Taking on the job of renovating your home is a monumental task. Step one of that task is to find the right people to help you on your journey to a beautiful remodel and your dream kitchen (or other space!). It can be a daunting and intimidating task to meet with contractor after contractor, everyone promising you your dreams “for less than the last guy.”
The first thing to do is consider your location. Are you in the general Northern Virginia area? Then stop by our showroom on the Braddock exit of the beltway: 8934 Burke Lake Road, Springfield, Virginia! Or give us a call at 703.764.3748 and we will be more than happy to walk you through our fantastic remodeling process.
Now, if you aren’t lucky enough to be within our locale, here are a few steps of preliminary research for you:
1) Ask people you know for referrals. Friends and family are a great place to start! In addition to asking about the job as a whole and the final end product, be sure to ask about each of the phases of their job: the design phase and the construction phase. Were they professional and courteous? Was there a reasonable explanation for any delays? Would they hire them again? What was their favorite/least favorite part? It’s also a good idea to check within your community. Easy places to look include your local paper (for ads and articles) as well as church bulletins and other local community publications!
2) Look up the company on the Better Business Bureau and make sure they have an excellent rating with no complaints.
3) Research the company on pages like their website, Facebook, Yelp, and Houzz. Read through a few of their pages to get a thorough sense of the typical work they do and how happy their typical clients are at the end of each job. Subscribe to their newsletters or read through their blog posts. Social media research will give you a great sense of their scopes of work and style. Do all of the projects look the same? Is there a company “style” they imprint on each job? Are they actively updating their pages?
For a few great examples, check out Nicely Done Kitchens’ social media sites:
And you’re already visiting our blog!
4) It’s perfectly appropriate to ask if a client referral list is available. Most companies are happy to oblige after a preliminary meeting, but every company should have a list of recent clients who will want to sing their praises!
Stay tuned for next month’s post, highlighting the most important questions to ask a remodeling company during the initial interview appointment. Get the insider’s perspective on the best industry questions to ask!