchen remodel. And while I don’t usually shy away from extra legwork, the idea of coordinating so many different aspects of the job was daunting.

Getting three estimates felt like a good number to me, so I bit the bullet and made the calls. Three visits to showrooms, two home visits where measurements were taken, a few more visits back to showrooms – and then the estimates came in.

Comparing estimates for the kitchen remodel was trickier than I anticipated. It was difficult to compare apples to apples, and you can’t make a decision based solely on numbers. Who can you see yourself working with?

Companies A and B gave us estimates based on a home visit, and my husband and I went to the showrooms to meet with the designers and see the plans that had been drawn. Company C gave me an estimate right in the showroom, but no plans – that would require a $1000 deposit that we weren’t ready to pay. I was most familiar with Company C’s work, so I felt that I could comfortably compare it to A and B. Turns out I was wrong. Their estimate was in the same ballpark as the other two, but their lack of a plan (not to mention a home visit) eliminated them from consideration. I suppose if we had been dissatisfied with our other choices we may have revisited C, but we felt that we could make a choice from the remaining two.

Kitchen remodel company A’s quote was the highest (by a fair amount), but it included everything but painting. I had to go back to B and confirm what their quote included. I knew it included cabinets and counter tops, but what about flooring, back splash, and plumbing/electricity? We are also ripping out our pantry area and all of the drywall (see photos below) – were those expenses included in the original quote? We don’t need new appliances, but that would be an expense to account for as well. We had to add in costs for things that are not included, so we could do a side by side comparison. And I realize that the best laid plans are still just plans, so I factored in an extra 10% for over-the-budget expenditures. (I did that in my head, thinking that I really didn’t need to share that with my husband yet…)

We made sure that we were comparing equivalent estimates, and to our surprise (and relief), Company A came in almost 25% lower than Company B. They were who I secretly preferred anyway. Why? I felt that both companies would do what I asked, but A would say “That’s great, but have you thought about…” I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and I would welcome any input from an experienced and objective designer.

Decision made, email accepting proposal sent. Husband’s job: call the other two companies and say thanks but no thanks.

Check out HGTV’s article on choosing a professional for your kitchen remodel. It can be a lengthy process (it took about two months from our first showroom visit to the final decision), but doing your research and choosing wisely will make the entire project run smoothly and successfully.

Here are a few before photos of our kitchen – click here for more.