As the vastness of launching this blog loomed over my head for the last month or so, I in part procrastinated the inagural post due to lack of an inspirational topic. While conversing on Twitter today with some design professional friends, we began ranting about the downfalls of DIY or "do it yourself" installation on certain projects. Alas, I had an 'aha' moment and my first blog post topic was born: Do NOT DIY your countertops!
While I am a firm believer in doing certain projects yourself to gain knowledge, experience and to save precious pennies, countertops is NOT one of these projects! Having been in the countertop industry market sector for a number of years now, I have seen and heard countertop nightmares that would make your granite countertops instantly turn to dust! My friend Susan Serra, CKD, just published an article today about how countertops are the pivotal point in your entire kitchen. We all know how vital our countertops, regardless of what space in our home or business they occupy, are to the function of our daily lives. Why would you want to trust them to anyone but a skilled professional?
With any countertop install, there are many unknown variables and the average homeowner is just not equipped with the knowledge or skills to handle the issues that can arrise. Contrary to all of those home improvement shows/channels we obsessively watch and so dearly love, it is NOT easy to install your own countertops. I have often muttered those infamous words "how hard can it be?" to only find myself in over my head with plumbing and electrical issues that I would have never anticipated. I then need to call experts who charge me more to fix my messes than they would have, had I hired them to do the job in the first place! Can you relate? Unless you, your family or any other 'experts' you have recruited to help you have truly spent years fabricating and installing countertops, leave this important piece of your improvement puzzle to those who have!
So, how do you find a professional countertop fabricator/installer?
For starters, begin with obtaining names from friends, family and co workers who have successfully had new countertops installed.
Ask any potential contractor for customer references. I encourage you to get the names of customers whose jobs have installed perfectly AND customers whose jobs didn't install perfectly! You want to make sure the company handles customer or installation complaints, issues and challenges as smoothly as they do jobs with no issues.
Check them out with the Better Business Bureau and, if you are the least bit technologically saavy (and you must be to read this blog!), use search engines like Google or Yahoo to find out additional information about the company.
Ask what the installation warranty is (most companies have a 1 year labor warranty in addition to any material warranty a manufacturer might provide) and if they provide something about this warranty in writing.
Ensure you know the process. For every countertop surface, there is a series of events that must take place in a specific order, sometimes even with certain time constraints. The professional should explain the entire process, in detail and patiently answer every question/concern you might have.
So, the moral of this blog post is :Do NOT DIY your countertop install! Hire a professional; you will be so thankful you did!
