Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Home Depot Install

I am glad to say I just had Home Depot do a dry installation of Oak Craft Maid cabinets and to keep it brief they did a great job the men were fantastic, I could not have asked for a better job.

Congratulations on a successful installation.

Home Depot, Lowes and other middlemen (that's what they are) generally contract with reputable companies to do the work. The only problem I have with this, is the extra 20% you will pay for going through them. You will save money every time dealing with the contractor directly.

The extra 20% probably covers the increased costs to the big box stores by licensed and insured contractors. They use contractors who have worker's compensation insurance and liability insurance. Worker's comp covers a worker if injured on the job. Most home owner's insurance policies will not. Liability insurance covers any damage to your property.

It is always best to go with licensed and insured contractors. Get a copy of their licenses and call the agencies to see if they are current. Paying a little more can save you money in the long run in the event of injury or death or damage to your property.

I try to save money where I can in this case a "DRY INSTALLATION" where I had the place ready for them to install just the cabinets. Plumbing, electrical done by licensed friends so it helps to keep the cost down and still have a quality job. Thanks for the replys.

Keep in mind that 'extra 20%' warranties the work. Depending on the job, for a lifetime. Get that from a local contractor.

I had HD do a great job much cheaper (30%) than another "non-big box store". It went great time-wise and convenient.

Knowing that I could not get a guarantee on the same crew, I made sure I got a number so I could control who did the next job. - It came out much cheaper that the first and just as good.

I had coffee and donuts for the first job and they brought it for the second!

Usta work there (sales, not install). What the OP had done, hmm maybe, if I was pressed for time, or had no clue. As heresjohnny said...flooring...no way, at least where I was located. I had some guys who did doors, they did great jobs, esp when you were dealing with 50-75 y/o homes.

Just like anything else, ask for references and referrals, if you have a good installer (as they call 'em there) he'll be happy to give you a few.

I'll never criticize anyones work to anyone else, I just wouldn't ever recommend them to anyone, and if asked, tell the truth.

Some of the worst tile installations I've ever seen have been done by HD installers. Sorry but I'm not impressed.:)



Keep in mind that those "HD Installers" don't work for HD, they are private contractors, just like many of the people on this board that bad mouth the installs done by 'HD Installers'. While their work reflects on HD because that's who the customer contracted with, ultimately it is the contractor who laid the tile who did the poor work. If enough customers complain about the work that installer did, that installer won't be on HD's call list anymore.

Very true Pendragon

Part of the problem is with the requirements that HD puts on the installers (background checks, credit checks, etc). Many companies do not want all the hassle. Some I knew liked working for HD because they did not have to look for business or advertise. Though most (not all!) had their own work going on outside HD.

Funniest thing I thought was that we had 2 installers (1 doors & windows, 1 flooring) who worked for both HD and Lowes? That always seems like a conflict to me, maybe the upper echelon never knew, not sure.

These days it pays to be minimally computer savvy. The Internet is full of complaints and horror stories about ALL of the big box stores. Just like some of the people that come here. They ruin a bunch of stuff blundering into some project without researching anything first and they listen to what some pimply-faced kid tells them about how to do something, then come here wanting free advice on what to do next and how to fix it. Same with the big box installations. Consumers are brainwashed into trusting the big name then get screwed with no real recourse. In a lot of cases it seems the manner-of-the-day is to simply ignore complaints and hopefully they will just go away.:)

The installer may be a hack but it's up to the big box weed them out in the name of consumer satisfaction. The problem there is.....the big boxes subcontract their installations to a subcontractor that subcontracts to a subcontractor. Everybody gets a piece of the pie until little is remaining to pay the actual installer. Professional installers can't work for some of those wages. The only way to make a living at those rates is to operate in retro-boost all the time and then mistakes are abundant.:)

The best way to offset the rates is to conjure up extras and charge extra every time they have to ring someones doorbell.:)