Dumb Dumb Dumb (aka Uncharacteristic Carelessness)

Biggest home repair fail yet...

Context first - I have been meaning to repair this poor drywall installation/missing drywall in my spare room for a while. I decided to take a stab at it this weekend while the room was vacated. The primary motivation is to make sure there is drywall along the bottom of the wall so I can install baseboards. [I've already installed baseboards in my room, but will have to blog about that later.]

A section of drywall had been replaced by a previous owner, but it was cracking between the pieces because he/she didn't use drywall tape (see picture above). I cut out the piece of drywall between the poorly-installed one and the access panel to the bathtub plumbing so I could replace the whole section with one piece.

The continuous piece includes a section below the tub pipes so I can install a single piece of baseboard along that wall. I'm planning to replace the plywood access panel with a drywall access

 

While I had the wall open, I decided to insulate my hot water pipes some foam pipe insulation. There's a lot going on in the wall, so I had to cut some of the insulation to fit around the drain pipes. The insulation seemed snug enough and there appeared to be enough space for the drywall.

Black foam insulation along one vertical pipe and top horizontal hot water pipe

After measuring for the new drywall piece, I got to cutting. Luckily, one of my coworkers had some extra drywall that he gifted to me (Thanks, Doug!), so I had a full piece of drywall to work with. All of the scraps I had around were shorter than the 54ish inches that I needed.

I also needed to cut out a hole for the electrical socket, so my utility knife got a lot of use. So far so good. I started to screw it in and it fit! I was a little nervous about that because of the added pipe insulation. Just a few more screws and then I'd be ready for the hard part... drywall tape and mudding. And then I did something really really stupid.

I drilled right into a pipe... yep, I could hear water spewing. However, at first it sounded like air, so removed the screw and water went everywhere. You should have seen how fast I darted down 2 flights of stairs to my water main to turn it off!

uhoh

The worst part is I even had a gut instinct right before that screw that told me "check the pictures you took of inside of the wall"... but did I? No. I didn't. Like I said... really really stupid.

I called Roto-Rooter for some emergency plumbing and Lee came to fix it for me for $250. He also showed me how to fix a section of pipe while he was doing it and we were chatting. [Guess who needs a pipe cutter and solder! :)] He was really entertaining. I learned all about his family and a ton about his past history. He made the experience so much better. He could have said, "you should have called someone else to do this type of work," but instead he was very encouraging about all of the work I put into the house. He said homeowners need to know a lot more about their homes so they don't get "taken" (and proceeded to tell me a long story about a horrible contractor and a nice elderly woman). He applauded my independence. His parting words were "Miss Laura, keep on drilling" to which I replied "...in the right places."

Sometimes DIY isn't easier on the wallet, but it's humbling and character-building, right? Maybe I'll even learn to listen to my gut instincts... and that would be priceless.

HVAC Selection, Negotiation, and Installation

Kelli had her HVAC system installed yesterday! Here's post 3 of 3 about her HVAC experiences.

After my first bad experience with a contractor, I knew there was more work to be done. Over the course of a week, I had FOUR companies total come to my house and provide me with free estimates. During this time, I had to turn off my A/C two more times to get the ice to melt and get the fan in the air handler back running again - but it would probably would have been more frequent if the weather was warmer.

I found all the companies on Angie's List but ended up selecting the one which was also suggested by a colleague of mine.  They were willing to meet with me at 4 pm, 5 pm, and 8 am, which was helpful in flexing my work schedule. Out of the four companies, I had a large range of suggestions, ideas, and opinions about small details.  Most of them agreed that my price range ($6000-$8000, though less would be nice) and the qualities I was looking for (long lasting, value, cleanliness, etc) meant I should get a 13 SEER, 14-15 SEER, or 16 SEER.  SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating.  The unit on my house was probably a 10 or 12 SEER, which you can't even buy any more, because that's where the technology was 9 years ago. If I purchased a 15 SEER model or higher, I was eligible for an energy rebate from my energy company ($200).  Of course, that doesn't make up for the $800-$1000 difference in price for the higher SEER! I also heard from the various companies that it doesn't really matter what brand you purchase, but that the most important day in the life of your HVAC system is the day it is installed!  Basically, this means that you can purchase an awesome system (they make up to 24 SEER which costs about Retail Price $30,000 to buy and install) but if it isn't put in right, you don't get the energy efficiency out of it that you could. My dad told me that anything over 16 SEER isn't worth the increase in money in terms of what I would save on my utilities bill.

I heard several conflicting things from these various companies, which I still haven't figured out:

• I could have larger duct work on my return air ducts vs. They are fine as is
• The reason my roommate's room is a little hotter is because a return air duct is sitting on top of the duct going to her room vs. It's just that she gets the most sun on her room
• I need a model with a variable speed fan because I am using one system for a two-story house, vs. There are other models which have different fans which also work vs. I don't need it at all
• I need a media filter or UV light in my new system to help the system stay clean and improve my indoor air quality vs. I don't need that at all
• I should put the $1 filters (see first blog post) in my return air units or remove them altogether if I get a media filter vs. Keep doing what I am doing already, which is use the mid-grade filter and don't put anything else in my system

I heard several things which were consistent:

• The duct work is in good shape and can be re-used. It was well-sealed the first time it was installed
• I have a medium-quality insulation in my attic which is great, and it is deep enough and looks great
• Don't change the thermostat setting a lot on my heat pump (so, a programmable thermostat is only so useful) because its easier/more efficient for a heat pump to maintain the same temperature than try to bump it up or down 2 degrees on a regular basis. Definitely don't want to change it more than 2 degrees at a time, especially in the winter because that causes the emergency heat to kick on
• If I want a media filter or a UV light, the time to put it in is when it gets installed, not later
• Most brands of heat pumps and air handlers are the same and have similar warranties so it doesn't matter much which one you pick. Each company has ones it uses the most and recommends, and may have trained their employees on installing that system the best. 

Out of the four companies, I picked the Project Manager who took measurements and did a load calculation, who explained a few things I could do myself around my house to make the system run better (ie. consider a fan in my kitchen since it gets warm when using the oven, and who gave me a sales pitch while accepting that I needed time to do my research about the products and the price.  The Project Manager even talked to my dad and answered some of his questions, and my dad negotiated him down another $500 from the price he had given me. (Yes, I recognize this is a very GenY/Millennial thing to do and I am okay with it!)  Which means he gave me my unit plus a filter he recommended for about 17% off the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. Considering he gets the unit wholesale for about 40% of the MSRP and then has to pay staff to install it and still make a profit -- well, it could have been a little lower, but they "included" a new thermostat (worth about $200), they have some great guarantees on the installation (parts and labor for the first 5 years if anything goes wrong) and a few other guarantees which I am essentially paying for now. One of the more frustrating pieces of this entire process was that no company provided me with all the information I (and my dad) wanted about exactly what was going to be installed and what the scope of work would be. We had to send the Project Manager a big document with what we thought we were getting (which my dad put together) so he could confirm or change it -- which he did!

I was able to get my system installed the next day, because they are a bit slow given the cooler weather. Three workers and the Project Manager showed up at 8:30 am. They put down drop cloths, I paid the bill, checked in the with Project Manager, and showed them the attic. By 2 pm the system was up and running and being tested to make sure it was working properly!

Here are some pictures of the process:

Old air handler with
the door removed

New Air Handler

New outdoor heat pump on a new concrete slab
about 8 inches taller than the last one!

Old heat pump, pan, and old air
handler in the driveway for discard

New thermostat (on a wall that will get paint touch-up)

There were 3 small snafus: (1) the air handler wasn't the right size because of the beams in my attic. They had to switch it out, with one person driving a half hour each way to get a new one that would keep my SEER rating and (2) because of the tight space in my attic, I wasn't able to get the Micro Power Guard filter for the system. They are still working out exactly what they will install for me since I wanted this and it can't be done in the space. (3) They were going to give me some new filters for my return air handlers but the Project Manager measured wrong and gave me 16x20 instead of 14x20.  Needless to say, I guess these things don't all work out exactly like you plan for them to! I'm sitting in my cool house, waiting for my final instructions, summary, and next steps to resolve these small things. The only other remaining step is to make sure my rebate gets filed and be here when the County inspector comes to check it and make sure it was done right, which I'm sure will happen in a few business days.

Determining the Problem with My HVAC System

Blog post 2 of 3 from guest blogger, Kelli.

As my previous post indicated, I'm having an issue with my home's HVAC system.  I first knew there was a problem back in April when I had people over and the house wouldn't cool down one evening (it got about 5 degrees higher than what I set it at). I turned it off and back on the next morning, and didn't think of it again until Memorial Day weekend when the same thing happened. When I pushed my thermostat down a notch, I could hear the outside unit kick on, but the indoor fan didn't make any noise. This same thing has happened three more times since then, but I've been lucky that it hasn't been as hot as usual for June in the South.

After I called my dad to ask him what could be wrong, he encouraged me to climb into the upper attic, which is where my air handler is located.  I immediately found a frozen pipe attached to the air handler, which is definitely a problem.   My system was freezing up, so when I turned it off (and its hot outside), the ice melted and it worked again. I did some googling and figured out this definitely means I had a leak of refrigerant which is why it was getting too cold.

I looked on Angie's List for a company who had a coupon for a maintenance and cleaning coupon - $89 for a Precision Tune-up and Professional Cleaning for your A/C system for only $89! This service includes up to 2 lbs of refrigerant and is normally priced at $327, saving Angie's List members $73%! (for new customer only). I was heading out of town for the week so unfortunately it was a week before they came out to my house. Within 20 minutes, they told me that I had a leak, that it wasn't worth fixing it ($200 for detecting where the leak is, 9 out of 10 leaks are in the compressor which costs $1800-2000 to replace, and $300-$600 worth of refrigerant to replace what was missing because the EPA had drastically reduced supply of R-22 available since it is so bad for the environment).  They were pretty quick to tell me what the problem was and suggest a new system, and very fast to recommend someone to come take a look at what I need. They "only" charged me $45 for coming out to my house that day so my coupon was irrelevant. I scheduled an appointment for the next day with their "Project Manager" aka their Sales guy.

In the meantime, I quickly realized I knew nothing about how much this would cost or what I was even getting into.  I looked online and the Air Conditioning Contractors of America was helpful at understanding the scope of the work needed to be done. The site does a good job explaining the supply of R-22, the switch to R-410A in all new systems, and helped me think through the questions to ask a contractor. From their site, I was also able to search an incentives database (connected to DSIRE, a database from the US Department of Energy) and find out that while I will not get any rebates on my federal taxes for putting in an energy efficient system like I would have in 2011, I DO get a $200 rebate from my energy company if I put in a 15 SEER system or higher (more on this later).  I double checked the info about taxes with my accountant.  There ARE some discounts but they are currently for solar energy and geothermal heat pumps (read: expensive).  I also really liked Energy Star's website from the EPA and found their Contractor Bid Comparison Sheet to be VERY helpful as I started to get bids for a new system.

After this research, I realized I was probably going to want more than one quote. I went back to Angie's List, which now has over 1 million members who write reviews about various corporations. I've used it several times as a homeowner and when I was considering a new vet and a new dentist. You've probably seen some of their relatively low-budget ads on TV since they recently went public. I do like them, but it feels arbitrary as to why some companies have many so many reports and others have none. I also went to colleagues at work and asked as many people for references of good companies, and I cross referenced those with Angie's List. I ended up getting 4 quotes total, as I disregarded the first one - and you'll quickly see why.

When I met with the first contractor who I found from Angie's List (who had about 50 reviews with an A rating), I figured out how they have SO many ratings - not only does this company give a discount for Angie's List members, they told me (1) a good review was written in as part of my price negotiation process, and (2) I shouldn't put EXACTLY what I paid for my system on Angie's List but instead inflate it by $1000. What's funny is that their reviews sound a lot like my experience - "I called because I thought i had a problem, they told me I did and suggested a new system, the project manager came right away and got me all squared away."  Well, this company's Project Manager was extremely pushy and wanted me to make a decision immediately. I had to tell him 3 times that I wasn't going to agree to a price and schedule installation that night before he would leave my house. He told me all sorts of personal information as he tried to convince me that his company was the best, and even tried to explain that I should sign an agreement so he doesn't have to come back out to my house. Once I got him out of my house and talked to other companies over the next week, I realized a few problems with his quote:

-He didn't do a load calculation - didn't do ANY calculation! He should have measured my house, my windows, my duct work, and taken many notes - which he didn't really do. He basically said my old system was the right size for my house, without taking any of his own measurements. The industry calls this a "Manual J" load calculation which is recommended. Other contractors took many measurements (in varying amounts) and taught me a lot about my system -- ie. my return air ducts are 12 inches wide and could be larger, but work fine as they are.
-Didn't look at my circuit breaker for my house or my thermostat to know if either of those needed to change with a new system using different wattage. All three other contractors went to look at my circuit breaker for the house in my garage and showed me what they were looking for.
-Wanted me to sign something scratched out on paper, without even giving me the model number of the unit - and when I asked for it, he texted it to me with a typo so I couldn't even find it! Other contractors wrote down model numbers and pricing, either in email or on paper.

sketchy... in more ways than 1

This first project manager then called me the next day, didn't answer my email which I did want him to answer, sent me 26 texts, and has called or emailed me every other day since then.  Needless to say, I will not be selecting that company, and I do plan on writing an appropriate review of the work they did.

HVAC drama

This post is brought to you by my friend, Kelli, a homeowner in the state to the south :) This is her first of 3 blog posts about her learning experiences with HVAC systems. This is useful information that I wouldn't have been able to share with you b/c I have a furnace/AC set-up, which Kelli describes below.

In the past few weeks, I've discovered that I have severely neglected one of the largest and most expensive parts of my home - my HVAC system, made of a heat pump and an air handler, or what is called a split system. For those of you who don't know, a heat pump is a machine that heats your house in the winter and cools it in the summer.  The air is pushed through the ducts and through an air handler, which cools or heats the air as it goes over a compressor coil ( aka the big expensive part). (Some of you may have furnaces which run on gas - you'd know this because you get a separate bill for gas from your electric bill. You also were probably warned about it from your home inspector.)

As a new home owner, I sort of knew I was supposed to change the filters in my house - I knew these were done when I moved in - but had no idea that otherwise my system needed to be inspected twice per year by HVAC specialists! In part, I didn't know this because my dad is my go-to handyman and he takes care of a lot of that stuff himself, and we never talked about it. Even when my sister mentioned having her system inspected recently, it just didn't click that I needed to do that, too! Silly me.

Two questions for you homeowners:
1) When is the last time you had someone provide regular maintenance and cleaning of your HVAC system? If you don't remember, schedule a tune up! Its much like getting an oil change on your car in terms of preventative maintenance! I haven't done this at all in my house and have no idea when it was done last, and now I have a leak in my system which could have been prevented or detected earlier if I'd had the "check up" done. More on that in a later post!
2)  When is the last time you changed your air filters in your return air handlers? (Most people have these unless they have a fancy filter like a media filter or an electrostatic filter inside/connected to their air handler - which requires some different maintenance.) It's recommended that you change these monthly or bimonthly so you keep good indoor air quality that you're breathing in, and you keep dust and other particles out of the HVAC system so it stays clean!

Here's what my air filters looked like after (gasp!) a year of not being changed:

What once was white...

It was super easy for me to change them. I went to Lowe's since it is right next door and bought 2 for $16 total. I purchased the mid-grade of filters (not the $1 ones but not the $16 each ones either) which have a semi-pleated look. My dad suggested that size, and the contractors I've spoken to says its the best plan. The $16 ones don't really do much more than the $8 ones (even though they claim to help with allergies) but instead can actually limit the air circulating through your house and make it work harder. The $1 do help, but don't filter out the smaller particles that the mid-range ones can catch. One contractor I've spoken to says buy these in bulk and change them monthly to help keep your system working well. Others say every 2 months or even every 3 months.  My return air handlers and my vents are all on the ceilings, which is good news in that dust and dog hair don't get as easily into those systems as if they were on the floor. Just a few things to keep in mind.

Whomp Whomp Take 2

Darn this house and its water issues that cost lots of money. My roof is drippy. I need to get it replaced before it gets snowy. I suppose it's an ok thing that I procrastinated on putting more insulation in my attic after doing the foam insulation because I was able to discover the leak before it damaged my ceilings. I heard the water dripping against the foam, which I wouldn't have heard with other insulation (cellulose or fiberglass).

So my next project will be hiring someone to replace the plywood and shingles for my roof. I need to meet my neighbors who just moved into the other 1/2 of the duplex to see if they are having similar issues so we can get it done at the same time.  Half roofs can be done, but getting it all done would probably be better.

Then, I'll get to add more insulation to my attic like I've needed to for a while.

In other news, I got nail guns today. Another step in the direction of new baseboards!

The joys of living attached

I live in a side-by-side duplex, which makes my place an "attached" house/dwelling. For months the other 1/2 of the duplex has been unoccupied. The owners decided they would try to sell it and the renters moved out. I didn't notice much difference because normally I can only hear people in the other side going up and down the stairs.
I'm not sure if the house has been sold or not (pesky bad housing market), but for the past week or two, people have been renovating the home during the daytime. I only knew this because there was a bathtub in the front yard one evening, and more recently, I have seen the people wrapping up their days' work around the time I get home.

I was teleworking yesterday and all day they were making a racket. I was fairly certain it was the same racket I made 2 years prior... sure enough they were sanding the floors. Luckily for me, no one was living in that half when I was sanding floors since a large amount of my sanding was done while burning the midnight oil. (btw- I'm just using the expression. I know my house was a disaster, so I feel compelled to clarify that I did, in fact, have electricity).

I came home last night to a familiar potent scent that must have permeated through the fire wall. Oh joys!

This is a PSA to be careful when using sealant because if I was able to smell it strongly through cinder blocks, it's evident that it's extremely potent!

Bluetape punch list

Earlier in the week that my contractors actually finished my kitchen, they informed me that they would be done with my kitchen on that Thursday. On Wednesday I made my final punch list for them to make sure that everything got done. The punch list wasn't a list on paper though. I wrote directly on blue painters tape and put it exactly at the area they needed to fix. [Note - this tip is only useful if you do not have walls and cabinets painted blue tape blue. And to follow that, another tip... don't paint your walls and cabinets blue tape blue :) hehe, just kidding. If you do, use tan masking tape.]

I have posted some pictures of my "on tape punch list." All of  my items got done, so I'd claim it to be a successful tactic.

"needs grout"

"make flush" (the fridge was not in the right place)

no explanation needed... just an arrow to show the crappy job

"caulk"

Great luck getting appliances (eventually)!

Picking appliances was THE HARDEST thing I had to do when I was picking things for my kitchen. There are so many types! There are so many brands! They're expensive!

I browsed the web, checked consumer reports, and went to stores trying to figure out what appliances I wanted to buy. I wanted to get all of the same brand because then all of the handles would match. It seemed like the best options for all black appliances would be to get the GE profile series. My contractors were able to get a pretty good discount through one of the vendors they know, so I just needed to decide which ones to buy (i.e. 5 burner stove vs 4?). I swung by a Bray and Scarff store because I was told they carried the brand. They had some of the products in stock, but it was still really difficult to decide.

Well, I ended up getting REALLY lucky. I was given tickets to a home and garden show, so one of my friends and I went. There ended up being a Bray and Scarff booth there and I noticed they had displayed a GE profile dishwasher, so I wanted to show her the handles so that I could show her my ideas for cabinet pulls later. The manager of one of the stores, being the sales person that he is, asked me if I could use some help and I mentioned I was interested in the GE profile appliances. He proceeded to tell me about the deal that they were running (yeah, yeah... I know that sounds like a "sale line" but this post proves that it is worth hearing them out). I already knew that GE was having a $500 rebate on 4 GE profile appliances - and I needed (1) oven, (2) fridge, (3) dishwasher, (4) microwave - so that didn't impress me much. Then he told me that Bray and Scarff was doing their own $500 rebate... he got my attention. $1,000 rebate sounds good... but would it just end up being a wash with the prices that I already had been quoted? I kept listening... "AND if you make put down a deposit today you'll get the deal that we're offering until 6pm tonight of 20% off." (I know what you're thinking... "sales people, they always have a 'limited time only' deal to force you to make a decision." Keep reading). He continued with "the deposit is 100% refundable." No catches?! Wow! He also told me that most of the delivery costs would be refunded through a rebate. Seriously. It gets better though... We started to pick out the potential appliances I would like and he gave me price quotes right there on the spot... and he took off even more than the 20%!!!

Being the cautious person I am, I was racking my brain for a reason not to put a deposit down that day. The only thing I was concerned about at that point was that I wasn't quite sure what dishwasher and oven I wanted. The manager continued to assuage by fears and said that I didn't have to make the decision that day. He just needed the 10% deposit (that was entirely refundable if for some reason I didn't want an awesome deal) and that I could tell him my final decisions when he ordered them.

Ok the post is getting pretty long, but here are the bullet points of the rest of the reasons this manager at Bray and Scarff is amazing:

1. He called me to let me know about the upgraded oven that I could get for the same price as a different one he had quoted me. I got a convection oven! Fancy!
2. When I didn't get my receipts in the mail in enough time to do the rebates before I left for vacation he did them for me. Let me say that again, he filled out my rebate forms for me! I mean, THAT is customer service. It was probably a mistake on their part that the receipts hadn't been sent earlier, but he made up for it 150%. And I have already gotten all of my rebate money.
3. The handle of the oven has a slight defect and they're ordering a new one for me and will set up a time for it to be replaced when it gets in.

It's refreshing to work with someone who goes out of their way to help. Readers in the DC metro area, contact me for information about this Bray and Scarff store\sales person.

Be the obnoxious homeowner

As my contractors were doing the kitchen there were things that I wondered about, but just assumed would be fixed by the end. For instance, when I first saw the floor tiling job, I thought that the tiles seemed a little uneven. At that moment I should have pointed it out and said, "I hope you plan to make those flush." Well, I didn't and they didn't. Many people probably wouldn't notice or care, but as a person who doesn't like to wear shoes, I can feel the unevenness of my kitchen tiles when I walk across them.

Tips: Pay attention to the details, ask questions, insist that everything is done just as you want.

Want to remodel? plan plan plan!

It's no surprise that remodeling a kitchen is a huge undertaking, even if you are not doing the work yourself. And it's all the more important if you are not doing the work yourself to plan plan plan.

Beginning was easy for me... I had a general vision of what I wanted, but a lot of it was hypothetical. I knew I wanted to partially open up the wall between the dining room and the kitchen if I could - (see there's a hypothetical). I also knew I wanted the kitchen to still look traditional to match the house, which was built in the 50s. I also knew I liked the look of raised panels as opposed to flat cabinets. I also like glazed cabinets, which tend to cost more, but I like that it gives them more depth.
It seems like I already had a lot planned, but those are only a few of the details you need to figure out for kitchen planning.


I received solicited and unsolicited advice about what what I should do with the kitchen. I liked listening to people's ideas. I'm the type of person who will listen to a lot of options and quickly weigh pros and cons in order to make my decision. I also know when I've made my final decision and am very careful to be clear about when I'm still in the "decision making process" and when I've made my final decision. Word of advice - If you don't want unsolicited advice, just politely let your friends know that it's something you would like to do yourself. However, I encourage you to use your resources... I asked certain people pointed questions (i.e. about brands of appliances that they have) and that's extremely useful to limit choices. But remember, the final decision is yours.

Anyway, I had the "privilege" of my kitchen already being partially demolished, so it was more simple to uncover obstacles. For instance, since I didn't have any cabinets it was fairly simple to use my crowbar, hammer, and studfinder with electricity alert (safety first) to find out what was behind the kitchen wall. Low and behold, the exact spot that I would like to open up the wall had duct work and plumbing. There were 33 inches of space near the exterior wall and about 24 inches near the doorway that didn't have ducts or plumbing. Tricky.

I used that information to go to Home Depot to come up with a kitchen design that would maximize storage space, but allow for natural light to come in from the dining room. Here are what my plans became (note - they're slightly different than the final product b/c I figured out an option that would be cheaper and would create more space)

These are only a couple of the views of the Home Depot design. I recommend doing this part of the process with Home Depot, Lowes, or some cabinet-maker either with your contractor or even before finding a contractor... just don't leave it up to your contractor to do alone. This way you can pick the cabinets you like and start to match appliances, tile, counter tops, paint, etc. 

So do a lot of measurements  and plan (1) design, (2) color scheme, and (3) appliances - type and size.

If you are unsure about plumbing, electrical, or gas be sure to discuss with a contractor before buying any items.

Picking a contractor and a picture as requested

I had to take a couple of deep breaths before beginning this post. First I'll say that on the surface my kitchen looks great (and it's a drastic improvement from what it was... not that that was much of a feat). But I needed to take deep breaths because the process of getting it from

that

to this

was a frustrating challenge. 

Picking a contractor - It's best to go with recommendations from others. I had a couple of recommended contractors come to my place to see the kitchen, to get basic cost estimates, and to get a feeling about them. The first thing I learned is that contractors are unlikely to give cost estimates on an initial visit... and for good reason. They don't yet know the homeowners and their tastes. There are some people who have extremely expensive tastes so an estimate for them is very different than for a thrifty person. Soon I'll be doing a post on "planning for a remodel" that will contain a list of things to price out, but when you meet with a contractor, I recommend at least getting an estimate on the labor costs. More on that in a later post.

Even though they were recommended, some of the contractors just rubbed me the wrong way. There was something that set off an internal alarm that screamed "No. Don't hire them." Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with the contractors I ended up hiring. When I first met them, I had a pretty good feeling about them. They had been recommended to me by a friend whose friend had their kitchen redone. The friend of a friend was pleased with their work. Maybe the contractors did a better job on that kitchen, but it's also possible that their standard for "acceptable" is different than mine. So my second recommendation is get a recommendation from someone you know whose kitchen you can physically go into and look around to ensure quality work was done. It might not ensure quality work on your kitchen, but it's a start. (I'm not going to get into the young, single female discrimination possibility in these posts; even though it hovers in my mind, I have no proof).

Working with contractor

Quality is very important, but another problem with my contractors is that I didn't feel like they listened to me much of the time. It's really hard to gauge what a working relationship will be like with a specific contractor until you actually get started on the project. I suggest you take at least one of my two recommendations about working with contractors:

1. If you start to have issues with them later in the process... drop them! The scenario: I told the contractors about my design preferences so they could start working with the cabinet guy to design my kitchen. They came back to me with 3 designs later and they were not what I was looking for. I sat down with them again to go over ideas and the next set of designs were also missing key components. RED FLAG. They hadn't listened to me. (Which proved to be a continual problem in the process. Later, I even tried to compensate for their lack of listening by repeating myself multiple times AND putting it in writing... It didn't help.) The end of this scenario is that I went to the cabinet guy and did the design work with him myself. And unfortunately, I ignored the red flag; I felt bad since they had put in time starting the design process (albeit, unsuccessfully due to their lack of listening... I shouldn't have felt bad a/b not having them do the work) and I didn't want to delay the time-line and would have only had a couple of weeks to find a good, new contractor (I know now that it would have been better to forget the time-line and find someone who will listen to you). I hadn't signed a contract at that point so I had no obligation to them. Also, make sure the contract you sign is specific (i.e. costs per task) and that there is some way for you to get out of it prior to the end of completion if you are not satisfied with their work (i.e. some sort of prorate by task payment and reevaluation).
2. Micromanage. When there are warning signs that they are not listening to you or doing quality work, start to micromanage. Give them lists of what you want done and make it clear they will have to redo it if it doesn't suit you. Inspect every step of everything they do. Be a hard-ass and be specific. I didn't do this for 3 reasons: I hadn't planned enough (Plugging my future post again b/c planning is really important), I trusted the contractors to know better than me (however, "knowing" isn't the same as "caring") and assumed the final product would have all things fixed that I thought were wrong along the way, and I was on vacation for part of the remodel. I don't regret taking vacation when the remodel was going on because there can be a decent amount of dust and if I'm going to eat out all of the time, I would prefer to do it away... I mainly regret not getting competent contractors. 

This post has the potential of getting entirely too long, but now you see why I said I'm doing a series of posts about the kitchen remodel process.