Your next kitchen remodel project is an integral part of your home, and making it the way you want it to be is an exciting process. Deciding to remodel your kitchen is a huge moment and you want to make sure that the renovation project goes as well as you hope it will, that is why hiring the right kitchen remodeling contractor is so important.
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Your dream of a beautiful and functional kitchen can be made or destroyed by your choice of a kitchen contractor. Finding the right contractor can be difficult, and that is why we have curated this article about making a sound decision when hiring kitchen and remodeling contractors. Now we can walk through the steps of hiring the perfect contractor to make your kitchen remodeling dreams come true.
Get A List Of Contractors
A great place to find remodeling contractors is through friends, family, and neighbors. If you know someone who has a beautiful new kitchen, you can tell them how much you like the work and ask who their remodeling contractors were. According to a survey, 42 percent of homeowners found a certified kitchen remodeling contractor through word of mouth. It is a great way to start your search because right away you can see the kitchen remodeling contractor’s work and can ask your acquaintance for a review.
You can also start your own contractor search online, with websites like Angie’sList, HomeAdvisor, or Houzz. On these sites, you can see reviews and get the contact information for various remodeling contractors. You should contact maybe five or six contractors, just to chat and see if you feel comfortable talking with them.
It is important to have a good relationship with your remodeling contractors, as they will be working in your home and you will be making a major purchase with them. In your first communications, you can ask what job or project they are working on now and when it will be completed, if they work exclusively on kitchens, or what other kinds of work or projects they do, can they estimate when they would be available to start construction, as well as more basic questions to get to know them and see if they are a good fit. Once you have spoken with a few contractors, you should narrow your list to no more than three to make a formal estimate.
Services A Kitchen Remodeling Contractor Offers
A kitchen remodeling contractor offers various services to help you design and build your dream culinary space. By leveraging their expertise, clients are assured that the entire project is well-coordinated with proper attention paid to detail while fulfilling local building codes.
Among all these offered services highlighted above include consultation on designing processes right from choosing cabinet styles, materials selections like countertops, backsplash tiles, or flooring options depending upon specific interests and needs. They also handle demolition in case it’s needed so customers can avoid going through labor-intensive DIY phases themselves.
Professional contractors assist homeowners throughout the way for installing process including setting up customized cabinetry made from woods such as Oak, Mahogany, Hickory, Walnut, and Pine therefore they ensure every final piece has been cut perfectly before the finishing touches apply! They likewise offer installation support ranging from HVAC setups to complex electrical wiring systems which most people often require extra guidance knowing how dangerous an accidental mistake during installation could end wrong!
Research Contractor Qualifications
When it comes to hiring a kitchen remodeling contractor, it is always important to do thorough research about their qualifications and credentials. Take a look at their past projects. Do they have a good standing when it comes to design services? Are they able to create a new space from the old one you have? As a homeowner, there are just a lot of kitchen remodeling contractor qualifications you need to know about.
You need to check if the kitchen remodeling contractor updated their portfolio regularly. Can they show you their past work with confidence? Do they have familiarity with the details and nuances of building a kitchen? How are their project management skills? Could they read blueprints really well?
Check For The Credentials
Aside from the qualifications, you should also focus on the credentials of these general contractors. Are they licensed to do a kitchen remodel? Is the license current? Keep in mind, a certified and reliable general contractor should be years in business, and again, can show you a portfolio of their past works. You can consult with your local building department to find out local licensing requirements, and see if the general contractor abides by these requirements.
Questions To Ask a Kitchen Remodeling Contractor
If you’re a homeowner who’s having a huge project like remodeling a kitchen, there are just a lot of important questions you need to ask your remodeling contractor about. Here are just some of them:
- Do they have a license and can you see their license number?
- Are they insured or bonded?
- What’s their Better Business Bureau Score?
- Do they have a showroom you can view?
- Do they have projects like the one that you have right now?
- How much will the project cost?
- What is their deposit rate?
- How many projects do they currently have?
- Do they provide a written warranty?
- Any safety measures they use?
If you have other questions in mind, feel free to ask them, but the ones mentioned above could be a starter.
Do Kitchen Remodeling Contractors Give Free Estimates?
The remodeling contractors you have chosen to make bids will come to your home, speak to you in-depth about design ideas and take measurements. Now is the time to really ask important questions and make sure that the contractor is the right fit for your family space and your workspace.
You want to know what the general contractor will do about changes to the plan. It is inevitable that some items will not be available or that a delivery is late and it is important to open communication lines with the general contractors about how changes will be dealt with. It could mean that costs change, and you want to make sure you know if you will be responsible for paying extra for unexpected changes in materials.
You want to get a few references from past clients of kitchen remodels, so that you can check and make sure that customers have been satisfied with the kitchen contractor’s work. You need to make sure that the contractor you hire is fully licensed, bonded, and insured and that all subcontractors they hire and work with have the same. With the licensing comes a certain amount of accountability that is best to have when embarking on such a big project.
You can ask who will be working on the kitchen remodel, as usual, it will require different specialists to come in like plumbers, electricians, and others. You want to know if there is a regular crew who will be there every day, or a supervisor and how many people will be working at one location at once.
Some kitchen remodels will require the homeowner to vacate the house, while others are happy to work around residents. You will also discuss what sorts of fixtures, hardware, and finishes you would like and what the contractor with expertise recommends and is accustomed to using. While you might know what you want something to look like, an experienced, remodel contractor will know if your idea is practical or not. Then the kitchen remodeling contractors will take your ideas and measurements and prepare a bid of how much the whole remodel job will cost.
Find Local Candidates and Compare Bids
A contractor’s bid will tell you the price the contractor is willing to do the kitchen or bath remodeler the job for. The contractor will make more money if the job actually ends up costing less than the bid, and they could lose money if their estimate was wrong and it costs more.
This shows you that they have an incentive to pay and to make an accurate bid. You will want to have the remodeling contractors prepare itemized bids so that you can compare where price differences are occurring. Make sure that the bids include everything you want and expect. Maybe a bid could come in lower, but maybe they have also decided that you do not need exactly the brand of faucet you want or they are not including labor in the cost of some important work like plumbing.
When it comes to a kitchen remodel, you need to go over the bids thoroughly, to make sure you are making the right choice. Know what to consider when having a kitchen remodeling project to make it successful, choose the bid which you feel will make the process easy for you and deliver you what they promise.
Choose The Contractor
Once you have made your decision you can start to draw up a contract for the work. Experienced remodeling contractors will have a sort of standard contract already made, but you should make sure you understand what you are signing. It should specify a start and end date for the entire project, a list of all materials, fixtures, and design choices, how changes will be handled, names of subcontractors, warranty, a list of building codes and permits needed, a broom clause about fixing problems, and a termination clause.
This contract will likely be for a large sum of money, and it is important that you are thorough in understanding every part of it to protect yourself. Once you have signed the contract, your contractor should walk you through all the steps to get ready for your project to start. You still will have a long way to go until you are cooking in your sparkling new kitchen, but now you have hired a professional contractor who will make it all seem easy. You will still be involved in the construction process, but you can feel sure that if you have followed these steps to hire the right contractor, the work will be done to your satisfaction.
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