NW Expressions

After searching Angie's List to find other contractors that either didn't call me back, refused to even give me an estimate and my favorite, the one that showed up, told me he could do it, gave me an estimate and then emailed me with, "I'm not available to remodel your kitchen" with absolutely no reasons given, I finally gave up and spoke with someone that I knew from my church who did remodeling that I didn't even know was on Angie's list! Rene came to our house, gave us an estimate and began work on 'my' kitchen within approximately 2 months (we are truck drivers so we aren't home a lot....that was the reason for the delay between estimate and work). He gave us the option of gutting our own kitchen to save us money, so my daughter had two of her friends (who had done this sort of thing before) come in and within a day, everything was out.....fridge, cabinet and sinks. We were able to keep our stove in the kitchen throughout the WHOLE remodel which was a blessing! Working with Christian men with great work ethics, our wiring in our kitchen was updated, we had new can lights put in our ceiling, holes in the lathe and plaster repaired, plumbing added for an ice maker and dishwasher, other plumbing updated, painting done and my kitchen door to my enclosed back porch replaced. Rene came over one day and said, "I'm going to block off this doorway and make it a wall and move your fridge here. Then I can add more counter space where your fridge is...how about that?" Not something we had thought of doing, but it was a great idea and we loved it. Instead of putting more counter space, however, we put a floor to ceiling pantry instead!! Talk about thinking outside the box! He was looking out for us by looking for ways to make our very small kitchen bigger! After our family took the peel and stick tiles off of our floor (another option for savings), Rene worked closely with our family to replace our wall cabinets first (so that I would have something to see when I came home for a couple of days of home time). Then our over-the-range microwave, base cabinets, new flooring, new sink and new dishwasher. We also had him add a garbage disposal (my first one ever!) and my all time favorite item...my on demand, hot water dispenser. At then end, he put some great glass tile back splash around our stove and sink/counter top area that looks awesome! I have outlets galore...more that I will probably ever use at one time! He also framed in our other doorway and our new back door to match the framing that is around our kitchen windows so that it pulls it all together! My kitchen is awesome with lots of cabinets, LOTS of counter space and all the extra conveniences that I have never had in 24 years of living in our house. My friends who have seen me tolerate my small, inconvenient kitchen for 24 years are AMAZED at the job that Rene and his sub-contractors did! One of my friends even said that my kitchen looks BIGGER, if that's at all possible! It was great having Rene and other Christian men working on 'my' kitchen, knowing that my daughter would not be subjected to leering, sexual innuendos, vulgar language and other inappropriate behavior during this whole process. And we knew that we were not going to get 'taken' by someone jacking up costs by adding things that we didn't need or want just so that they could line their own pockets! One of my friends knew someone who needed work done in her kitchen and was looking for someone, and it was wonderful to be able to refer a great Christian worker whom I know will do a great job and not take advantage of the family! I have a whole list of other projects I need Rene to do for me and am looking forward to his excellent attitude while he does his excellent work!