Serving Queensbury, NY and surrounding areas
Approved
In business since 2011
Free estimates
Credit card accepted
"Based on the many Angie's List positive reviews and Angie's List awards given to this vendor, I decided to go with them and not get additional quotes. My gut told me otherwise, and I should have listened. I am pleased with the overall result, however; it just took some aggravation to get to that point. I have been reluctant to post this review, but as an Angie's List member I feel at least obligated to do so.
Perhaps I expect too much from contractors, holding a countertop fabricator I employed last October as the "gold standard" of quality, professionalism, responsiveness, cleanliness, and a positive attitude. With SE Kitchens I felt an overall negative attitude, and I think it carried over into the work. Skip, the owner, and two other men arrived in three separate trucks. Two of the trucks backed over two of my orange driveway-marker sticks, and I knew then we were off to a bad start. Although they took care to lay down heavy drop cloths across all my floors, they still left debris, from those cloths, that I had to clean up. After they left, I discovered I had quite a bit of bathroom cleaning to do. There were black marks on the side of the toilet, black marks on my white floor tile (I panicked when I saw what looked like a tile crack, but fortunately it was not), and debris on the floor of the linen closet. There were dirt marks (like dirty fingerprints) on my new white cabinet. There were dirt marks on part of a replaced chair railing. I could clean all that myself (and did), but then I started to notice that the applied caulk was not only in the seams of the granite (as it should be!), but on the horizontal surface itself in many places. The caulk was simply applied with a lack of attention to detail (my opinion). Though the caulk is clear, it is not invisible. There is white caulk that was spread too wide between the replaced chair railing and the painted wall above it. (I will have to attempt to paint over that strip of caulk.) Finally, the black gasket under the fixture is crooked. The gasket issue is an aesthetic thing and I notice it. But since the granite, too, is black, it's not as offensive as it otherwise could be. After all that, I discovered three tiny nicks along the edge of the granite, and I was quite concerned about those. (It turns out they are not going to create a problem.)
On a positive note, I was pleased to see Skip take extra precaution when he used a torch to work on the plumbing in the wall!
The height of the cabinet I bought from him is 34-1/2" - an unpleasant discovery when I saw it being installed in my bathroom! I had expected the usual 30" height, and panicked when I saw how high it is. Skip replied that "Nobody buys 30" anymore; no more back-breaking." (I.e., I won't have to bend over so much when using the sink. True, but I'm 5' 9", and I wonder how a person 8 or 9 inches shorter would respond.) In any case, I was not given a choice. I was not aware there are two different heights available. Another positive note: unlike the saleswoman who I encountered on my first visit, Skip did a terrific job helping me with the selection process of the cabinet and top. He worked with me to keep the cost down to a level with which I was comfortable, and which really did give me what I wanted and needed.
Now, based on how I generally felt through this entire experience I was very uncomfortable with the idea of calling Skip to complain about the caulking and the nicks. I did finally call, but it was not returned. I called again several days later, and, Skip being there, took my call. He was very responsive and came to my house -- I think the next morning. He didn't give me any grief about it, as I had somewhat feared. He was pleasant, assured me the nicks were not an issue, and I am satisfied. He removed the excess caulk, and showed me that all it takes to remove it is a single-edge razor blade. "You can use [granite] as a cutting board," he then told me. (This is my first-ever granite piece and did not know what I can and cannot do to it.)
In the end, as I indicated at the beginning of this review, I am very pleased with my new vanity. The black granite itself adds a lot of class to my bathroom, replacing a pedestal sink that offered minimal surface space and, of course, no storage space.
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+3
