Hiring a Pro

Scope the Project:

To get a good quote from a contractor or professional installer, you both need to understand the scope of your project. It is extremely helpful to document what you want to achieve with your renovation. Use our What’s In & What’s Out resource to develop your plan. Your scope may increase or decrease after speaking with professionals and receiving estimates, but it’s great to have a starting point. ​

Research and Referrals:

You can find great professionals in a number of ways. Ask friends, family and neighbors if they have someone who they would hire again. This can be the quickest way to get a referral. ​

If you are doing your own research, consider checking the following places:​

• Community pages and forums on sites like Nextdoor and Facebook ​
• Reviews on sites like Angie’s List, Home Adviser and
• Google, but keep in mind that many people don’t leave reviews unless something went wrong ​
• Google search ‘kitchen remodel near me’ ​
• Visit The Home Depot and talk with a designer or the installation services team​

Get Estimates: ​

Once you have a few names to work with, you can start reaching out to get some preliminary estimates. You will want to review the scope of work with them to see if it’s something they do regularly. Typically, they will need to see your space to write a complete estimate. They may also ask you to make some product selections if those need to be included in your estimate. Don’t get too worried about an exact style or color at this point. ​

Interview: ​

Just as they will be asking you questions about your project, it’s important for you to ask them questions as well. Kitchen projects can be complex and last for months, so you want to be sure that you will all get along before you hire them. Here is an Interview Sheet to have handy at your meeting.​

Hire: ​

Once you’ve done your research and are ready to move forward with a professional, you will typically sign an agreement and pay a deposit. Look for language in the contract or agreement that specifies the products that will be used and the work that will be done. Remember the scope of work you wrote when you first started this process? Refer back to that to make sure that everything is included. Your deposit will likely be between 50-100% of the overall cost of the project. Ask about the remainder, and at which milestones payments will be due. It is common to pay a final balance upon completion of the project that would include any charges for changes made after signing the contract.