CARL'S MICA DESIGNS

First, don't be limited in your view of this company because it has the words "Mica Designs" in its name. It is true that Carl is adept at making formica covered furniture and cabinets, but now he mostly works with wood kitchen cabinets. I first encountered Carl close to 20 years ago when I was seeking someone to make a long narrow formica-covered table to fit behind my sofa. I found him in the yellow pages. That table came out precisely as I wanted, and several years later I asked him to make a small formica-covered table with drawers for my kitchen. About 4 months ago my wife and I decided that our formica kitchen cabinets were old-fashioned, so we went to a well-regarded local company specializing in kitchen and bath remodeling. We had wanted highly modern white acrylic cabinets. The firm did not offer them, but we were convinced to settle for painted white cabinets. We also wanted three new granite countertops to replace our old the formica ones, and the the remodeling firm recommended a particular granite fabricator. (We would be getting some new appliances, but that was our responsibility.) We got to the point where the remodeling firm totaled up the cost of our project; it was far more than we wanted to spend. I then suggested to my wife that we should ask Carl if he wanted to bid on the cabinetry work. He visited our home and told us that we could get the look we wanted by simply refacing our existing cabinets in acrylic on wood. We also asked him to change some of the cabinets from from doors to drawers, and since we were buying a different sized oven and a drawer microwave, to build new cabinets for these. Carl recommended a different granite fabricator. Because Carl's bid was so good, and the granite farbicator he recommended charged far less than the one recommended by the remodeling firm, the new cost was half what the remodeling firm had quoted. The entire project is now completed. Carl turned out to be the best craftsman we have ever worked with. He was very good about keeping us informed of his schedule and showing up when he said he would. More importantly, he is extraordinarily conscientious and meticulous in his work. He is not satisfied until everything looks perfect. From time to time we would change our minds about what we wanted, and Carl always accomomdated us without complaint and without charging extra, even if it meant a small amount of extra work. In fact, he needs to come back for one of the changes and I will insist on paying him even though he said it wasn't necessary. At first, my wife was a little nervous about using Carl rather the the remodeling firm, but by the time the project was over she became his biggest fan. We cannot say enough good things about the quality of his work and what a nice guy he is. Going with Carl turned out to be a great decision in all respects.