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We need to update our 1970's kitchen. It's a simple 10x12 kitchen. It doesn't have that many cabinets and it doesn't have a lot of counter space. Just a pretty average 1970's kitchen. So we've been looking a lot at kitchen cabinets and counters. We signed up at BJ's wholesale place (like Sam's Club and Costco) last week and there was a window/kitchen remodel guy there who represents a company that does cabinet door refacing. They replace the doors and drawers and leave the cabinet boxes in place. Our cabinet boxes aren't in bad shape, but the doors are made of particle board--and they are pretty bad looking. So we made an appointment to have their guy come out and give us a quote on refacing our cabinets. We've also looked at Lowe's and Home Depot to get an idea on costs and products. Also, last weekend we visited a showroom in Jacksonville that has their own cabinet making factory in the back. This place is owned by a Chinese family. The guy there took us to the back where several Chinese guys were building cabinets. We also made an appointment for him to come out to give us a quote on completely new cabinets and counters.
So...the Chinese guy came out this morning and measured for cabinets. After doing a little research, I decided on going with quartz counters to replace the original gold formica counter tops. We're waiting on the quote from him on what he will charge to replace our cabinets (with real wood) and our counters with quartz.
So then this afternoon the guy from the company that BJ's has a contract with came over. He spent a lot of time telling us how great the company is that he works for - Florida Home Improvement Associates. He had samples of the cabinet doors they use...not real wood, but it doesn't look bad. And then he asked us if we also wanted to replace the counter tops and we said yes. So he said he had some samples of formica in his car to show us. I told him I had quartz in mind...he said they could do granite or quartz counters but that it would cost almost double the cost of the entire kitchen job to put in stone counters. I told him that I do not think I want formica and he said that their formica looks really good, it's very durable and all that. And he said that it looks like granite. So I told him that I would look at it but that it would have to look really, really better than any formica I've ever seen to look anything like granite. So he went to his car and came back with his sample products. He had a stack of colors for us to look at, along with a sample of how the product looks on a counter top. And all of it looked like formica and I told him that I did not like it. Hubby was sitting there, looking somewhat amused at me --of course we have already looked at a number of kitchen remodel places to get an idea what we want. And of course, hubby knows that I don't want to replace 1970's gold formica counters with fake-granite 2013 formica counters. I'd just as soon keep our gold counters; at least they weren't trying to make them look like stone in 1976. The guy also brought in some granite samples, but only one quartz sample. He was really trying to talk us out of granite or quartz. He was talking down any kind of stone counters. I told him that if we were remodeling a house that we intended to rent out, we might go with formica. But I said that if we sale the house, it needs to be granite or quartz on the counters. And he told me again that "most" people cannot tell the difference. Well, I was nice and did not tell him that you would have to be blind AND have no feeling in your hands to tell that his formica product is not granite or quartz. So....after a lot of talking about how great his company is and how great his product is and after measuring the kitchen, he FINALLY came up with two prices--one quote for cabinet refacing with formica counters--that quote was over $12,000! The quote with cabinet refacing and granite counters--over $18,000! Now, we aren't even talking about new cabinets--we're talking about replacing the cabinet doors and drawers with a none-wood type product. The doors they use look alright, but they aren't wood. He tried to pressure us into buying the product but we told him we were still looking at products and options. We were not rude, although I thought my head would explode when he came up with the 12K quote for fake wood doors and formica counters.
So now I'm waiting for the Chinese guy to give us a quote on his real wood cabinets with quartz counter tops. I'm hoping to hear from him this weekend with a quote.
My questions to y'all--do you know anything about this Florida Home Improvement Associates company? BJ's, Costco and Sam's Club all have a contract with the company for window replacement and cabinet refacing. I have no idea what they charge for windows but their price quotes for our kitchen are around double the price I was expecting.
Has anyone had their kitchen cabinet doors replaced and what was the cost like?
Also, any ideas on preferences for quartz or granite or another counter surface?
So...the Chinese guy came out this morning and measured for cabinets. After doing a little research, I decided on going with quartz counters to replace the original gold formica counter tops. We're waiting on the quote from him on what he will charge to replace our cabinets (with real wood) and our counters with quartz.
So then this afternoon the guy from the company that BJ's has a contract with came over. He spent a lot of time telling us how great the company is that he works for - Florida Home Improvement Associates. He had samples of the cabinet doors they use...not real wood, but it doesn't look bad. And then he asked us if we also wanted to replace the counter tops and we said yes. So he said he had some samples of formica in his car to show us. I told him I had quartz in mind...he said they could do granite or quartz counters but that it would cost almost double the cost of the entire kitchen job to put in stone counters. I told him that I do not think I want formica and he said that their formica looks really good, it's very durable and all that. And he said that it looks like granite. So I told him that I would look at it but that it would have to look really, really better than any formica I've ever seen to look anything like granite. So he went to his car and came back with his sample products. He had a stack of colors for us to look at, along with a sample of how the product looks on a counter top. And all of it looked like formica and I told him that I did not like it. Hubby was sitting there, looking somewhat amused at me --of course we have already looked at a number of kitchen remodel places to get an idea what we want. And of course, hubby knows that I don't want to replace 1970's gold formica counters with fake-granite 2013 formica counters. I'd just as soon keep our gold counters; at least they weren't trying to make them look like stone in 1976. The guy also brought in some granite samples, but only one quartz sample. He was really trying to talk us out of granite or quartz. He was talking down any kind of stone counters. I told him that if we were remodeling a house that we intended to rent out, we might go with formica. But I said that if we sale the house, it needs to be granite or quartz on the counters. And he told me again that "most" people cannot tell the difference. Well, I was nice and did not tell him that you would have to be blind AND have no feeling in your hands to tell that his formica product is not granite or quartz. So....after a lot of talking about how great his company is and how great his product is and after measuring the kitchen, he FINALLY came up with two prices--one quote for cabinet refacing with formica counters--that quote was over $12,000! The quote with cabinet refacing and granite counters--over $18,000! Now, we aren't even talking about new cabinets--we're talking about replacing the cabinet doors and drawers with a none-wood type product. The doors they use look alright, but they aren't wood. He tried to pressure us into buying the product but we told him we were still looking at products and options. We were not rude, although I thought my head would explode when he came up with the 12K quote for fake wood doors and formica counters.
So now I'm waiting for the Chinese guy to give us a quote on his real wood cabinets with quartz counter tops. I'm hoping to hear from him this weekend with a quote.
My questions to y'all--do you know anything about this Florida Home Improvement Associates company? BJ's, Costco and Sam's Club all have a contract with the company for window replacement and cabinet refacing. I have no idea what they charge for windows but their price quotes for our kitchen are around double the price I was expecting.
Has anyone had their kitchen cabinet doors replaced and what was the cost like?
Also, any ideas on preferences for quartz or granite or another counter surface?
