The Great Kitchen Remodel
You probably know that part of what's been distracting me is the MASSIVE kitcehn remodel that we did that involved destroying effectively half our house and putting it back together again. The scope:
1. Extend kitchen into "dining nook"
2. Vault ceilings in original kitchen to match the rest of the downstairs
3. Raise the floor in the sunken living room to match the rest of the level.
4. Replace all cabinets/countertops
5. Re-frame / replace fireplace
6. Re-floor entire area with oak hardwood
7. Paint
Items 1-6 were managed by Kitchen Plus. Going into it, we had all sorts of people giving us all sorts of thinly veiled advice in the form of horror stories (or vice versa). Things like, "Wow, deciding on all of those little detains will be incredibly stressful." Things like, "Remember, it'll cost twice as much and take twice as long as they tell you." Things like, "Wow, many marriages don't survive projects of this scale, and you're pregnant, too!" I told them all, "Kitchen Plus guarantees their estimate. It's maybe a little more than the initial estimate of other contractors, but it's solid." I told them, "They have a very detailed plan that they don't start executing on until they have all the materials on hand." I told them, "They guarantee their schedule, and if they run over, they pay us." All of the people who'd done major remodel projects before smiled indulgently at my naivete as we embarked on this journey (except the Beemans, who'd used Kitchen Plus before).
Now at the end, I can tell you that what we paid was exactly what they quoted us. I can tell you that they predicted when they would finish a massive scale project to within an hour of their actual completion time. I can tell you that each day, we knew exactly what they were planning to do and could see the progress they'd made at the end of the day. I can tell you that destroying half of our house and rebuilding it took them only about 6 weeks. I can tell you that we only had one minor issue post-construction, and they came out and took acre of it within a day of us contacting them. I can tell you that everyone who's seen the kitchen now that it's done have been very impressed with the work that they did (including people with construction background). I can tell you that my marriage survived intact, because although it is inherently stressful to have half of your house destroyed, it was not stressful to have Kitchen Plus do it.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, you should not expect that they will give you a quote and there will be no other expenses associated with the project. You should expect that you'll spend up to an additional 25% on top of what they quote you for the following things that are explicitly not included in the quote:
If you have renovation needs in the Seattle area, I definitely recommend Kitchen Plus.
1. Extend kitchen into "dining nook"
2. Vault ceilings in original kitchen to match the rest of the downstairs
3. Raise the floor in the sunken living room to match the rest of the level.
4. Replace all cabinets/countertops
5. Re-frame / replace fireplace
6. Re-floor entire area with oak hardwood
7. Paint
Items 1-6 were managed by Kitchen Plus. Going into it, we had all sorts of people giving us all sorts of thinly veiled advice in the form of horror stories (or vice versa). Things like, "Wow, deciding on all of those little detains will be incredibly stressful." Things like, "Remember, it'll cost twice as much and take twice as long as they tell you." Things like, "Wow, many marriages don't survive projects of this scale, and you're pregnant, too!" I told them all, "Kitchen Plus guarantees their estimate. It's maybe a little more than the initial estimate of other contractors, but it's solid." I told them, "They have a very detailed plan that they don't start executing on until they have all the materials on hand." I told them, "They guarantee their schedule, and if they run over, they pay us." All of the people who'd done major remodel projects before smiled indulgently at my naivete as we embarked on this journey (except the Beemans, who'd used Kitchen Plus before).
Now at the end, I can tell you that what we paid was exactly what they quoted us. I can tell you that they predicted when they would finish a massive scale project to within an hour of their actual completion time. I can tell you that each day, we knew exactly what they were planning to do and could see the progress they'd made at the end of the day. I can tell you that destroying half of our house and rebuilding it took them only about 6 weeks. I can tell you that we only had one minor issue post-construction, and they came out and took acre of it within a day of us contacting them. I can tell you that everyone who's seen the kitchen now that it's done have been very impressed with the work that they did (including people with construction background). I can tell you that my marriage survived intact, because although it is inherently stressful to have half of your house destroyed, it was not stressful to have Kitchen Plus do it.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, you should not expect that they will give you a quote and there will be no other expenses associated with the project. You should expect that you'll spend up to an additional 25% on top of what they quote you for the following things that are explicitly not included in the quote:
- Kitchen faucet
- New appliances
- New fireplace
- Painting
- Moving / Storage for all of the stuff you have to move out of the renovated areas
- Stuff you wanted but forgot to specify in the initial plan
If you have renovation needs in the Seattle area, I definitely recommend Kitchen Plus.