Heather Cox Artisan

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Heather was nothing short of amazing! On time, a written estimate and her workmanship was truly artistic!! I would have given her an A++++ if I could! I will certainly recommend her to all my friends and to Angie's list. She is really an "artisan!" She is also a really great person. I would hire her again in a heart beat.

Our experience was good. You have to learn not to discuss politics with her. She is very outspoken, and sometimes, she gets carried away. She explained everything to us. The work she did, and got done, was all excellent. Compared to everyone else, her prices were very good. We would use her again.

Despite the weather throwing us a curve, and time expended on my unusual paint scheme attempt, it went very well. The final price was based on the hours expended at various levels of skill, and came in just a little higher than the estimate. Heather normally does not do paint jobs that are not associated with other work, like cabinet refacing. But she is a very friendly, cooperative person assuming the homeowner is reasonable and fair. She has a great sense of design as well as the skills to handle the job like the pro she is.

Having had some bad experiences with contractors for other services, I was very nervous about hiring someone to do the cabinet refacing. We're happy with the layout of the kitchen and really didn't want the hassle of a total cabinet replacement. But we needed a new sink, faucet, disposal and countertops, so decided on refacing. I sent an e-mail to a couple of companies, including Heather Cox, Artisan. It explained that I've been burned too many times and really needed a quality, professional job. I also explained that it would be a challenge as the previous homeowner had constructed the cabinets himself and there were some odd locations and sizes, etc. I also explained that my brother is a carpenter/contractor but lives several states away, or I'd be having him do the job. And I mentioned that we are pretty fair do-it-yourselfers, so we would have a reasonably good understanding of what was going on. Heather Cox was the only one to respond. She came to do an estimate and spent a lot of time with me, reviewing everything I wanted to do, examining the existing cabinets, asking good questions, providing some excellent suggestions and advice and showing me options on styles and materials. That was on March 21. On March 25 I asked her for a formal estimate for two different material choices. She gave me a rough idea and explained that she'd be out of town for family business for a week. I received the estimate on April 6, and found it quite acceptable. She sent me a sample of the beech veneer so I could see the natural finish color, and scheduled to do the measuring on April 11. Based on the time it takes to get the doors ordered and delivered, she thought she might get started by May 1, but that some of the work (like staining and lacquering, building the base cabinet) would be done at her workshop before she started at our house. On April 11, she arrived and took a healthy amount of time carefully doing the measuring, asking questions as she went (like how close together should the doors be). She got the doors and other materials on order and explained that it would work best if the countertops could be installed before she finished. My husband and I went out and ordered granite countertops, and bought a new sink, faucet, and disposal. We also bought a wooden outlet cover and a dark GFI outlet to replace the white ones on the side of the island, which stuck out like sore thumbs. She stained the outlet cover and even installed the GFI outlet. Heather did get started during the first week of May. She was very well equipped with tools, hardware and everything else she needed. She even brought her own radio to listen to as she worked and beverages to drink. She was painstaking in her work, and answered our questions along with asking us when there were two or more ways something could be done. She brought her own window-mount air blower to keep lacquer fumes to a minimum. Every day when she finished work, she cleaned up entirely, stowing her gear away out of sight, stacking materials out of the way, brushing down countertops, and sweeping the floor. We had set up temporary kitchen arrangements in our laundry room and living room, but we were able to use the sink, stove, and microwave in the kitchen to prepare supper when we chose to eat in. Above the cabinets on the stove wall, there was a wooden enclosure for the range exhaust duct. It was stained to match the old cabinets, but Heather suggested it would look much less obtrusive if it were painted to match the wall. She did that and painted that entire wall. The doorway has bullnose edges but there is no visible demarcation in the paint at all. The painting work was just as excellent as the cabinet work. Heather was very friendly and we had some nice chats, but she was never intrusive and always very courteous. We very quickly felt well acquainted enough to go out to lunch or shopping while she was working, and provide her with a garage door opener in case she needed to go out while we weren't home. We were given absolutely no reason to regret those actions. The job took a bit longer than she had anticipated. I had to go out of town for a week, and she tried hard to finish before I left so I could take photos along with me. But she did not want to rush things and make any mistakes, so she completed most of it the following week while my husband was here. What remained was held for me to make a decision on where to place knobs on base cabinets, and some trim to be done when the countertops were installed. She was right there as soon as they were done, and finished the scribe molding that same day. One misstep occurred when she accidentally drilled the wrong side of a cabinet door for the hinges. However, she took it to her shop and reversed the panel so it appears normal, at the same time ordering a new door (at her own expense) which she will stain, lacquer, drill and install to replace the "temporary" one. I have no doubts whatsoever that she will do that, and with the same quality she has shown throughout. The cabinets look so beautiful that even the granite installers exclaimed at the work she did. When our pest control serviceman arrived, he walked in and said "WOW!". We are utterly thrilled with the kitchen. Can't wait for all of our friends to see it! We need to do a couple of other things to make it "perfect" (things we didn't hire her to do), but it's terrific as it is. Even with the extra hours Heather put in, we only paid the amount she quoted to us. She seems to care very much about the quality of her work and it shows. She's a one-person show -- no sales people making exaggerations or empty promises. I will definitely call her again whenever I have an opportunity to use her services.

Heather is a true artisan. If the customer wants work done but needs help picking colors and deciding on things, Heather is good at that. She knows what will look good. On the other hand, if the customer knows what they want, Heather will do it exactly. In a separate job a month earlier, she replaced my kitchen countertops and did an exceptionally professional job. She takes care of all the little details that make a job look complete. Her prep work before painting is very thorough, which makes the job look all the better.