Kitchen cabinet brands and an ethics question...
ayerg73
12 years ago
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kitchenkrazed09
12 years agosnoonyb
12 years agoRelated Discussions
KD ethics?
Comments (19)My intention isn't to be nasty, but I will be blunt. What qualifies this woman or most any KD to charge $150/hour?! In order to charge almost that amount I earned a Ph.D. and had to pass licensing examinations for each of the three states I'm permitted to practice. To get to there I completed four years undergrad + four years grad + an extra six months to complete my dissertation + three internships + one year post grad accruing hours + studying 100 or more hours in order to pass a national written test + studying 50 or more hours in order to pass an oral exam in order to be licensed to practice + 30 Continuing Education hours biannually to maintain my license. To justify the big bucks I take ongoing courses to remain current in my areas of expertise. Expenses include office space and staff. When someone calls I get back to them within 24 hours and make sure they're scheduled for an appointment within one week. For the most part, phone consultations are free. I always have at least one low or no fee (pro bono) client. Yes, I am darn near a saint, but fortunately I have a wife and kids who dope slap me when I need it and wear their "I'm With Stupid" tee shirts when they're out with me in public. Of the dozen or so "interior designers" I've met only one impressed me as someone who has the credentials, experience and ability to charge what he does. Even then, it took me some time to realize how talented he is. I saw his home, restaurants and homes he designed and saw his responsiveness and work ethic. He happens to be a friend and even at a discounted rate I cannot afford him to design my current kitchen remodel. He doesn't have NKBA Certification (which looks like a good starting point if you're going to shell out the long green) but he has technical and architectural knowledge that makes what he does appear easy. When I read about these KD's who are "nice people" but don't deliver the services they're highly paid to deliver, it never ceases to amaze me that folks tolerate it. I know that the more people are paid, the more leeway others give them. But if you're forking over your hard earned money at the rate of $2.50 a minute, they'd better be giving you your money's worth. What ever happened to "value added" and "exceeding your customer's expectation?" My recommendation to Jenna would be to meet with the KD and lay all the cards on the table. Nicely but firmly tell her what you want (costs, timeline, etc.) and let her know that she hasn't been living up to your expectations of someone who is being paid $150 an hour. If being "nice" was a prerequisite for keeping a job a lot of competent people would be fired in a minute (when I worked at a hospital I knew a lot of great doctors and surgeons who were not particularly "nice people"). If she "gets in trouble with her company" that's her fault for not doing a good job. Anything less than a professional response and follow through from your KD is your......See MorePlease HELP! Questions about Cabinet Brands for galley kitchen
Comments (13)That sounds a bit expensive but not wildly unreasonable; I have just finished a galley kitchen that is 7.5ft wide and 14 ft long (was 12ft before we opened up a wall.) I priced frameless cabinets from Cabico Espresso, all drawers in the lowers, and the not-quite-everything total was around $9k; I comparison shopped Innermost (frameless also) at Home Depot and it was slightly more expensive. I also used the Ikea planner to mock up layouts so I could gauge the price there, and it was in line with what the previous posters suggested. In the end, we used Diamond cabinets (a very mid-range brand) because of the contractor we chose; they're not frameless but we're very happy with them. I don't know the specific price because the cabinets got wrapped into the price for all the work, which included a lot of other expenses like moving plumbing on a slab and opening up a load-bearing wall. Bottom line is that cabinets are probably the biggest expense in doing a kitchen, other than labor if you mess about with the layout like we did. By comparison the granite/quartz estimates seemed like a bargain! I don't think I anticipated this when I started contemplating what to do to our kitchen, and like you the numbers sort of shocked me. I spent more time as a result, figuring out a layout that made the costs feel more worthwhile. If you want to see some beautiful galley kitchens, google kitchen reveals by @yesdear and @brooklyngalley and @erhm, among many others including the ones posted above. Oh, and also @marthavila and @histokitch, two of my all-time favorite kitchens irrespective of size. I've linked below a google search for galley kitchen reveals on Gardenweb which should turn up some of the above. Here is a link that might be useful: Search for galley kitchen reveals on GW...See MoreCabinet brands question
Comments (3)Cpartist--totally understand those points. The above brands were what was recommended and I can find little info/reviews on them. This forum has been great in highlighting pros/cons of various brands, but as the major lines that it seems most of the reviews are on were not ones that my KD carries, I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on those I listed. Thanks...See MoreEthics question...or is it?
Comments (53)...I don't know how long it took her to work up this spec sheet with all of the prices because she did it after we left her store but it was very precise and well done so I'm just assuming it took her awhile. I could get prices from a third party as well. And I know I don't have to feel guilty. But honestly it's more than that. The family that owns this plumbing business are just like so many trying to pay their bills and make a profit. I know because we are in business as well. And as I reminded dh today when we need plumbing services..we call them and they are there within hours. That business relationship is not worth fracturing. (Poor sentence but you know what I mean). And we learned a lesson. I won't do that again. I didn't even mean to. I just got caught up in the excitement of actually being able to see the products I had been researching. I do appreciate your pov and thanks for posting it -) now I've got to get two bids from tile/flooring stores here in town. Friends with both owners. Grrr. I can see why none of the builders around here will give a fixed price bid. What a lot of time to put into something and maybe not get the job. ps...I do shop online i.e.; amazon. I don't shop wal-mart. I always shop my local grocery store and buy a daily newspaper despite the fact that it's far, far left and I don't read it...just because I like having our small town to have a daily paper ;-) sorry for getting so far off topic....See Morecaryscott
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