contractor chooses kitchen
20 days ago
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- 20 days ago
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Decision Time - Choosing the Contractor
Comments (11)Hi all - as always great comments from the GWers. Let me hash thru your feedback and see if that changes the "group think" at all. One thing to clarify, the KD is the middle bidder - we would hire him and he would essentially become the general contractor as well as sell us the cabinets. I do admit that the lack of detail from the low bidder is a bit disconcerting. I think, however, its just how they do things. Part of the price is because they are a small firm (2 partners + subs) that do NO advertising. All their work is word-of-mouth referrals and they are not hurting for work (they are currently already scheduling for this summer). They have given me referrals (I have not called any yet) and the architect says that their clients they've referred to these guys have all been thrilled. Since the plans show the two kitchen sinks, they have told me that they are included in the "plumbing to code" line of the bid. As for the second two, it is a a tough call, but $13k difference is nothing to sneeze at especially because the higher bid is higher still becauser we'd have to pay the KD for installation (and unfortunately we've never gotten a number for that, but I assume 10% of the cabinet cost). Our cabinet pricing is right around $30 and including all the trims, crown and end panels is around 72 individual items. Pllog, yes, this is the guy that came up with the piano shaped island (great memory). We ultimately changed the island shape again, but this is him. His experience shows - on Saturday we asked him about changing the doors for the cabinet over the oven since we've decided to put the kitchen TV there. He said, "just leave them off and we'll trim it out to finish it off. Keep the doors if you ever want to go back to a regular cabinet" Since our current TV is out all the time, that made perfect sense but never occurred to us. We were thinking pocket doors or a rollup door. As for the painting, the allowance in the highest bid was only for $2000. Not enough of a difference to matter given the overal scope of the project. Since we'll have time between finished drywall and cabinets, we might do the painting on our own anyway. If we had to choose, all other things being equal it would be to the middle or high bid mainly because of experience with the high bidder (whose contract is plenty detailed - about as detailed as the middle bid) and reputation and relationship with the middle bidder. Part of the appeal of the middle bid is that we think things will go more smoothly (coordination, etc) if one person (acting as GC) is responsible for the entire project. buehl brings up a good point about the relationship with the KD (middle bid). This guy accepts nothing less than perfection, so I don't think we'd have any issues about rocking the boat or making do if we run into problems. While he has known my in-laws for 30+ years its not the type of close relationship that would be damaged if our project were to have issues. My FIL has already offered to see if he could do better on the cabinet pricing saying that we can't really negotiate that with him, but he (FIL) could. As for my relationship with my wife, if anything she's the one that'll play hard ball not me, so no worries there. Ok, so there is more food for thought....how does that change our opinions??? Thanks again....See MoreChoosing Contractor
Comments (3)I agree with blfenton. We're in the "I truly hope" final stages of a major remodel (kitchen,laundry,half-bath, and back dining/family area). While it is dragging on longer than we had hoped, we are blessed with a GC who has stayed on top of it and truly listened to our concerns (and went out of his way to fix them.) Like you, we had lots of our own ideas and some particular design concerns (we're remodeling a "time-capsule" mid-century modern and it is very important to us that we maintain its historic character). We also don't have an unlimited budget :) so having a GC who thought about the financial consequences of design changes has been a real plus. But the best GC can't do their best without constant communication (and as much personal oversight as possible while the work is being done.) We began with a very detailed design plan, but we were amazed how many small details have needed to be decided on the fly once the installation was underway....See MoreHow to choose a contractor?
Comments (16)Yeah, I thought it was an okay article but ... I don't know, I guess I want (and think I have) a different kind of relationship with my GC. It's a tough business/relationship in many ways. There are bad contractors and bad customers. Not a high-frequency transaction so often not much history between customer and vendor. I liked this article: Residential Construction Contracts: Cost Plus Fee, in particular "I want to spend a minute talking about what I think is the single most valuable aspect of the Cost Plus contract – teamwork. The single largest issue I have [with] the competitively bid project is the adversarial environment that is created in which everyone is keeping an eye out for themselves to make sure they aren’t going to get screwed." I do feel like my GC and I are working together to build something and I think he feels that way, too. He's brutally honest and open with me and I with him. It's made the whole process tremendously fun. So much more pleasant than always watching my back, being vigilant against one trying to take advantage of the other. (For what it's worth, I'm not saying T&M/C+ is right for everybody/all the time.)...See MoreChoosing a contractor
Comments (5)I don't understand how you can get quotes since you haven't provided them with the design and materials to bid on. Why are you letting the GC drive your design decisions. You need to provide them with the design and then have them bid on the same design. If there are finishes to be determined those could be noted as either an up to allowance or customer/designer would be furnishing. I don't understand how a contractor could use only Onyx (or any other specific material). Real onyx yes ha ha but I am with you as I don't find the manmade stuff they call onyx to be attractive - there is a very artificial look to it which reminds me of the hideous cultured marble counters I just got rid of. In my experience, the GC generally would engage whatever skilled tradesperson is necessary for the specific task - i.e. tile layer, counter fabricator; electrical and plumbing would be licensed. You would also need to make sure the GC is licensed and insured. Have you seen work he or she has done or gotten personal recommendations?...See More- 20 days ago
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