COURTHOUSE KITCHENS & BATHS

Can't possibly say enough good things about Jim Gardiner - excellent "eye" for detail, a creative outlook, willing to engage in new ideas, and very adaptive to the customer's wishes (even when we didn't know how to make our notions real, he managed to take our unclear wishes and tone it down/or ramp it up so that we would get the effects we wanted). I interviewed many design/build firms in the area - and soon realized that no one had a lock on a great price - everyone came to about the same dollar estimate. For us, the fact that he was the only one who asked to see our current apartment (so that he could gauge our style) BEFORE he saw the condo we wanted to renovate, was a thoughtful quality we were very impressed with - and put him ahead right from the beginning.
We have now been in our condo for almost a year, and there is not a single thing we would change - we did have the luxury of time (living in our apt until all the work was finished), but that creates other kinds of stress providing time to second-guess decisions. His suppliers were quite cooperative; the silestone in the kitchen was done twice, since the first effort did not match his standards which are high. The cabinetry company that he works with did some fabulous custom work that was impeccable. He also has a broad local network of specialists to call on -- really superb craftspeople to handle such items as granite selection, stone cutting, carpeting, glass shelving, custom countertops in unusual materials, even intricate electrical switching and other odd but useful arrangements that suited us.
Jim was supportive and encouraging and his crew was wonderful. He was always reachable, and his prime guy-on-site Tim Starr (one of his leads) was meticulous, detail oriented, and a superb craftsman in any medium. He custom-built cabinets in our bar area, created perfect curves in a marble arch, laid the stone for the decorative wall, custom cut marble/slate floor in powder room, and took on various small projects that helped make this place the home we love!

The finished job is excellent. We got exactly what we asked for; no and quot;cheaping outand quot; on anything (as happened a few years ago with a different contractor doing another bath). Laurie is a great designer, and listened and discussed when we were not sure what we wanted. Workmanship seems excellent, and the crew was polite, neat, good at problem-solving, and patiently discussed options with us when decisions needed to be made on site (where to place soap dish, shampoo niche, towel bars, etc.). Larry, who led the crew, is excellent at his job.
As usual with projects like this, there were delays, mostly due to materials that were back-ordered or the wrong item ordered or delivered. So instead of two to three weeks, the job took five weeks, beginning to end. The bath was usable (except for lacking a shower rod) at 2 1/2 weeks or so. We think Laurie's attention to detail during the project work could be improved, but we don't know to what extent the and quot;wrong partand quot; issues were attributable to her vs. the suppliers. Laurie was also our project lead when Courthouse did our kitchen remodel about eight years ago, and we had similar minor problems then.
Responsiveness was good early on, but declined a bit toward the end. I think we should have tried to get a bigger and quot;holdbackand quot; written into the contract. Courthouse could have been more proactive at following up on missing/wrong parts, but we seem to have gone off their radar once the last big payment (and quot;working bathand quot;) was made and they only had about $1K remaining at stake.
Overall, we would use Courthouse again (this was our second job with them), and I suspect that the minor problems we experienced could happen with any contractor.

Courthouse Kitchens and Baths provided all of the cabinetry for our contractor to remodel our kitchen. They were meticulous in measurement and had great insight into small details about how edgings and moldings would need to match and work together. Their level of service and attention to detail is very high quality and worth any extra overhead one assumes when contracting them to assist.
Recently, we had an issue with one of our cabinet doors (3 years after the remodel). Courthouse Kitchens and Bath was very responsive and assisted in replacing it immediately.
Very much recommended!

Overall, we were pleased with the Courthouse Kitchens and Bath kitchen remodel. Their workers came on time and finished the project within the promised time frame. They minimized disruption to our normal life by suggesting that we keep the refrigerator in the house--on the other side of the kitchen wall in the dining room. When the back splash tile was the wrong size needed, their employees cut each tile individually to the correct size and shape. The only job Courthouse subcontracted, and they recommended a company in Washington, DC, was the floor installation. We were not impressed by the workmanship of the flooring installer.
The cost of the project was high, but they finished the kitchen in the amount of time promised with high quality workmanship.
A couple of years after Courthouse completed the kitchen, I hired them to remodel a bathroom.This project was less satisfactory than the kitchen remodel. It was not unsatisfactory, but it was not as happy an undertaking as the first remodel. The cost of the bathroom was much higher, comparatively, and the schedule was not as conscientiously followed. There were a few more scheduling gaps and a few more issues that needed correction, When the new tub was installed, it opened a hole in the ceiling of the bathroom below it. I was not pleased with the patch job (a square of wallboard) they used to cover the hole. Overall, the cost of the bathroom remodel was higher than the quality of the workmanship.

It went well. Aside from a few glitches that we were able to work through, they were able to provide our general contractor with the measurements and materials to install a beautiful kitchen. The measurements were very precise for an old 1940's brick colonial without a right angle in the house- everything ended up being within a margin of about 1/4and quot; or less!! That's very good!

Courthouse Kitchens and Baths are professional. Their design service is expert. I've used them for remodeling my kitchen in the past. There's nobody who is much better in designing than them. Everything they do is done well and is high quality. Their designs are unique. They help you a lot in creating a look. That's why I've used them twice, so far. My interactions with all the workers was very good.

The service was excellent. The work was high quality.

While the estimated price was higher than other contractors we checked with, I chose to go with CKand B because of some previous good Angie's List recommendations and because they assured me they could complete the work in two weeks. When your most important consideration is time, the price is secondary. They completed the work on time (except for installation of venting for the fan, which is being done today), despite having to take an extra day to replace rotting plywood around the commode and tub drains from years of water damage. The tile work is especially nice, and the workers were responsive to my concerns to set the tiles appropriately to hide a slight unevenness in the walls of our older house. The crews were generally neat and clean, using drop cloths from the front door, up the stairs to the bathroom. They noticed that the old vanity had structural problems and allowed me the opportunity to shop for a new one to replace it, a development which pleased me as I found a deeper and taller one more appropriate for my growing children. The team did scrape the paint on the bathroom door early on, probably when removing the original tub - I'd recommend they simply take the door off the hinges next time. And there will be a next time: I plan on having them update the master bathroom in Summer 2012. I'm pleased with this bathroom update and will be happy to show it off, but more importantly, Laurie helped us meet our expectations (as to time and good-featured solid product). I'm sure, from listening to her conversations with other customers, that KCand B does excellent fancy high-end work too. It's nice that she didn't try to steer us into an unnecessary Cadillac when we needed a solid Buick - but to carry the car analogy a little farther, we have a nice shiny Buick. Who knows? Because we really like the tiling work, we may re-do our kitchen flooring in 2013 with them.

Everyone was very professional, neat and on time.

I was very happy with the designer as well as the workers. They did a custom bookcase for me. Once completed, I was not happy with a few aspects of it. They told me that they would fix it for $800. I was not happy about this part.

Overall, the work went very well. My kitchen looks great! I worked closely with the designer to make sure all my requirements met. A few months after the work was completed I noticed that as the cabinets expanded and contracted with the change in temperature that many of the doors and drawers were showing seams and unpainted wood around the moldings. I contacted Courthouse and they in turn brought a representative from the cabinet maker to investigate. The representative took one look and said we stand by our work; we will replace all of this and three months later all new doors and drawers were installed.

Process was bumpy at the start, one week delay in starting, and misunderstanding causing further delay while permits were pulled. Pace of work very uneven, partly because of back-ordered floor tile (should have been ordered earlier) and incorrect countertop color (fabricator's fault). General contractor quite good, though his control of subs lacked a little. The subcontractors varied in quality. Electrician was bad, left us with no phone one day, no A/C another, left tools around outdoors, generally sloppy. Plumber very good. Nice, clean work. Flooring contractors did very good installation of flooring, but a bit less good finishing (not as good as people who have refinished our floors elsewhere in house). We are quite pleased with final product. Courthouse was pretty good about responding to our concerns, played straight on costs.

I was very pleased with the work done by this company. They are not inexpensive, but the quality of work is excellent. They are very responsive in working through any issues that arise in any major renovation. I have now hired them to renovate my kitchen.