You’re comparing apples and kumquats. Home Depot Crapo to a better quality. And you’re forgetting shipping and handling on everything. Shipped to a freight terminal isn’t to your house. Online isn’t always the best quality wire. $7 cheap hardware turns into a $150 new drawer face for you to buy. Your contractor has had enough and can’t wait to have a rear view. That’s why he already had the dumpster picked up.

It sounds like you're in one of those situations where the house contract was written so as to discourage changes and upgrades. In those instances, sometimes it is best to let the builder put in whatever they were contracted to do and then replace with your preference after you move in. For hardware, $10 per piece wouldn't be unreasonable, and it goes way up from there, so it sounds like a good deal if you like the pieces and they are of reasonable quality.

live_wire_oak, i think dumpster was picked up cuz it was past it's max. I wondered why the charge for dumpster was over $800 until I saw how full and heavy it got with my kitchen cabs and masonry from a massive beehive fireplace and chimney they removed and block for a larger window they put in. He said he was thinking of having the dumpster taken after all the messy work was done-they move pretty fast in general. Then I told him I was wondering if it was too full and if I could put some dirt in it. He said no dirt and was picked up that weekend. :) I think he didn't want any extra fees or overweight fees. They also didn't put the sink in there. still on my front lawn. I wonder if someone will pick it up when it's bulk trash time. I'm not sure if it's recyclable.

As for the hardware, r u saying that cheap hardware won't stay on well or something like that? so then it ends up stripping out of the face? thx!

Belaria, I don't think I was clear. If I buy my own hardware they charge $7 to install. If I purchase hardware through them they install for free. I have no idea what they're hardware costs, but I'm starting to wonder with the other charges.

It's not a new home. It was a remodel. We've been smoothing out walls and painting the whole house, we demoed kitchen, tore out a couple walls, and they tore out kitchen soffit, moved HVAC (which designer missed in bid and we were charged for later), demoed fireplace, 2 windows in a block home, kitchen cab install. They are actually really great as far as allowing us to do the parts we want and they seem to do that often. Oddly the designer said I could use my own electrician to save money and we did and that's another story. So, I get mixed signals when she says something like we can use our electrician who did save us a good $3k and she wanted to charge $6k for one slab of quartz but when I told her I found one at the clearance yard she said that's a great place to save money. Maybe their fees are just high and they are what they are? I've just always heard 25% or so upcharge.

live wire oak, btw, r u referring to shipping butcher block? it said free to home. I'm not sure how hard it is to install butcher block to island. designer has always said it's easier to add work for them later than to subtract so we went with not adding in certain items early on like the doors and now I'm surprised that they'd be more than double Home Depot's labor. Also, they tend to like to buy from home depot so they're not like a super high end designer. I got milgard aluminum windows, which they also said they wanted me to purchase and they said they usually use aluminum, esp for an 8' window. I can't figure them out. I guess their prices r what they are and I need to just decide what I'll have them do and what I won't. Maybe it's a case of everything looks less $ until I sign a contract...-in some ways....? Some of it was already listed as possible add ons.

The problem with picking and choosing which items to DIY without some experience, is that you are going to struggle to properly assign risk and reward.

Cabinet hardware is one of the riskiest DIY jobs. One mistake and you are out a cabinet door.

As for the cost question, what does your contract say about markup?

If you buy the pulls yourself and provide them to the builder to install - how does that shake out? that's what we did - not in an effort to save money but mostly because I was extremely picky on the drawer pulls and wanted to select them myself. I'm sure there was a fee to install them (I sure as heck would not want to attempt that myself!) but I didn't ask for that line item so I have no idea what that was - my guess is that it was a specific charge but rather included in the hourly charge for the carpenters who installed all the cabinetry. (Man, they were impressive with what they could do!)

Belaria, I guess we all have things that I never left, I am. I was willing to spend a lot of money on taking out the fireplace and adding windows or enlarging windows but when it comes to Hardware I'm not sure if expensive Hardware will make me that much happier. I don't see how having the doors and stuff by my contractor for twice the cost will make me $1,000 worth happier. We are stretched right now because with the coronavirus I am not working very much but even if we had tons of money I still would have a hard time with 50 or 100% charges. I'm not sure why I tend to hear that using a general contractor usually cost about 20 or 25% more and mine seems so expensive before now it's so expensive and so pricey for some things. The hardware that I found at Lowe's and Home Depot look fine online but I haven't seen them in real life. They are only a couple of dollars each. I have no idea how much the hardware would cost from the designer. They have no moving parts so that's one item that I wonder if it could truly be that much better. It's metal and I would hope it would last

as long as the cabinets that aren't even real wood as it is

Bry911, there's nothing in my contract regarding markup. They typically are fine with having customers buy their own stuff. It's just their labor is tremendously expensive or something. Depending on the case, I didn't want to know how much every detail of the cabinets were for example. I figure their prices are their prices.

I'm sure I'll have them install the hardware because I could see if messing up didn't go well but I will say that I am nervous to have them install them to since the cabinet guy didn't leave enough room for the stove and they made that mistake not knowing I had a spice rack and when I asked the general about them having put an extra hole in my wood cabinet he said they would fit in nicely. It looks horrible! I'm not making a big deal of it because it is in the back and probably won't be seen because of items in the pantry in the pull-out but I'm not happy about it. I'm not sure if I can use this in any way as leverage for something else or what. I can't imagine them changing out the whole back panel of a custom Pantry just because they cut an extra Outlet hold it doesn't belong there. Any advice on this might be nice too. I might actually start a post on that one :)

Kate E. Hardware cost $7 per pull and $5 per knob if I have them installed what I purchase. If I have them installed what I purchased from them it is free installation. I was looking at pulls that are about $2 each. It seemed too pricey to me. I can't imagine it takes him more than 5 minutes or 3 minutes per handle. Maybe I'm missing something. I think it's more about the potential of them having to buy me a new face if they messed up but they sure did not offer to buy me I knew back to the pantry when they cut a hole in it and they should not have

There’s more to installing pulls than you would think. I watched my contractor measure and mark with small pieces of painters tape, where the holes would be. Then he used a laser level, before making the holes. I have a lot of cabinets, and all my bottoms are drawers. It took him a looong time, and he did not want to be interrupted. I watched for a while, from afar.

One more thing...many very Inexpensive knobs and pulls have zinc for threading, which strips easily. I experienced this in the kitchen of my previous home. It drove me nuts.

“What is the difference between a hollow knob or pull and a solid knob or pull? Does it matter?
A solid knob or pull is a solid piece of metal. It feels heavy and rich. It won’t easily dent or crease. It’s harder to strip because there are threads down the whole depth of the product. A hollow knob or pull will be hollow inside or have a hollow back. It has less metal, so it’s less expensive to manufacture.

For most knob and pull designs, they can be made either solid or hollow, and solid holds up better. Top Knobs mainly makes solid knobs and pulls unless the design intricacies require a zinc formed hollow design, and even then we use a high-grade thicker zinc alloy.“

The pulls in my “now” kitchen are substantial...meaning they’re solid metal (pewter), and fairly heavy in the palm of your hand.

So, two things...your designer and contractor may not be ripping you off, and...sometimes there’s a good reason why spending a little more is worth it.

They typically are fine with having customers buy their own stuff. It's just their labor is tremendously expensive or something. Depending on the case, I didn't want to know how much every detail of the cabinets were for example. I figure their prices are their prices.

It sounds like you are on the back end of a poor front end. If the contract gives the contractor carte blanche to price things at whatever he wants, then it is a poor contract, as there is zero goal alignment there. If you are too far into this contract, and it is legal in your state (which it would not be in several states) then you are going to have to just ride it out and make a hundred little decisions like this. I can't tell you what you should contract out yourself as the entire reason for having a contractor in the first place is to select subs that match the job, so that clients can pay a small fee to have someone knowledgeable select subs.

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I watched my contractor measure and mark with small pieces of painters tape, where the holes would be. Then he used a laser level, before making the holes.

A laser level might work if the floors are level but it could just as easily cause problems. You want pulls that are visually level and not actually level. Your contractor basically used a time consuming way to do something that would have been fast with the right tool.

Grab one of the True Position jigs and it is not a difficult install but that is an expensive jig for a single kitchen install and could wipe away any savings and mistakes are still costly.

I really hate that he was trying to work fast and didn't bother wiping off the front of the cabinets before installing hardware, but you get the idea.

@bry911...oops. I was mis-remembering. My contractor used a laser level on the floors, before shimming the cabinets, not to measure where the pulls went on the doors and drawers. For pull placement, he simply used a ruler, and regular level. Admittedly, that jig saves a lot of time.

While he did not use the nifty contraption shown in your video, he did wipe away the dust residue left from drilling into the wood.

Part of what was so time consuming about my pull install, was that the pulls were handmade, and many of the threaded holes were off “just enough” to require some correction by the contractor. He was not a happy puppy.

Darbuka, thank you for the explanation for that was very helpful!

Bry911, thank you. Are you still saying that it's worth paying them to do it are you saying I should get a jig can do it? Sounds like I will pay them and cross my fingers that their method what works good. I just don't have tons of confidence in their cabinet installer right now and if they ruin a cabinet I'm going to have to insist that they give me a new face instead of catching it after they had already done that to the back side and unnecessary hold a cut in the pantry.

The thing about the contract is these are items that are change orders and weren't put in the contract earlier on. I remembered what she had told me about the $7 charge but it hasn't been in writing anywhere. They just use their own guys. They don't even have to step out. They just pay their guidance hourly wage which I know by talking to one of the guys. They do stuff about Electric and Plumbing and I think that's it which in the beginning I saw as a plus and has its pluses

Ah, I didn't notice the video. That's what I get for walking and houzzing at the same time. I'll check it out. Thank you

Unless you routinely do carpentry and already own the tools needed, I'd let the builder install them. $2/pull is a steal - Heck I thought $5-7 per pull was reasonable!

Kate, what I was saying was if I bought them on my own it would be $2 plus $7 for their installation. I am waiting for options from them still. I'm not sure how much they are Hardware cost. Thank you

I'm pretty handy, and I do a lot around the house - but some things are better left up to the pros. Installing pulls is something I would put in that category. Sure, I could learn on the fly - but I would probably mess up at least one door or drawer front in the process, or end up living with something that is off (because it was my own darn fault). Pulls need to be consistent - I would want someone with a lot of practice to do it for me.

When I remodeled my kitchen, I repurposed all of the cabinets. Some went in my laundry room, and I decided to put pulls on the drawers (never had them before ). Even though I thought I measured everything correctly, I still ended up making 3 holes instead of 2, and the result isn't exactly beautiful. In the laundry room, I am perfectly satisfied with "ugly but effective" - not in my kitchen.

My family did DIY installing kitchen hardware on a new home build and had to fill a few holes. Worth it to have a pro do it.

hopefully the designer can now se some other choices because so far I'm liking the Home Depot ones $2 each better. She says the ones that are sold from Home Depot are not always as comfortable or dorabdurable e but so far I like the looks of them better. I have not ordered anything since they are online. Thank you!