Who I used for our kitchen remodel

I have people ask me who I am using for various aspects of the kitchen remodel. I will put them in a blog post for people who might be interested: 1. General/ Contractor: Tim Madsen. I don't know what to really call him because he is just our "everything guy". He has done several things on our house - remodels, repairs, water damage, plumbing, electrical, etc. You name it, he has probably done it. He does an excellent job. Once he starts the job, he sticks with it until it is done. He pays close attention to detail. We have known him for years and he takes really good care of us. He is a big reason why this job went so fast. 2. Appliances - Mountainland Design. These guys were great. We worked with Kirk and Dave (though everyone there has been very nice) They carry really super high end stuff - like Thermador and Wolf - but they also carry appliances for "normal" people like us - Whirlpool, Kitchenaid, GE, etc. They also said they can often order something if you are looking for a specific model. They only sell products they back. They only work with companies that they feel are reliable who back their products. And, if you end up with a lemon (because they do exist) they will get the problem fixed or give you a new one. They have excellent customer service, had better prices than anyone on the appliances we got (saved us 25% overall above the best prices I could find elsewhere), and were not high-pressure on the sales. FYI - they sold us our appliances at "builder prices" because it was a remodel. I asked if someone could just come buy a single appliance and they said yes, and that if you say I sent you, they could give you a good deal on it. They also have a working showroom where you can try several of the appliances yourself, which was really nice. They have big demos, etc (though I never went to one of those). 3. Cabinets - Chateau Cabinetry - Again - these guys were great. They do custom cabinetry which just means they design it to fit your kitchen and you can basically do anything (within the size you have to work with). Rick is the designer and installer, Kyle is the office manager, I guess. Rick came to our house and came up with the brilliant new design of my kitchen. I felt my brain shift as he gave me new ideas. He had lots of ideas and suggestions that were better than anything I could have come up with. He designed my pantry too. They do bathrooms and entertainment centers, and really any type of cabinetry. They had the cabinets ready on time, installed them well, and when there were any issues, they immediately resolved it (things like a scratch on a door, needing additional shelves, wanting a handle instead of a knob, etc). Their prices were the best of the ones I got bids from, and it includes an allowance for handles, (most didn't) and a lot of things come standard - like full extension drawers. 4. Countertops - Tim Lunt of Lunt Kitchen and Bath - He was recommended by Chateau, and, because they work together a lot, I figured I might as well. Tim was helpful, gave me some good suggestions, explained the difference between the granite and quartz, suggested a sink that I LOVE, and he was on time, thorough, did a great job, and I have no complaints. 5. Appliance Installation - Klint Smith. Mountainland suggested him. It turns out he is the brother of Kirk at Mountainland. When he came out to install our dryer, he was so incredibly nice and so helpful. He could tell I was getting a little upset about the fact that I had just bought a dryer for nothing, and he was just really nice about the whole deal and he even came out the next day, unscheduled, to see if he could help fix the problem. And, he did a great job installing my other appliances too. His company is actually called San Pitch. 6.Flooring - I looked at some local places and I almost bought my flooring from Lumber Liquidators, who offered me a good price. I just wasn't 100% committed to the floor I was looking at there. Then, Tim told me that he was working on a job at the time who used builddirect.com and really liked their floor. So, I went on their site. They send you 5 samples for free. I got the samples and narrowed it down to two, but wanted to see more of that same wood since it had variety in the color and grain. I called them and they sent me 3 more of each kind - for free. I was willing to pay for them. And, the guy in charge of my order, Gary, kept in good contact with me about the status of my order, answered several questions for me, and was very helpful. They held the order for me because I wasn't ready for them to ship it yet (what do you do with 41 boxes of wood if you aren't ready to install it?). The only glitch was that he had put in a tentative order shipment date and went ahead and shipped it before I was ready for it. But, it really was only off by about a week, and it worked out fine because it gave us time to let the wood acclimate before installation. So, it ended up not being a big deal. Plus, Gary apologized over and over for that. He also followed up afterward to make sure we were happy with it and there weren't any problems. A couple of boxes were damaged, and he offered to replace them, or refund that part of our money if we needed him too. But, in the end, only a few boards were damaged, so we didn't bother. Their prices were VERY good, (It was $3-4 less per square foot than similar wood I had seen elsewhere) the order got here in 4 days from the time it was shipped. The quality is excellent, and the floor is beautiful. I had looked at another website (iFloor) and the quality was HORRIBLE. This acacia I bought is really hard wood, and iFloor's sample was lighter than pine and you could scratch the finish with your fingernails. A tip about floor samples - take them and try to beat up on them, drop your keys on them, if you have time, put them in a window with a post it note covering part of it to see if it fades. It helps you know what kind of durability your floor will have. 7. Tile - Dan Bishop - he is someone Tim knows. His company name is something like "Bishop Tile and Stone" Tile was one of the last things I picked, and my heart just wasn't really in it because I was SO tired of making decisions. But, Dan came out and helped me decide what I wanted to do and even offered a suggestion on how to lay it out that I hadn't thought of. They installed it with no problems, and it looks great.

The finished product

I just realized I never posted the final Before and After photos of the kitchen. I posted them on Facebook and then forgot to get on here and post. So, here you go:

I left that last post hanging a little - about our house having a curse on it. In the end, things got all worked out of course. It was a tough week. But, we love our kitchen now. It is a happy, comfortable room, and I am very grateful for the chance we had to do this.