The complexity of kitchen remodels makes it unfortunately easy for unscrupulous professionals to take advantage of homeowners and charge them for services that either aren’t needed or are overpriced. Below are the ways different professionals can steal from their clients.
Architects
Architects are not qualified to design kitchens unless they happen to work for a cabinet dealership. However, they regularly charge clients substantial amounts for their time and for drawings that professional kitchen designers often consider ridiculous. Most qualified kitchen designers will tell you that the most problematic designs they see come from architects. It takes years of designing kitchens in many different cabinet brands to become a good kitchen designer. To add insult to injury, the greater majority of cabinet showrooms and cabinet dealers include the cost of designing a kitchen in the cost of the cabinetry that they sell!
So, actually qualified kitchen designers will do at NO cost the same design work architects charge high hourly rates for. And the architects’ designs are generally useless?!
Removing load bearing walls also does not require an architect. Those drawings should be done by an engineer after the kitchen is designed by a kitchen design professional. Contractors generally have relationships with very affordable engineers who will do the needed drawings. An architect who doesn’t recommend this approach is stealing from you. I won’t tell you how frequently we see that.
Alternatively, architectural plans are needed for putting an addition on a home. BUT those plans will ALSO need to be modified by a professional kitchen designer. Important!! – never get too far along or begin construction before bringing the kitchen drawings to a kitchen designer. And reminder – there is NO cost for their input.
Unfortunately, all too often, we see terrible designs with many mistakes after a homeowner’s addition has been framed. This makes essential adjustments and corrections more costly.
Interior designers
Interior designers also are not qualified to design kitchens. Their help should be limited to color and style advice. Homeowners should also keep in mind that most kitchen designers as well as the sales people at tile stores, countertop stores, and paint stores are frequently more experienced coordinating colors and styles than most interior designers. This is because it is what they do every day. And they get paid commission so they wouldn’t make a living if their advice wasn’t valuable. Interior designers are paid by the hour. Similar to architects charging for input on areas they don’t really know, the knowledgeable professionals don’t charge for better work than what interior designers charge hourly for.
General Contractors
General contractors that sell you cabinets do NOT save you money. They increase the price of the cabinetry before selling it to you and increase what they make on your renovation. Home owners should buy cabinets DIRECTLY from a cabinet dealer or home center. Contractors that direct you to “their cabinet guy” are also usually getting a kickback possibly at your expense. These professionals can steal sometimes 50 percent of the cabinet costs with their padding.
Some kitchen design professionals can steal from clients
Kitchen designers who provide cabinet pricing for designs done by other designers are usually overcharging homeowners and giving them less expensive products. Home owners aren’t knowledgeable enough to understand the subtle changes in cabinetry that less scrupulous designers tend to offer. READ THIS BLOG to understand.
Lastly, beware of people selling you flooring, fixtures and other materials directly. These professionals are also stealing from you without telling you. Sometimes even representing the pricing as discounted when it is padded with their fees.
Main Line Kitchen Design’s mission is to provide every homeowner with the best kitchen available. This includes honest and reasonable pricing. Feel free to contact us with questions as you navigate the process. Regardless of who you work with, we want you to have a successful renovation. Of course, we eager to have you work with us. Bon Appetit!
