If you’re considering a kitchen or bath remodel in the Gilbert, Arizona area, you know that the biggest challenge is finding a high quality contractor. Everyone has heard the horror stories from friends and family about contractors who did a shoddy job, cheated them out of money . . . or didn’t even finish the job, leaving homeowners with a half finished mess. If you don’t do your homework, these horror stories can become a reality. The good news? By following a few simple steps, you can greatly increase your chances of having a successful, solid and great looking remodel.

Check with Family and Friends

Do you have family and friends in the Gilbert, Arizona area? Then you’re in luck! Word of mouth is easily the best and most popular way to find really great kitchen and bath remodeling contractors. Friends and family who have gone through the process of kitchen and bath remodeling from start to finish with a contractor have real world experience with a contractor and are a trusted source for you. That’s an unbeatable combination!

Ask them everything about their Gilbert Arizona kitchen and bath remodel. Who did they use? What did they charge (if they’re willing to tell you)? Were they professional? Were they fast? Were they fair? Did they explain everything they were doing? If there were any issues along the way, how did the contractor respond to them, and how were they resolved? Do they offer any guarantees or warranties on their completed work? And, of course, is there a referral discount? Some kitchen and bath remodeling companies in the Gilbert, Arizona area offer that for past clients and new clients, to encourage people to spread the word and seek them out.

Don’t Rely Too Much on Search Results

We all do it – when you’re looking for a service, you search for it on the web. If they look at all legitimate, we will usually consider the first couple of companies in the search results. This isn’t always a good idea, as search results don’t really have anything to do with the quality of the company. So look at those companies, but confirm their reputations. See if they are rated on other sites, and what past clients have written about them. Companies can pay to be sponsored at the top of the list in searches, so use your online sleuthing skills to make sure they’re a quality provider. Something else I always do? Run any company you’re going to use through a Better Business Bureau (BBB) search, to see if there are any outstanding complaints against them.

Always Interview Potential Contractors

When you find a kitchen and bath remodeling contractor in Gilbert, Arizona, be sure to schedule an initial meeting with them. They’ll discuss the project you want to do, and the cost options for you and time line. You can use this opportunity to ask them about their company. How long have they been in business? How experienced are the specific individuals who will be handling the labor? Do they have any client referrals you can talk to? Also, are they insured? This one’s important – and often overlooked.

These three tips will help you avoid negative experiences with contractors in kitchen and bath remodeling in the Gilbert, Arizona area. Also, remember that you should never just go with the first contractor who gives you a quote. Quotes by different contractors can vary by thousands of dollars. While price shouldn’t be your only consideration, it’s always smart to get a second opinion and weigh your options before moving forward.

Many people love the look of sleek, sophisticated look of wood floors. Polished to a high shine, or accented with decorative rugs for a stylish look – many people go out of their way to keep their wood floors in great shape, or fit them into Gilbert bathroom remodeling wherever they can. However, bathrooms are usually one place that people avoid placing wood or wood laminate flooring. After all, water can damage both wood and wood laminate flooring – and no room in the house sees more day to day water wear than the bathrooms in your home. However, for those who really want the look of wood floors in their bathroom, is there a way to make it work as part of your Gilbert bathroom remodeling without replacing your floors every two years?

The short answer is yes – it is possible to enjoy the beauty of wood in your bathrooms, if you’re willing to make some accommodations. You see, in its unprotected state, hardwood flooring is naturally very absorbent. It will absorb water and other liquids that it comes into contact with repeatedly, and for long periods of time, which isn’t what you want long term from your Gilbert bathroom remodeling. This prolonged contact with moisture will cause unattractive plumping, warping, expanding and even staining, which will ruin your beautiful (and expensive) new floors. So, the goal with any hardwood flooring in our high quality Gilbert bathroom remodeling is to prevent the hardwood’s absorption of liquids.

Fortunately, you can do this with a quality finishing agent, usually a polyurethane based sealant. These finishing agents creating an invisible protectant surface on top of the wood, which will allow you to clean up any drips or spills without them damaging the wood. If you decide to go this route, installing hardwood flooring with a protectant applied during your Gilbert bathroom remodeling, there are several things to keep in mind.

First, the quality of the protectant you choose is very important. You need to choose a high quality finish that is specifically designed to stand up to water heavy environments. You have to be careful when you choose the particular sealant you’ll use during your Gilbert bathroom remodeling. Some are marine grade sealants, and some are for outdoor all weather applications, while others are intended specifically for indoor wet use spaces.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when applying the Gilbert bathroom remodeling sealant is it will only protect the top of the wood. That means if water drains down into the cracks, you’ll get damage from the sides and from below the wood that you don’t want. This means paying close attention to seams in the wood, and apply several coats of the polyurethane sealant you’ve chosen.

Wood is a beautiful choice for bathroom floors, and can be integrated into any of our Gilbert bathroom remodeling projects. With a little extra effort and common sense, hardwood can be an eye catching design element in any room of your home.

Whether you’re in the early stages of selling your home, or you simply want to improve the overall look of your kitchen, updating your cabinets is often one of the top projects recommended to enhance your home’s attractiveness and value. Unfortunately, replacing your kitchen cabinets with new ones can be prohibitively expensive for many homeowners. The costs can run from as low as $4,000.00 (for generic stock cabinets) to $20,000.00 or more for custom cabinet creation. That’s why many people in the Gilbert Kitchen remodeling market look for a cheaper option with the same effect – cabinet refacing.

When your kitchen cabinets are refaced, you replace the drawers, drawer fronts, hinges, knobs, pulls and molding with a fresher, cleaner looking design. This sounds like a lot (and it can be), but that is compared to having a Gilbert kitchen remodeling company rip all of the cabinets and countertops away and replacing them with entirely new cabinetry. Cabinet refacing by a Gilbert kitchen remodeling company will also include covering exposed frames with a thin veneer of real wood or plastic laminate. When done by professionals, a complete kitchen refacing may take two or more days.

So what are the pros of cabinet refacing with a Gilbert kitchen remodeling professional? First, the financial savings are huge. Cabinet refacing costs approximately half the amount of cabinet replacement. It’s also much less of a hassle than tearing cabinets out – and you still have use of your kitchen during the Gilbert kitchen remodeling cabinet refacing. It’s also more environmentally friendly, as you’re reusing the primary framework of your cabinets to create a new kitchen look, instead of dumping them in a landfill.

When working with a Gilbert kitchen remodeling company, there are a couple of cons to consider with kitchen cabinet refacing. Cabinet refacing won’t fix a horrible kitchen design, where there are too few cabinets, too many – or they’re simply poorly placed. To fix that, you will need to carry out a full cabinet replacement. Also, while Gilbert kitchen remodeling will try to help guide you, it can be tempting to spend extra on expensive veneers and pricey hardware. Remember – the key here is to save money, and pricier options on the cabinet refacing reduce that savings margin.

That being said, there are countless options for your Gilbert kitchen remodeling cabinet reface. The veneers needed for refacing are available in a wide range of colors, textures, and grains, and you can mix and match to find the right look for your kitchen. You can choose from real wood or plastic laminate veneers. RTFs, or Rigid Thermofoil Doors, feature a hard plastic coating over fiberboard, which can be a durable alternative to wood or laminate. Gilbert kitchen remodeling offers customized cabinet refacing for every budget and style.