Need Help Finding a Good Kitchen Contractor

Lee asks,

We’re planning a kitchen remodel this fall and have been having a hard time locating a contractor we were totally comfortable with. The estimates are all over the block and we can’t seem to be able to compare and contrast because every contractor has their own set of product selections, cabinets, faucets etc. Completion time also seems to very wildly. Any tips to help tame this beast?
leesak

Our Answer

Yes, it sound’s like you are making the very common mistake of letting the contractor define the job instead of defining the job for the contractor.

Kitchens are complicated remodeling projects and you need to have a plan of attack. That plan might come from a specialist known as a Certified Kitchen & Bath Designer, a designation earned by pros who are members of the NKBA, the National Kitchen Bath Association. This will cost you a small design fee but it is money well spent. A designer can specify the product selection and design a solution that is within your budget. When it comes to hiring the contractor, you can also hand the plan to the contractor and have them bid on those specifications, which eliminates the confusion of trying to compare prices on proposals with different offerings.

When it comes to finding the contractor, an interesting new study released last week by research firm Consumer Specialist points out that your satisfaction with the contractor you hire will be directly proportional to how that contractor was found. Not surprisingly, the highest satisfaction levels came from those that hired contractors with which they had previous experience. But what was really surprising was that those that hired contractors found through home improvement stores scored among the lowest levels of satisfaction, coming in just above those that had used the Yellow pages.

This was also echoed in this months edition of Consumer Reports which ranked “one stop shop” kitchen and remodeling services, such as those offered by major home improvement stores, to be amount the top ten “most hyped” kitchen products and services. CR points out that “no one retailer was impressive for design help, installation services, and product quality, selection and price.”

If you’ve not had experience with previous remodeling pros you are happy with, there is a way to rely on the experience of others to make that selection. Angie’s List is a social networking website where members pay a very small fee and then share their experiences good and bad with each other about the service providers with which they had worked. The list report ranks an overall satisfaction with a contractor as well as price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism. We recently interviewed Angie’s List founder Angie Hicks on our radio show and were very impressed.