Alrighty,
So the wife says we need our kitchen worked on.  We need tile flooring and backsplash put in and possibly have our existing cabinets refaced.   Now, we don't have a lot of cash, so are these things we can get done incrementally?  You know, have the floor done this summer, backsplash next summer, paint the next etc?   It's a small kitchen and the previous owners really went cheap.  As in the backsplash and floor are the same linoleum "peel and stick" type panels so those need to be the first to go.  Recommendations for getting this done?  DIY is out of the question as I don't have the materials/skills/time/confidence.

I know places like Home Depot and Lowes offer those services.  Are they acceptable?  When we had a contractor come last summer to fabricate a metal children's gate over our stairs, paint and carpet the two kids bedrooms and recarpet the bedrooms and stairs it cost almost $3k.  When they were doing the work the carpet guys said they also worked for Lowes and Home Depot installing carpet, so I figure I would (likely) get the same level of work.  Thoughts?

No one?

Start talking to friends and neighbors about contractors that have done work for them.  Get names and call for quotes.  Start looking at cabinets, tile, etc...untilyour wife finds what she wants, ask suppliers who installs for them and choose one.  Best price is not always best work, ask to see previous work and talk to people who had it done by your chosen contractor.  Good Luck!

DIY.

seriously.  it's not hard.  tile is incredibly easy.  backsplash is not hard to put up.

go to diynet.com and look around.  stay away from the lowes/home depot installers.  they ONLY thing i would use one of their installers for would be carpet.  

you can do whatever first or last, unless you are changing cabinets.  then you would have to do the cabinets before you did the tile.

have confidence, it's not that difficult!  

before

after

HD and Lowes offer a price for "basic" install. Options tend to add up. Then usually the contractor has "extras" for repairs or site conditions that they will attempt to tack on. The installer gets paid very little, and if you have any problems, the store will make it the contractors responsibility. Keep in mind, most of the materials at the box stores are low grade but priced at mid grade.



Take hardwood flooring for example. Their bruce hardwood is a special "big box only grade", with a 5 year warranty vs the normal 20-25 year. There are so many defects that the box store gives you "10% more free" to make up for the 20% that needs to be culled. Their install starts at $3.50 per sq ft. Demo is extra (remove carpet, tile ect). Leveling or sanding the subfloor is extra. Cleats over staples is extra. Good underlayment is extra. Shoe molding is extra. Moving furniture is extra ($75 per piece per move). Delivery is extra. Get the picture?



The price you pay for install at the big box covers the cost of the heavily discounted materials, delivery, a sales person, the big boxes liability, the big box's millionaire tax bracket, the contractors liability, the contractor's labor, and 3-4 callbacks for complaints.



I can point you to some contractor's websites where are the drawbacks for the contractor are discussed too.



Anyhow, I'm MHIC licensed but kinda far from you. However my advice and estimates are free.

for installing tile, you will pay about 4$ per square foot to have installed (from lowes/home depot).  that is on top of the tile cost.

i paid 1.29$ per square of tile, plus the mortar and the grout.  i bought a tile cracker and tile nipper and a rotozip to make the weird cuts.  i tiled most of my house, minus hardwood that i put in my dining area.  can't remember how much i paid for mortar and grout, but it's not much.  if you take your time, do it yourself, you will save a lot of money.

make sure you seal your grout when you are done.  use tile spacers when you set the tile, and mix the mortar exactly how it says on the bag.

haven't done a backsplash yet, but it's just like setting it on the floor.

countertops, depending on what you do, aren't that difficult.  my wife wants granite, but i'm not paying 3-4k for a solid slab.  i'm going to get granite tiles and if you put them close enough together, the seams look negligible and will look like a solid piece until you run your hand over it and can feel the seam.

Thanks for the replies guys.  With a herniated disc, doing a tile tile floor myself is a no-go.  Would you all rate places like Empire in the same category as Lowes, etc?

I've heard some pretty bad stories about Empire.  My sister used them to put tile down in most of her house, she couldn't communicate with the job foreman or any of the workers, since she doesn't speak spanish.  Might just be our location though.

Probably no different here.  I'm in MD

nice job

I'd start asking around.  I have a friend who's brother in law owns a tiling business.  He did the tile in a house I used to live in for me, reasonably and it looked lovely.

Tile install at home depot "starts" at $5.50 ish. I'm sure demo, underlayment, and site conditions add to that considerably. The last tile floor i saw that was that cheap, was one that the customer was paying me to rip out and reinstall correctly, after he had payed the previous "contractor" to do it twice.



Empire is just a name. The work is all done by subs iirc. They are basically just charging the sub a % for the names of customers that call.



HD and lowes dont care if you are unhappy with them. Their subs aren't staking their own reputations on their work. There are plenty more un educated consumers where you come from.
I cant recommend anyone in your area, because i dont know anyone down that way.



 

Can you get a home equity loan to do the improvements in one big project?

ain't that the truth

We'd rather not since we don't plan on staying here for more than the next 5 years.

Alright,
So it's 99.9% done.  The guy is just coming today to put in the switchplates and trim them to size.  Now, should I apply grout sealer in a couple days?  Any recommendations on that?