Kitchen remodeling woes

[KimR]

DH and I are beginning the process of remodeling our kitchen. We had budgeted $30,0000 realizing that we'd probably run over a bit but given that the end result is going to be georgous we were ok with that. Well, yesterday we stopped by home depot to match our granite sample against the cabinets and our kitchen designer happened to be there. We have an appt w/ her tomorrow to go over the final design and price, but she let us sneak a peek. It was DOUBLE what her initial estimate had been. I do not understand, I mean it's not like she didn't have enough information going in - the initial estimate was after she had come to my house, measured and I had told her the cabinet style I wanted. How on earth could it have been that far off??!!!

Originally she said the cabinets would be between $7000 and $10000 (probably closer to $10,000) before installation which was very close to what I had anticipated. Her final price is now close to $18,0000 and that is without installation. I know cabinets are expensive but how on earth did it go up that much??!!! She said she added some bells and whistles and maybe we can get it back down a bit. So she added $8,0000 worth of extras???!!!

I was looking forward to meeting with her and getting things moving but now I am dreading our appointment tomorrow. We've already changed our mind on our granite and the new pattern is, of course, more expensive. Everything is running over what we had anticipated and I figured I had allocated a rather generous budget.

I knew we'd go over-budget, that seems to always be the case but this is just ridiculous. I know it can be done for less, I just hate all this dickering. The designer knew our budget going in, I wonder if she's hoping that we aren't married to the budget and she's trying to see how much she can wheedle us into spending. Nope...not going to do this.

Of course DH said if we cancel our upcoming Disney trip then that will pay for the cabinet overage. Silly man!!

 

[maryisme]

Hi Kim

Congratulations on remodeling your kitchen. When we bought our house 10 years ago we ended up having to do a quick redo because we discovered animal poop in the kitchen cabinets. Yuck!!

I just wanted to tell you that I've heard some really bad remodeling stories from people who have used Home Depot to do their kitchen. Now I know all stores are different and hopefully yours is better than our local one. Your sinking alot of money into this project and want the best possible service you could get. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that (hope you don't mind!) but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw you were using Home Depot.

Good luck!

Mary

 

[ValerieK]

Hi Kim

Congratulations on remodeling your kitchen. When we bought our house 10 years ago we ended up having to do a quick redo because we discovered animal poop in the kitchen cabinets. Yuck!!

I just wanted to tell you that I've heard some really bad remodeling stories from people who have used Home Depot to do their kitchen. Now I know all stores are different and hopefully yours is better than our local one. Your sinking alot of money into this project and want the best possible service you could get. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that (hope you don't mind!) but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw you were using Home Depot.

Good luck!

Mary

I am jealous, I would love to have my kitchen redone, but I have all new appliances, so I can't complain too much. I too have heard bad things about Home Depot. I hope yours are better than ours around here.

Good luck and enjoy the results.

 

[SpecialK]

My BIL used to be a kitchen/bath designer with Home Depot. He left there and went to a private company. You may want to check out this option before you contract for anything. More personalized service and usually more experienced personnel. As a side note - when he was at Home Depot his salary was commission based. I don't know if this is still the case, but I'd ask the designer. Might she have a hidden agenda for the "bells and whistles"? Good luck.

 

[Christine]

My friend recently had his kitchen redone. Same budget as yours ($30K). This included new cabinets, granite counter top, high end appliances, changing the whole countertop setup, adding an island, new flooring, moving windows etc. Knowing my friend, his cabinets were top of the line. He went to a private kitchen remodling company. His estimate was his final price. I would run fast from whoever you are using.

 

[KimR]

Wow, what specifically was the problem with home depot if you don't mind my asking? We are only getting our cabinets from there, we are using various other smaller companies for granite, flooring, etc. We aren't even using them for installation...just the cabinets themselves; although now I'm not sure we're even going to do that! My parents had a good experience with Home Depot so I thought I'd made the right choice.

DH has made a call to get an estimate from someone else and they are coming on Saturday. I do hate to start over because I was really hoping to get the design completed and our cabinets on order before we leave for our WDW trip in two weeks, but darn if I'm paying $18,000 for kitchen cabinets.

 

[KimR]

Oh, and what really ticks me off is the time and money we have already wasted! If she had said $18,000 up front I would have immediately gone elsewhere; however I liked her ideas, I liked the cabinet style and finish and the price initially seemed very reasonable. I was happy! Now I've already sunk a non-refundable $60 for them to come out and do a pre-design measure; that money will be lost if I go elsewhere. Not that $60 is a deal breaker; but still that's $60 down the toilet, or another way to look at it: 9 fiesta margaritas for our upcoming trip!

 

[ValerieK]

I have just heard of them doing a terrible job on installation and charging way to much. DH was looking at kitchen cabinets at Home Depot and Lowes and then went to several local companies. No installation, just the cabinet frames. Home Depot and Lowes were the most expensive.

There should be some good kitchen remodeling companies in your area. I would look around.

 

[jx3smom]

We had ours done in October and I LOVE the results but the whole process is a royal pain. We looked at Home Depot and Loews and decided to go with a kitchen place in town. She was right on the money as far as the estimate. The best thing was she coordinated everything. We picked everything out and she did the rest. We got our appliances across the street and the worked together on delivery and all. I posted a few problems when we were going through the renovations but everything worked out the way we wanted and we couldn't be happier.

 

[cybrarian]

How big is your kitchen? We were over at Home Depot recently and saw that they were advertising cabinets for an L shaped 10 x 10 kitchen at about $3000 plus $1,500 for installation. $18,000 seems like alot unless you kitchen is huge.

 

[Hillbeans]

Oh, and what really ticks me off is the time and money we have already wasted! If she had said $18,000 up front I would have immediately gone elsewhere; however I liked her ideas, I liked the cabinet style and finish and the price initially seemed very reasonable. I was happy! Now I've already sunk a non-refundable $60 for them to come out and do a pre-design measure; that money will be lost if I go elsewhere. Not that $60 is a deal breaker; but still that's $60 down the toilet, or another way to look at it: 9 fiesta margaritas for our upcoming trip!

Kim, you know how some salespeople can be...they show you the absolute best and top of the line cabinets and countertops, and then anything less than that seems like a downgrade.

To go over that much in budget is a huge error, one I would not forgive. This person is supposed to be trained to do their job. What if your home appraiser was off $10,000....would you accept that from them?

I'd tell her flat out that she just lost a sale. That is shady business dealings IMO. I know it stinks to start again, but you'll probably be happy you looked around. I've never heard of cabinets costing that much money, and I live in the Northeast where everything is marked up 100%.