VOLUNTEER KITCHENS

==>The good: *Quality: The work done actually by Volunteer Kitchens (VK) is difficult to fault (and this is what we note as "A" in the ratings). We are quite pleased with the new kitchen design (we designed the general floor layout, but VK "filled in the blanks"), and we really do like the spaciousness of the open plan den/sunroom/kitchen. There were mistakes, but VK corrected them - either having noted the errors themselves, or after they were brought to their attention. (Of course, some of the mistakes should have been avoided in the first place!). We should note that the flooring subcontractor who installed the ceramic tile did a superb job as well. ==>The tolerable: *Price: Things cost what they do, but we did experience "budget creep" with the project. We do, though, acknowledge our share in this. ==>The bad: *Time: From actual start of demolition to finish of project took almost seven calender months - a long time to be without a kitchen. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of 'dead time' during this calender period. We did not know sometimes whether workers would be on-site or not... which can be very frustrating. *Communication: Tied to the timing, we weren't kept informed about schedules and delays. *Subcontractors: Work done by some of the subcontractors was below par. This applies to the deck, issues with the framing for the fireplace, some of the drywall work, and to the guttering. We suspect that some of these might have been avoided with more direct supervision by VK. ===The bottom line: *The "would we use this company again" is marked "yes" because there is no "maybe" or "it depends". If we could be assured of more direct supervision of the project by a VK principle, then we would definitely consider it. We know several other families who have used VK and their remarks to us have been similar: good quality but not great communication.