19 July 2022

Kitchen Renovation: 8 Questions To Ask Your Contractor

Your kitchen will always be the heart of your home, as this is the place where everything starts. You cook meals inside the kitchen, share conversations with family and friends, and create a special bond with food that you’ve always enjoyed. Because of the good things kitchens offer, it’ll only be logical if you try to keep them up to date and beautiful all the time.  


Renovating your kitchen isn’t an easy, one-day job. While you can always try to DIY, hiring a contractor like Kitchen & Bath or other companies that provide the same service would be the best option. With their professional help, you can guarantee a successful renovation project, allowing you to have a great kitchen. However, even with their professionalism, equipping yourself with the right knowledge could help you understand the process better. That said, listed below are some questions you should ask your contractor prior to your kitchen renovation: 

1. Can I See Your Business License?  

Before doing business with any contractor, you should verify their business license first to check their legitimacy. This will help solve any problems in case they cannot deliver quality and professional results for your home. A license would be a good starting point to know whether they’re authorized and capable of offering outstanding services. After making sure they do have one, check to see if their license has expired or has been revoked.

2. What Type Of Contract Do You Hold? 

There are two types of contracts that a contractor uses for their business: fixed price and cost plus. A fixed price, as the name implies, provides a fixed cost that includes materials and labor. They’ll inspect your kitchen’s condition and see your renovation requirements before they develop a final estimate required to achieve your dream kitchen. 

A cost plus, on the other hand, involves paying for everything plus profits. With this type of contract, you might not have full control over how much you’ll spend, especially when there’s sudden inflation of your raw materials.  

3. Are You Insured? 

Insurance is vital when it comes to any major house renovation as it helps protect you from any possible issues that may arise due to your contractor’s work. With insurance, you don’t have to worry about any expenses in case of accidents or mistakes. Moreover, since they function with insurance, they’ll be committing to quality work, which can benefit your home. 

4. How Long Have You Been In The Business? 

Experience is extremely important when it comes to renovation work. This will help you be at ease knowing that they exactly know what to do and have plenty of experience, even with complicated projects. The more years of experience they have in renovating kitchens, the more they know the ins and outs of dealing with this type of project. Moreover, you should also check how many kitchens they’ve already renovated.  

5. Can I Check Your Portfolio? 

Some people are great at selling their products but deliver substandard results. Before you close a deal with a contractor, you might want to consider checking their portfolio to see if they can provide quality work that meets your standards. Ideally, you should find out whether they’ve previously implemented a kitchen design plan and if they were successful in doing so. 

6. How Long Will The Renovation Take? 

Your kitchen would be one of the busiest parts of your home. With the renovation happening, you might be unable to work in your kitchen, giving you a difficult time creating homemade meals. With that, you should try to look for a contractor that can provide the quickest yet highest-quality results. Before sealing a deal with your contractor, ask them how long the renovation will take and see if it’s within a comfortable period.  

7. Do You Provide A Warranty? 

Just like in purchasing electronics and appliances for your home, your kitchen renovation team should be able to provide you with a home warranty for their service. This way, you can call for their services if something goes wrong with their work. In addition, this’ll help to ensure that they’ll be providing quality work that’ll last longer than their warranty period.  

8. How Often Will You Work On-Site? 

As mentioned, your top priority should always be to ensure that they can provide quality work within the predetermined time frame. However, if your contractor has several other renovation projects that are ongoing and your home is not their top priority, you can’t expect them to finish the job in accordance with your agreement. To ensure that they can keep up with the process and be right on track, you should ask how often they will be working in your home and how many people will be working.  

Takeaway 

Kitchen renovation can be tricky, especially since your kitchen is being used daily to create your meals and wash your dishes. With that, you must ensure that your renovation project will move quickly and smoothly while producing high-quality results. Asking important questions that have to do with work duration, contract type, insurance, and portfolio will help ensure that you’re in good hands and that your goals will be achieved. With proper planning, you can finally have a kitchen that’ll be a joy to cook in.