Kitchen Renovation Contractor Recommendation with Before and After Photo

that are good works .

john551

in Agents and Brokers 12 years and 5 months ago

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ps158 | 12 years and 6 months ago

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http://cdn.brownstoner.com/507190d4ed64c-.jpg

We’ve been meaning to write this post for some time, as we feel indebted to Brownstoner and fellow posters in helping us with all kinds of decisions during our kitchen and apartment renovation. Most importantly, a post on Brownstoner tipped us off to a wonderful contractor, Mentor Frangu/Altina Tile Care 917-692-6234, who we wholeheartedly recommend.  (Here is the original post that sold us:  http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/forum-archive/2011/05/kitchenbath-ren/ ~ Thank you designsmitten for sharing your experience!)

We hired Mentor this past Spring to completely re-do our kitchen, along with ripping out two closets and rebuilding them in different locations of our apartment, and some other small odds and ends (replacing light fixtures, adding shoe molding, extending a wall).  We would hire Mentor again in a heartbeat. He is totally hands-on, and he and his crew did a great job, were 100% reliable, worked super hard and quickly, and were so pleasant to deal with. He’s also just a genuinely nice guy and very honest.

To give you a more detailed description of the kitchen work they did (for all those new to kitchen renovations, as we were), they: ripped everything out of the old kitchen, disposed of all the old cabinetry/countertops, assembled & installed IKEA cabinets, a backsplash, new dishwasher, range, and over-the-range microwave, handled plumbing and electric. He did not install the countertop/sink, but recommended someone who did – Fabian – who did a great job too.  We were lucky to have found remnants of the exact color of caesarstone that we wanted, so we got it at a good price.  (I’m sorry I can’t find his info…But if you hire Mentor, you can ask him).

We designed the layout of the new kitchen ourselves (Ikea’s online kitchen planner), and though Mentor made certain helpful suggestions along the way, he ultimately followed our vision and gave us a kitchen that we are so happy with. The entire renovation took 4 weeks (including several days for refinishing the floors, which we hired other people to do) and Mentor finished up right on time as scheduled, which we hear is pretty unusual. The quality of the work they did was very good, and his prices were fair & reasonable.

Here is our before and after photo.  Good luck to you on your kitchens!

slopegirl | 12 years and 6 months ago

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nice post and nice looking reno

bobjohn | 12 years and 6 months ago

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I noticed hardwood floor. Do you like it? Is it easy to maintain?

ps158 | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Thanks slopegirl!  bobjohn: The floor has been fine as-is.  Admittedly though, I’ve been meaning to find an easy-to-clean rug for the space so I don’t have to worry so much about mopping up spills.  I guess if it REALLY annoyed me though, we’d already have the rug!  We considered tiling the floor, but A) the kitchen kind of flows out into the living area, and we thought it might look weird and abrupt to have tile, and B) we were on a budget.  We are happy w/ the look of the floors though. They were sanded and stained with Minwax Dark Walnut.  Since the floor is pine, the stain really brought out the pattern of the wood in a cool, funky way.  We’ve gotten lots of compliments on it.

CGmodern | 12 years and 6 months ago

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Congrats ps58! This is awesome! So glad someone else used Mentor and is giving a shout out as well! We all know (or not) how hard it is to find good people so when i find somone great, i’m telling everyone i know. And Mentor is such a nice guy i’m confident to recommend him to others!
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