Starting a reno, advice please :)

[fryjack2]

We need to replace our kitchen cabinets and I hate the countertops so would replace those as well.  Since we are going to do that, we decided to get quotes to redo the whole kitchen and change the layout and bundle it with a reno of one room (the rec room) in our basement and our living room fireplace.

We had one designer come who gave us a quote for what her design fee would be ( she helps with the design and picking out products and does CAD drawings)  and then she gave us the names of 3 contractors to speak with about doing the work and to ask them for quotes. I thought that's what she did- we hire her for the whole thing. Design and build. 

I know I should get at least two more quotes, but I feel so overwhelmed by where I even start.  Friends have given names of people they have used but they have ghosted or not returned calls or only taking on much bigger projects at this time. 

What am I looking for?  I thought a design and build firm, but now wondering if that's not actually what I should be searching for.  There must be companies that exist that design and take care of the build as well without me having to find contractors? 

If you used a designer, and are open to sharing cost of their services, I'd love to know how the quote we received compares. We are in VHCOL. 

[CrazyLucky]

I am in the middle of a kitchen renovation similar to what you are describing. We moved in three years ago and it started with wanting new countertops. Then the people said that if we ever want to replace the cabinets, we should do it at the same time. It grew from that and at this point it has spiraled to new everything in the kitchen including an island, taking down one wall and a partial wall, redoing the steps and replacing some carpet in another room with hardwood. For us, this was the first time doing a big renovation, and it has not been a fun time. We just went through a general contractor and they had a designer. This contractor was highly recommended. Why? I don't know.

Here are a few things I will try to remember if I ever do this again, which I pray I won't.
-When you get the quote, get a good understanding of what materials are included. Ours included "semi-custom" cabinets that only allowed a very few choices of color and door type. The flooring was $5/sq ft, which we couldn't find one single flooring at that low of a price.
-Try to get some timing in writing. One reason we went with them is because they said it would be 4-6 weeks from deposit to start of construction. It was 18 weeks. They originally said the job was 3.5 weeks of work. I pushed for a schedule and the one they gave us was 9.5 weeks. We will start week 5 tomorrow and are already 1.5 weeks behind.
- Ask about things like other utilities. They had to reroute the water and HVAC, which has resulted in decreased water pressure in our bathroom and our bedroom now being the hottest room in the house.
- make sure they put up a lot of plastic or some other barrier before starting demo. Our entire house was dust, to the point that DD woke up one night struggling to breathe for about 15 minutes. Scary! The doctor said the dust has inflamed her larynx.

We've had other frustrations too. We're on hold right now because they ran out of the tile and had to order more. I'm like, "Hey, DD is in advanced math, maybe they should run their calculations by her next time." I could write a book.

Good luck to you!!

[dixiedeb]

Hello there!

A design-and-build firm is the term that I have heard used for a company that provides both design and general contracting services.

We went through an extensive renovation of our home 1.5 years ago. We hired an interior designer to handle the design services and, separately, a general contractor to handle the renovations themselves. Our designer gave us a list of recommended contractors, many of whom were not interested in our project for various reasons. Thankfully, we ended up connecting with one of the contractors she did recommend, although we also interviewed several other contractors recommended by friends. Finding a good contractor was the most stressful aspect of the renovation for me. I feel so fortunate that we ended up loving both our designer and general contractor.

I would be happy to discuss the cost of the design services if you send me a private message [we are in a HCOL area too]. We went with a fixed fee for the upfront design services, along with hourly fees during the construction phase. I will say that our designer and general contractor worked well together, and the designer provided support until the project (including construction) was complete.

[mrsukyankee]

It probably works differently in England. We went to a kitchen design store (well, 5 of them). They designed the kitchens based on our measurements/layout (just to get an idea rather than finalising design). Once we selected the kitchen we wanted, they suggested their own installer, who came and measured properly and who installed the whole kitchen. That was much better than the time before when we had someone else install the kitchen that we picked up from a kitchen design store (the guys were doing the rest of the house too and it was okay - they just weren't as specialised in installing kitchens as the guy who did it all the time, and who really made sure things were perfect).

[whitemerlot]

I'm in the same place as you are. We live in the Minneapolis area, so more of a moderate cost of living and had a design and build company out. We have seen a lot of their work over the years on home tours. We are looking at a full kitchen reno and adding a bathroom in our basement and updating the laundry room.

These are the numbers we were given.

Kitchen Design Fee: $5000
Bathroom Design Fee: $2500
$1000 discount on design to do both at once.

Cost for kitchen $120,000-$150,000 (does not include appliances)
Cost for bathroom/laundry $45,000-$65,000

Timeline wise, we were told if we sign soon, we will have the project done at the beginning of next summer.

Our one thing is we have some other projects to do at the same time. New doors, new windows in the living room, hardwoods in the living room, new flooring in the half bath to match the kitchen, etc. We were planning on $180,000 but are now looking at a HELOC or something to do the whole project and are kind of stuck. 

[libbygrl109]

We used a design and build firm for our kitchen reno 2 years ago. The total included all materials (except appliances and flooring - we did some work to our hardwood floors, which was out of the scope of what they did), electrical, plumbing and labor. Our designer acted as the project manager. We had the same crew come everyday until there was a natural break in work (there was a couple of weeks gap between the countertop templating and delivery).

Since we signed on towards the end of COVID, there was still a bit of a delay between when we signed our contract (April) and when we started (the following January). Once they started, everything was completed within 3 months.

Be sure that when you get a design that you see the size of the cabinets in person. My biggest regret was not doing that, and we now have cabinets that are smaller than we were envisioning. They’re usable, but not how I had planned for them to be.