Choosing a Countertop Contractor
When you’re preparing to remodel your kitchen or bathroom, there are plenty of decisions to be made. What type of countertop will you choose? What material is right? What pattern and color look best? You want your remodeled room to look as good as it possibly can—so, of course, these decisions matter.
Another decision that matters greatly is choosing the right contractor to install your new countertop. A countertop, if installed correctly, acts as the main centerpiece of a room. When people walk in, you want their eyes to be drawn to your gleaming, professionally installed granite, marble, or quartz. The last thing you want is for people to notice mistakes in your installation first.
In order for your countertop to look its best and be as durable as possible, you have to hire a professional, high-quality contractor who knows how to handle installation.
Knowing that it’s good practice to choose a quality contractor isn’t exactly rocket science. What is rocket science is knowing how to go about doing that. There are plenty of “experts” in the field, but on the surface, you can’t be sure who’s being genuine and who’s fluffing up their reputation.
Cameo Countertops wrote this article to help you along the process of choosing a contractor. We’ve put together a few good practices when it comes to making the decision so you have resources at hand regarding your remodel.
Keep reading to find out how to choose a contractor that works for you.
Get Personal Recommendations
When you’re shopping online and want to make sure of your purchase, the reviews are typically the first place you head. Although that’s not a bad idea for contractors, personal recommendations are even better. Online reviews are from people you don’t know—and they don’t know you or your style. Your friends do, and your friends will (hopefully) tell it to you like it is.
If your friends enjoyed working with a local contractor, and he or she provided the very best outcome they could imagine, your friends are going to be excited to share that information with you. They want your project to turn out just as amazing as theirs did. What’s even better, you can see the result for yourself in your friend’s home, so you’ll know what to expect with your remodel by this contractor.
Along the same lines, your friends will surely tell you if they had a bad experience with a local contractor and warn you about who to avoid so you don’t make the same mistake as they did.
Professional Recommendations Also Help
Although your friends’ opinions are important, they are most likely not professionals in the field. Getting recommendations from people who are in the business will almost never steer you wrong.
Consult the company who sold you the countertops—here at Cameo, we know plenty of great contractors and love to share that info with our customers. You don’t just have to take our word for it, though. You can ask contractors for professional references and give those people a call, getting the low-down on whether they’re upstanding or, conversely, have some room to grow.
Many sellers and installers have a photo album showcasing their past work with remodels and installations. You can take a look at this to get a good idea of what you can expect from them and see if it matches your vision.
Many people buy countertops from home improvement stores, and the staff there can also be a big help. They work with remodelers every day—professional and unprofessional—and know a lot about the industry.
Conduct Interviews
You don’t have to go with the first decent contractor you come across. There’s nothing wrong with keeping a few options on the table and asking them questions like the following:
– How long have you been installing countertops?
– How much experience do you have with my specific countertop material?
– How much experience does your crew have?
– Can I come take a look at the current job you’re working on to get a good feel of your style?
– How soon can you start?
– How efficiently/quickly do you work?
If a contractor has the answers to these questions that sit well with you, that’s the person to go with.
Ask for Written Estimates
After you’ve conducted the contractor interviews, you can choose your most promising option and request written estimates from them. In order to give you a quality estimate, the contractor will come to the site and get a feel of the remodel, then ask for the brand of countertops you want installed. If you’ve already got the material on hand, then the contractor should check it out. After they’ve got a good idea of the project, they can give you a price estimate.
Go with Your Gut
Once you’ve gone through all of these steps—gotten recommendations, interviewed candidates, looked over estimates—trust your instincts when choosing who you’re working with. You’ve done all you need to do, now all that’s left is waiting on the contractor to do their part.
Just remember to keep communicating with your contractor and their team. If you all remain on the same page, then your countertop installation should go well.
What Makes Cameo Different
We’re your neighborhood countertop provider. Cameo Countertops, Inc. has been serving Toledo and the surrounding areas since 1992. Our company is large enough to handle any size project, but not too big to offer each customer our full attention. Cameo Countertops, Inc. is family owned, family run, and we employ our neighbors as a part of our team. That is why our team cares about you and every other customer as we would our friends and family.
Get a Free Countertop Estimate
Fill out the form below to get a free countertop estimate or give us a call at
(419) 865-6371.
(419) 865-6371.