Help me to understand protocol with kitchen designers
Love stone homes
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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Love stone homes
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Help me understand/pick out shower fixtures
Comments (3)Do a google search on "design a shower system" and words like that. I was really intimidated when we started designing our system, too! I found two or three sites that had great little descriptions and even "wizards" that helped you pick all the right components. Basically you will need one valve that controls the water temperature (that can be a thermostatic or pressure balanced. if you're doing a luxurious shower definitely get thermostatic!) and then you will want a volume control valve (on/off/how much water comes out) for each of the seperate things you have: showerhead, hadnshower, jets. With that configuration you could theoretically have all three on at once, and as studio460 noted, you better be sure you have enough water pressure and volume to handle that, and likely oversized supply lines as well. Another way to handle it is to decide what's likely to be on at the same time. For instance, if you thought you'd have the showerhead on and EITHER the jets or the handshower, you could have a volume control for the shower, and a volume control for the other two, plus a diverter to choose between those two. Keep in mind that MOST companies sell the valves and the "trim" (the actual handle you see) seperately. So for instance you will need the $250+ valve PLUS the ~$175 trim for EACH combination. It can add up really, really fast!...See MoreHelp me understand tile bid-long
Comments (7)Thanks for all the info. We are doing a pretty big remodel, and have worked with an architect for design, materials selection etc... and we have a contractor to oversee the remodel itself. We have a budget, given to our architect and contractor from the beginning. Our contractor handles all the bids as we have no idea how that works. We don't specify how many bids to seek, we leave that to him. And I don't know if the contractor, when he asks for bids, gives specific budget guidelines to the various trades. I'm not a contractor, I have no idea how he chooses the number of bids to seek. We are trying to reduce costs and identified areas where we could potentially do so with the help of our contractor and architect. Tile being one area. In a meeting with our contractor he told us about the issue with handmade tile, how it's more labor intensive to install and by choosing less expensive and non-handmade tile that should help lower the tile bid. I have no idea if he got that from the tile companies he had sent bids to, or knew that himself, but we went with it, and this was confirmed at tile showrooms we went to, so we thought we were addressing not only materials but labor and installation costs as that was what we kept hearing when we asked. Then he re-bid to two of the original companies with our new tile selections. I find it odd that by our trying to lower our costs we come across as fussy and pita clients to a tile installer. Certainly that has to happen a lot, that people have to reassess choices to maintain costs. I also guess that by choosing expensive tile originally we ruined ourselves b/c now the tile companies only see $ and not the job itself. Maybe the tile company we got the bid back from is really busy so didn't feel they needed our job, so they adjusted the materials cost to reflect the new tile, but increased the install costs b/c hey we don't care if we get this job. Goes against everything we were led to believe. At this point I'm feeling deflated....See MoreProtocol of hiring a kitchen designer
Comments (4)One reason I choose the KD/company I did for my own kitchen re-model, was that in the shop, there are three framed "estimates" of costs. They are done by budget. At the low end, it is quite specific about what brands of appliances one can get at this price point, and countertop choices. The medium budget allows more - a bit nicer appliances and nicer countertop. The high end shows using all the brands you were quoted - all very pricey. I loved this! Asking how much a kitchen costs to build or remodel is asking how much an automobile costs. Are you looking at a $13,000 Nissan Versa or Lamborghini that costs $2,000,000? Or perhaps something in-between. But if "in-between", closer to which end of the price range? I read an article a few years ago that said that you will expect a kitchen to be similar to the car you drive. So, if it's that Nissan Versa, the kitchen will be RTA - maybe Ikea; if you drive a $55,000 Audi, it will be upper-mid range; the driver of that Lamborghini will pull out all the stops and have a kitchen that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's always important to NEVER over-build a house or a neighborhood. If most houses in ones neighborhood have standard depth, top-freezer refrigerators, then don't go too far above it. Equally important is ones own budget. I knew I wanted to spend $25,000 on a kitchen remodel, with a $5,000 cushion. I ended up spending $28,500 - electrical was a bit more than expected, plus I had to buy a ridiculously expensive new garbage disposal. To meet this budget, I kept all my existing appliances, only moved the refrigerator, already had hardwood floors, re-used my countertops, and already had pot lights and undercounter lighting (also reused). I ended up with a beautiful kitchen that looks upper mid-range (no SubZero or integrated appliances) which would have made it look high end). When I told my KD my budget, I asked him if it was even remotely realistic and he said it was. He certainly kept his word....See MorePlease Help Me Understand Plumbing in Basement
Comments (3)Sounds like time to call in a professional plumber to check everything out....See MoreDesign Loft Bracebridge
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLove stone homes thanked Design Loft BracebridgeLove stone homes
4 years ago
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