Better to ask for references, licensing numbers, and current insurance verified by the agency issuing it.

Thanks, Hollysprings!

Speaking of references... The first few contractors I reached out to were referred by friends - they either didn't get back to me at all, took a long time, or came across as not competent to do the job. So, I finally bit the bullet & joined Angie's List - the contractors from there, with many good reviews, seem better.

Cabinet brand means nothing. If youâÂÂre doing frameless or inset that is a valid question.
Unless your getting laminate or wood counters should be installed by others. Who oversees template and install (KD)
Will they work on your job straight through? Is there a "lead" or primary? How are mechanicals and electric handled? Subs or in house? Same for tile. If subs who are they, how long have they been used? How are punch list and call backs handled? What kind of response time can you expect? What is done for dust control? Clean up and regular housekeeping?
Have the KD talk with them. A good contractor will ask for that.

Jakuvall - even if the brand is IKEA?

Off to look up "punch list" in the glossary...

Thanks for your knowledgeable suggestions!

Be prepared to answer as many questions as you ask and no keeping secrets from your potential contractor.

Any decent GC or kitchen installer can work with Ikea as long as they are willing to learn. However they may have to be a little creative since Ikea does not supply all the trims that a full line brand might. Ikeafans is a great resource for "modifications" but if you are using Ikea with a contractor who has not used it, you will be "in charge" of planning those modifications. I did that with my basement kitchenette and my GC (who had never used Ikea before) did a great job and even managed to get my pantry into a very tight space by essentially building it in place since it could not squeeze into the alloted space. I don't know how he managed it but we were able to use all the pullouts after it was built in place. He did not blink an eye at my requested mods and executed them flawlessly.

No, rta's are something that should be brought up when you first speak on the phone, BEFORE having them come out to estimate.

The GC we hired for our whole house renovation is wonderful (so far.) Two things that we really appreciate about him is that he only manages one project at a time and that he provides us a status update every day at the end of the day.

I would say it's valid to ask if you'll be the GCs only project he'll be juggling and how he'll keep you informed of what's going on. Our GC is very organized and very communicative, which is important to me. I know a lot of homeowners don't want all the details, but we want them all!

Angie's list and checking the state licensing board for licenses and complaints have been great resources.

We are now in month 4 of a 2 month remodel and probably won't be finished for another couple of weeks. It's been a nightmare with a lousy GC. We naively signed a contract with a payment schedule which we followed however progress did not follow payments. We have way overpaid and haven't given them a payment since end of September. They're still trying to catch up. (and then they're outta here!) Make sure to sign a payment schedule that relates to progress made. 2) discuss what if any compensation there will be if the job goes way past schedule. It always takes longer but for unforeseen circumstances. Our GC sends one laborer that paints trim all day and has excuses daily for why no one else is here. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.....

I would try really hard to determine if you and your potential GC's share the same aesthetic. I've seen enough posters on this board who are unhappy with details and aesthetics to know that this can really cause problems when it comes to customer satisfaction. Are you a perfectionist and detail oriented? You are going to want a contractor who shares those qualities and demands them of his subs.

I'd ask how many jobs he will have going on at the same time as well as how often he will check the job. Our neighbor built a house and over the entire 7 months,we only saw the GC twice. That GC is now out of business.

Oh gee, and Argggg!

I so wish I got the email notifications of responses from this site like I used to! And, yes, I checked my settings & email address on this site, I checked mys spam folder, and even tried switching from Firefox to Safari...

Off to read your comments.

Jakuvall - what's rta? I just checked the FAQ's and glossary for this forum, but don't see that there.

Ready To Assemble

Carrie: It looks like your personal email is showing up in our email notifications. Just a heads up in case you don't want your verizon address made public like that. Wish I could help sort out your notifications.

Thanks for the head up about my email address, benjesbride - I'll go check on that. That may have been one of my attempts to make notifications come through - making it available. This remembering to check here is frustrating.

(it even says at the bottom "if you no longer wish to receive notifications..." I WISH to receive notifications! Really, my kingdom for a notification!)

Jakuvall - when you say "rta's are something that should be brought up when you first speak on the phone, BEFORE having them come out to estimate."

Do you mean that I should say on the phone: "I'm planning to use IKEA. Is that something you work with?" Is IKEA RTA, or not RTA or are you referring to something else?

Oh, and I'm planning to go with recycled paper countertops: either Richlite or Paperstone. Not AT ALL commonly used out here - many contractors have never heard of it, and I don't know that there are many (any?) fabricators of it locally.

IKEA is Rta - ready to assemble. IKEA cabinets have to be put together/assembled like most of their items.

Nice list compiled. I would ask if the same ppl will be coming into the house to work. When new ppl are coming to house that u have not met, will u know in advance. Want to stay on top of your own safety.

Unless things have changed, I think it's either automatic or easily seen in settings, but I thought as the original poster of the thread, you received a copy of those posts

I sent u a private msg.

Mags438 - thank you for explaining the IKEA RTA!

Good questions to ask, too.

So... where would I go to find that private message? I went to my profile page, but don't see any message icon or box.

Carrie, you prolly want to seriously consider going with a specialist for your countertop install/fabrication, unless the product is considered a DIY.

Hmm, on viewing e-mail/private msg..I don't know if not in your GW profile. Maybe someone else will chime in.

I've dealt with a problem with parents not receiving notification from a homeschool co-op blog, but that problem was a disconnect with comcast.net email addresses. Very frustrating. If you have another email account, like gmail, I'd try using that for GW and see if you can get notifications there.

Op: FYI- are u aware that the IKEA kitchen cabinet line will be changing their cabinet line over the next couple of years. You may encounter some availability issues now and in the future. Do a search on IKEA cabinets. I think the new line is called METOD or something like that. Ikeafans dot com website is *everything* IKEA so there should be info there as well as here

This post was edited by Mags438 on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 9:03

Hi Mags, thanks. Yes, I know that IKEA is changing over. Last I heard was February first, and I believe they're calling the US line Sektion. I'm figuring that I'll probably be getting the new cabinets.