Kitchen / Bath Design  -  Home Renovation  -  Turnkey Approach  -  Hourly Consultations

One of our clients asked if he could write a post for our blog describing his experience with the remodel done by my husband and business partner, Dan, for him and his wife.  This was a kitchen and bath transformation in Emerald Hills in Redwood City.

We were very pleased to accept his offer and couldn’t wait to see what he would have to say.

Below is what he wrote.

__________________

So you need a kitchen remodeling, and in your experience, dealing with the process is worse than a root canal. While kitchen remodeling isn’t entirely simple, it needn’t be traumatic. My wife and I endured it a few years ago, and it wasn’t really so bad—so open wide.

First ask yourself this question.

Are you planning on staying in your home for more than a few years? If the answer is yes, then get the job done right and done well—the first time.

Unless you are in the building trades, and have a lot of time on your hands, forget that do-it-yourself job. That neighbor of yours who is a contractor—the one whose house is in a constant state of disrepair should be a clue to the difficulty of doing it yourself. It’s a lot less painful to hand the job off to someone else. Remember, you’re going to see every little imperfection you build into your kitchen. It’ll bug you forever.

Perhaps the best way to get a job done properly is to hire a kitchen designer first. The kitchen designer who is working for the local branch of your big hardware store might not qualify. A week of training in kitchen design (and a week of sales training) does not make a good designer.

Get an experienced designer who is not affiliated with a store or a contractor. Dan Danenberg, who did my kitchen, works with a group of contractors he trusts to get the job done right, but he is not affiliated with them. This is best. After all, do you go to a restaurant to ask the owner if his food is any good? No, you go to an independent source. A good designer may cost you more initially, but a good hands-on designer like Dan, who is willing to oversee your project, is worth his or her weight in gold. He may save you money and heartache in the future.

During my last, and might I say final kitchen remodel ever, the contractor misplaced the window in the kitchen by a few inches. If I had been in charge, I wouldn’t have known. But because Dan was constantly checking in on the job all the time, the window was moved to the right place, at the contractor’s expense, without anyone even mentioning it to the contractor. He knew he had to do the job right.

Do you want to oversee the job yourself? Probably not.  You don’t just sit back and wait for results. It seems like you could, but I’ve never had any job done in my house or my yard that didn’t offer surprises, and that doesn’t mean that they discovered gold on my property, and found a box of jewelry behind one of the walls.

You want your input known, you want a hand in the design, but do you really want to sit down with the contractor to discuss with him how each cabinet should open? Do you really know what’s best for your needs? A good designer will know what to factor into your job. There will still be unforeseen complications, and delays are usually inevitable, but it’s a good thing to have an advocate on your side. An experienced designer like Dan will move your job along, tell you what you should know, and almost as important, leave you out of the loop if there are some minor hitches. You shouldn’t have to worry that the project is done right.

If you have a contractor you have worked with before, a good designer might be able to work with him. But there are specifics in kitchen (and bath) remodeling which might make it better to work with your designer’s choice of contractors. For instance, most contractors can do tile work, but are they artisans? You’ll like an artisan’s work better, I guarantee it. Do they specialize in “quickie” remodeling? If you are going to do the job but once for the foreseeable future, this contractor may not be the person best suited to building a kitchen that’s more high-end.

Here’s my rule of thumb about designers. If you are a person who usually adds on special features to your automobile—a more powerful engine or special wheels, even a sunroof– look into a designer for your project. It’s well worth the money, and you will probably break even in the long run due to their diligence. Certainly the value and satisfaction in your project is worth that upgrade.

One more caveat, does your brother-in-law have a contractor’s license? Do you like family unity? Skip using friends and family for your project. I like my family and my in-laws. I want to keep it that way.

Kitchen remodeling really doesn’t have to be awful. It’s never easy, but it can be relatively painless with a little help.

If you are located near the San Francisco Peninsula, you certainly can’t go wrong using Danenberg Design.

Frank Criscenti

Emerald Hills, CA