Home Post #2: Renovation Recommendations

ShirlingtonCircle (SC) has done quite a few renovations in the past year, from heaters, a full kitchen and bathroom renovation. So have some NOVA relatives. Here are some solid recommendations:

1. Sears Home Improvement: Yeah, you heard right. They do great work, and they have some great products (cabinets are better than Home Depot and Lowe's and counter surfaces were very comparable) . And the people (planners to contractors)are top notch. I was completely surprised at their quality, to be honest. We had our kitchen totally gutted, with new cabinets, stainless, and granite. Their options are semi-custom, so if you want made to measure $100K cabinets, then don't look here (but if you put $100k into a kitchen, I think you didn't watch the right HGTV show). They were competitive (we had 4 bids), fast, and come with a 100% guarantee (no kidding). They also offer discounts on appliances, from Bosch to LG to Kenmore Elite. Their website doesn't to them justice: http://www.searshomepro.com/. They aren't a totally rip out walls contractor, they're more a remodeling/upgrade place. Biggest challenge is making sure you're organized.

2. Grimsley Renovations (http://grimsleyrenovations.com/index.html): Jarrod Grimsley does great work. He has great attention to detail and is very competitive price-wise. He'll use just about any materials you want, and rip out walls if you want. He did our bathroom and had some great suggestions. Biggest challenge is getting on his calendar!

3. Studio 57 / Michael and Sons (http://studio57design.com/): The design professionals are great. Pretty reasonable, but you can really go high end ($$$) with them really quickly. A wide variety of products and finishes. These guys will tear it up and rip it out any way you want. However, you have to stay on them to make sure they finish things to your liking (since you're paying). Biggest challenge, keeping to a budget.  My brother used this company for a bathroom and partial kitchen renovation, they did great work.