Tips for Kitchen Remodeling From Contractors Point
Of View
 | | Remove all your dishes, silverware, food, spices, and cookware. Put them somewhere | | | far away from the remodel so the kitchen contractors can get to work.
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| | If your pets have food or water bowls in the kitchen, move them elsewhere at least | | | seven to ten days before the renovation begins so that your pets will not wander into
the area once the work starts.
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| | Remember that your kitchen contractors are not your baby or pet sitters. Pets and | | | children are your responsibility. If the contractor has to look around for them every
time he is working or leaving through the door, your kitchen remodel will take much
longer to complete.
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| | Remember to designate a bathroom for the contractors. You don't want to have them | | | wander around the house looking for one, and ending up in your very nice (or
messy) other bathroom.
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| | If you are building new walls, big pieces of drywall will have to be brought in. Some | | | of the cabinets are big too, same goes for appliances. Look around your house,for the
best to move them in to your kitchen: front door, back door or maybe through the
garage door. Clear the way, make as much room as possible. Sometimes it's a choice
between scratches on the appliances or broken pictures on the wall.
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| | Not all of the contractors' tools will be brought in to your kitchen, some of them may | | | be too big or too messy. Designate a walking path for the contractors. Tell them if
you don't want them using front door, back door or going through the garage. Think
about your floor. Do you have a nice carpet, hardwood floors, etc..? There will be a
lot of traffic. Cover them if you worry about any damages or ask the contractor about
covering the floor for you.
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| | Talk with your contractors about the hours they can work in your house. Maybe you | | | have children coming back from school or your neighbors will complain too much if
they work past 6 pm. Make arrangements about how they will get inside your house
in the morning. Will you give them the key, leave the door open or open the door for
them yourself. If you are opening the door for them, be on time. You don't want
them standing around in front of the house waiting for you. It wastes a lot of time
and money for you and for them.
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| | Sometimes the contractors will need to clean their tools. Do you have a laundry sink | | | that they can use or would you rather have them use a bucket? If they have to use a
bucket, where should they pour out the dirty water?
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| | What happens to your old appliances, cabinets, fixtures? If you want to save some of | | | those things, tell your contractors about that. Tell them before they start to take
apart your old kitchen. They will need to make arrangements for the garbage. You
don't want to find your pretty grandmother's lamp in the garbage, because you forgot
to tell them about saving it.
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| | If you are leaving the house during the time the contractors are working, leave the | | | phone number where they can reach you.
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| | Your contractors don't know your family and friends. Inform your contractors if there | | | is someone coming, and you are not there. You know it's your cousin, but how are
they suppose to know? It could be a thief pretending to be one.
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| | Give your contractors a breathing room. Asking them questions every five minutes | | | only takes them away from their job. Instead make a list, write down all your
questions or complaints. It will then make it easier to remember everything. Present
your list every evening or at the week's end.
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| | Think before you make any changes to your design. Some changes could be very | | | costly.
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| | Ask your contractor if you can start to use your new kitchen or bathroom before the | | | remodeling is finished. Some will say yes, some will prefer you wait untill they finish
with the project. If they say yes tell them what you will be using ( ex.: they
connected the shower but you used the toilet, messy...., or you put stuff in the
refrigerator without telling them, and they turned it off because they were working
on the outlets). Sometimes it is better to wait.
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| | Just because something looks good on the picture doesn't mean it looks good in | | | reality. Don't choose counter tops from pictures, especially granite ones. Stone may
look very different in real life. Tiles may and may not look different, it's good to buy
just one sample and put it in your room. Look how it performs, how the light in your
room changes the colors of the tile. What is red in the shop may look pink in your
room.
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| | Be careful about choosing tiles on sale. Ask if you can get more tiles later on. The | | | style of tiles changes every year and stores are putting discountinued tiles on sale.
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| | Sometimes architects and designers don't know about all of your city codes. Be | | | prepare that sometimes the inspectors will tell you to change the design because it
doesn't meet your city codes.
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