I'm in the process of buying a house and one of the first remodelling to-do items is customozing the closets in two of the bedrooms. I'd like to have sliding mirrored doors installed in both (currently they have no doors at all) and have custom shelving, rods, and drawers installed.
Out of Home Depot and Lowe's, which is better for a job like this? Which has lower prices? Good service? Quality items? Is there another store that I should be looking at as well (I'm in southern California)?
I guess I'm looking for a Target/Wal-Mart comparison. Target is a little bit more expensive but the quality is better. I've never dealt with either Home Depot or Lowe's and understand that the scope of redoing closets can be a sizeable job if not done correctly. I visited Lowe's and depending on the size of the closet, the mirrored doors alone will run about $200 per room, and that's without the installation or the cabinetry work needed inside. I haven't checked Home Depot prices yet, but was hoping that someone could offer an informed comparison of both stores.
You got it backwards. Start by finding the carpenter who whoever, that will put in the doors. Then work with them to pick out the doors. Let them pick the supplier.
Neither is very good IMO. Quality of the work depends on the independent contractor they sub out to. Varies from store to store and job to job. If you want top notch job, look for a local guy, not a chain. If you want a low price, go with the cheapest and don't get your expectations very high.
Local meaning someone a friend can recommend, or meaning a smaller-type store in my area? I thought another approach would be going to Home Depot or Lowe's, picking out doors, and then having them send someone to my house to install them. Not good?
The two cars you used in your example is dragging the two car makers in the sewer and is not a good ideal or comparison. Fiat and Yugo are both Quality when put up against Trashy quality Home-Cheap-0 and Low's stores. Don't drag Respectiable manufactor in the sewer with Trashy stores like Home Cheap-0 and Low's stores.
You have to be kidding. Fiats were in fact the very definition of poor quality. I know, I owned one. On the other hand, if you buy a product like an Anderson door or a Velux skylight at HD or Lowes, are you suggesting it is of a lesser quality or carries less of a warranty than the same product purchased anywhere else? I've bought lots of products from both of these stores and have, with a few exceptions, been very pleased.
You have to be kidding. Fiats were in fact the very definition of poor quality. I know, I owned one. On the other hand, if you buy a product like an Anderson door or a Velux skylight at HD or Lowes, are you suggesting it is of a lesser quality or carries less of a warranty than the same product purchased anywhere else? I've bought lots of products from both of these stores and have, with a few exceptions, been very pleased.
Joy , i'm gonna told you something here. If your interested in a quality job at all. i would not fool around with Home Cheap-0 or Low's stores. These stores sign up the cheapest carpenters and craftman that they can find and pay them peanuts and charge you for a quality job. You can even work for these stores and not have contractor licences for they can work under the Store contractor licences and insurance. If you want the cheapest contractor , Coming out of bankruptsy , Has a second job at burger King to suppliment his income , can never get the job done right the first time and is has the Cheapest workmanship type company in town to come do your work and then pay top quality Dollars for the job. Then these two stores are what your looking for.
Now you spoke of other STORES to get a contractor from. I think you have it ass back-ards here. You don't go buy a bunch of lumber & building supplies and then try to find a contractor to decide what you want to do with all these supplies and lumber. The other stores or the two big store will send a contractor out there but they will be told to use only their parts and supplies and nobody else and don't suggest anything we don't sell. Then if the contractor knows a better product sold at another store with better quality. He will be told to keep quiet and use what that store sells and not say anything about something better or a better price from them. Also if the job is on a bid basis , the store will tell the contractor to cut the corners the best way he can and cut the material cost down from what you were buying in the first place for you will not be counting 2 X 4 and wood material. You will be billed for plenty of lumber but any lumber the contractor does not use will be brought back but you will still be billed for it. You should never get a wood supplier telling the contractor how much wood that is to be used on a job. You should have the contractor and you telling the wood supplier what and how much you want and not have it Ass-Back-ards. Here is a example of what i'm saying here.
Never get a gas station telling you what kind of car to drive. Never get a Car saleman telling you when to buy a new car. Never get a Wood producer telling a contractor where to buy their wood. Never get a Electrical Warehouse telling a Electrician the electrical supplies you want for a job.
You and the Contractor will sit down and decide what you want to do, Where to buy the supplies, and the quality of the equipment or wood supplies you will be buying. You just don't get this Ass Back-ards with a Wood supplier telling a contractor & You what you want to buy and from who.
Now to find a good contractor, you can look in the phone book Yellow pages and pick out a bunch of Remodeling contractor and the best contractor may not be in the yellow pages so you will ask your friends and Co-Workers about any contractor that they have used in the past and got good results from. Just call all them up and ask them and you will see a bunch of names you never seen in the phone book or seen in the phone book but get more than just one person telling you that that contractor was good. If you could get 2 or 3 friends and co-workers telling you about a contractor. You may have found a quality contractor to use. Now if you can find a Electrican or a Plumber in your area to talk to and just about every one of these fellow will know all the trashy remodelers for they get to see them in action all the time. I'm in the HVAC business but I can tell you ever trashy remoding contractor in town and the good ones too. All the craftmen in the trades that has been in business for years can tell you right off who to not use and who to use. Here in town they have only 5 remodeling contractor and I will tell you right off the 3 you don't mess with and to use one of the other 2 of them in town.
You missed the point or the jest of the stores involved. We was aiming the thoughts at the contracting ability of the Home Cheap-0 and Lowes Stores and not their Quality of any product they may sell. The may sell some good products but when it comes to their picking contractor and their quality. It is a different story from the products they may sell. Now if your speaking of any contracting job from Low's and Home Depot and you got good results, well a blind hog everyonce in a while can find a acrne. if you don't get too involved in the job to need any great skill in a job. You might get by with them.
And the choice I oferes was Fiat and Yugo. The Yugo was built from Fiat tooling.
If they are in fact the same models. Pella (just as a for instance) makes models carried by HD, but the Pella dealers offer a better line of products. Some products are identcial, youhave to watch.
I buy some things from them, but I also shop other stores. Why? They offer brands and models that are often superior to the ones carried in the big box stores. When I need a professional grade tool, I go to places like Coastal Tools.
As always, there will be exceptions. My point also was that I'd rather trust a local craftsman to do the work in my home as opposed to one doing the lowest bid at the big box stores. Ed
When I was doing contracting, before I became an inspector, I never had an ad in the Yellow Pages. Didn't want or need one. I had more than I could do taking care of jobs I got by word of mouth. I can't help but believe that a good workman doesn't need more than that. There aren't that many people around anymore that can do anything useful.
You are 100% right Dan. Around here (Florida) anyone good is always swamped with work. I am suspicious of contractors who advertise. I always have to wonder what is wrong with them if they have to resort to advertising to get work.
Of course when the bubble from the cheap refi money and the hurricane repairs is finally burst there will probably be a flip-flop in the business and it will become a buyers market.
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