Stange Plumbing & Design

.

We called Stange for an estimate for cabinetry, counter top, floors, lavatory, toilet, and so on, and the receptionist on the phone said that since we lived out of town, they would have to charge us to come outside of Hutchinson. We agreed. Steven Drake came to the house, measured the bathroom, and spent 2+ hours discussing the possibilities and layouts for the new bathroom. During that long visit, he dropped the names of some wealthy families in the area for whom Stange had remodeled baths and kitchens. He studied our space, looked at the plumbing down in the basement, drew possible layouts, and seemed to take copious notes. We told him that our $25,000 remodel budget for Stange's portion of the job for our 11' x 6' bathroom was firm. We knew that this was a complete demolition, down to the studs, and we told him that we would do all the demo work and call in our local plumber to do all the rough plumbing work (we budgeted this cost separate from Stange's portion). We asked if he thought that Stange could finish the project for $25k. He assured us that it could be done for that price. When he left, he said that he would give all of the measurements and notes to "the girls in the office" who would prepare layouts and designs and that we would be contacted within the week with an estimate. A week and a half later, I called to see if anything had been done. The woman I spoke to on the phone said that Steve needed more information, which is why he hadn't sent out a proposal. She said that he needed to know what our budget for the project was. I told her again that it was $25k. She said she would pass that along and that I should be hearing from him soon. Another week later, I still had not heard from him, so I called again. The receptionist said that he had been busy and would try to get to it soon. My weekly phone calls went on for 4 more weeks. Finally, a woman who sounded a bit older answered the phone. She pulled up my information and told me that Steve said we would need to increase our budget a little to get what we wanted. I asked her how much more. She said that we would need $50,00 - $60,000 to remodel the bathroom. I told her that was an unreasonable amount for such a small bathroom; moreover, doubling our budget was not an option. We did not hear from them again, nor did we receive a bill for the estimate.