Kitchen re-do Bethesda - design-build firm or archtect then hire a GC?
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Anonymous
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We are really anxious to re-do our kitchen but on a bit of a budget (prob have about 50-60K to spend) not sure if we can afford a big design-build firm with this modest budget. DH says it may be cheaper to hire an architect first then a GC to do the work. Any thoughts on this? Experience with both ways? Anything to consider? We are not very experienced in this process.
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Anonymous
| Make sure you spend time on research which companies to hire, been there and done that, most GCs are pain in the butt to deal with |
Anonymous
| If it's just a kitchen, I would use a kitchen designer. Cheaper than an architect and probably more knowledgeable for this project. |
Anonymous
| Agree with pp's, for this, best to use a kitchen designer - and make sure they are well reputable (decent volume), but not crazy high end. architects can get into crazy, money very fast. even if you need to go to architect eventually (if difficult aspect), you can work out a lot of ideas with kitchen designer and save costs upfront. |
Anonymous
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We used an architect as part of a kitchen addition and went with a GC, shopped around for all the cabinets, tile, etc. If I could do it all over, I would have gone for a designer that has experience with kitchens and made sure I liked the GC that he/ she liked to work with. I felt like the architect picked things that may have looked good architecturally, eg lots of small cabinets, that were not practical or very expensive. We still had to pick all the design elements and the GC wasn't going to say what paint color would look good with the cabinets.
If you go to a kitchen designer, often they are linked to a cabinet line or shop so you first if you plan to go on a weekend, you need an appointment, then you are paying a design fee not knowing if you will like the design or in the end if this will price out more than you want, you may or may not own the design (if you don't purchase thru them), even if you try to shop the cabinets elsewhere the next place may want you to pay a design/ measure fee because they are on the hook that the sizes are correct. Then if something happens, say you discover something when the walls are opened that impacts the design, you end up being in the meddle of it with the GC and kitchen shop ...and the kitchen shop likely has their money by that point. Anyway, we ended up using Charles Almonte (http://charlesalmonte.com ) for our bathrooms and interior design. It was sort of the best of all worlds because he has a background in architecture and interior design. He also has people he works with for cabinets and GC. I'm not a trusting sort about working with people someone else recommends (I'm from NY ) but in this case the GC happen to also do work coincidentally for neighbors so I had references. The cabinet person sometimes can be slow getting back to you but the best part of using someone's team is that they make sure things get done and problems are sorted out without you being in the middle. So anyway, my recommendation is that you nix the architect and go with a designer that has a team so you have a deign/ build like experience within your budget. You could look at the design build companies too but I found the Washingtonian listed ones had waits and unofficially had a minimum budget they liked to work with. |
Anonymous
| What are people's experiences/knowledge of Case Design? |
Anonymous
Will do a good job but expensive compared to other's. |
Anonymous
Had a friend use them for a bathroom. I believe the work turned out okay but for a decent budget, the fixtures and design were very basic. |
Anonymous
OP Here. Some good advice! Thanks! If we can afford it we want to do a bit more then JUST redo kitchen. Tear down a wall make a bar area, etc. This is why I think of an archtect or design build. Agree we have to do some research. Any other suggestions for a company/person who will work with a smaller budget and be very creative! 
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missulka
Member Location: Bethesda, MD
Offline
Member Location: Bethesda, MD
Offline
I know a great contractor - Michal - who might be able to help you with that. He is not expensive at all, has a company in Bethesda, and have great reviews on Yelp - (they are filtered by Yelp, so you have to click the link that says "Read filtered reviews" - Yelps way to destroy small businesses  Here is the link to the reviews - http://goo.gl/H2n8z
His Info: MM Remodeling, 202-247-7030 |