Shop for a Contractor

Get bids from several contractors. Remember, while price is important, choosing the company with the lowest price “is not always the best idea,” warns Sara Ann Busby, vice president of the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

“It could be the quality of the materials the builder selected is different,” she notes, “or it could be that he or she missed something.”

Make sure the job specs are the same for each company. That means you need to be very specific about the products and materials you want used.

“Your idea and my idea of a high-end countertop may not be the same thing,” Busby says. “That seems to be out biggest problem — people don’t get what they thought they were getting quality-wise.”