Sandwich Kitchens & Construction

unknown

The quality of the cabinets was excellent. The installation of the cabinets. Completed in a timely manner. Pricing was exceptional.

Believed I was contracting with a full service kitchen remodeler, however Sandwich Kitchens only provided services of cabinet demolition, cabinet design, and cabinet install. The showroom for the business is run out of the home of the owner. He stated it cuts down costs, but it makes interactions awkward. An example of the awkwardness was during the design phase we sat in a "computer room" of the house and interactively reviewed / updated the design. Another time at the owners house we needed to review some design changes and needed to sit in the formal dining room because a family member was using the computer. Later on I learned that cabinet design and install is not the owners only occupation. The first quote I received for signature was full of caveats for products I was not purchasing. When I called this to his attention the owner, Keith, he did make modification to the quote to remove the things that did not apply to the remodeling of my kitchen. One item that was removed from the original quote draft and not in the signed quote was that I needed to pay an hourly rate for appliance installation. The quote process was "unpolished" and was a work in progress. I believed I was getting a general contractor with Kieth, but after laying out a few thousand dollars I discovered that I also had to manage and pay some of the additional needed contractors (flooring, window install, plumber, electrician). Some quotes came in stating that Sandwich Kitchen was the customer while other quotes listed me as the customer. Keith first wanted an additional18% on top of each contractor quote, but later reduced the price to 15% of the contractors estimate. For the 15% Kieth recommended contractors, scheduled meetings with the contractors to provide quotes, and published an overall project schedule to me and the contractors. The counter top vendor was handled differently. Keith signed the estimate and handled all interactions between the counter top vendor and himself. The counter top vendor was paid by Keith and was part of the written quote given me by Sandwich Kitchens. This was a source of confusion for me. A few times Kieth asked us what style and color of cabinets we wanted to order after we sat down and decided with Kieth writing down the cabinet style and color. This cause us to travel to his home / showroom to verify the cabinet choices again. A provision in the quote that later became a problem was that all appliances needed to be on-site before demolition of the kitchen. We did purchase new appliances (oven, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator) as part of the remodel. The appliance store normally delivers and installs the appliances in the kitchen. These appliances needed to be stored in the garage until the remodel was complete. I paid the normal deliver fee to the appliance dealer. Keith verbally told me that he would move the appliances from the garage and into the kitchen. Below I will explain why this became a problem. The flooring contractor removed an existing linoleum floor and installed wood floor in the kitchen. He needed to refinish all connecting wood floors to blend in the new floor. The contractor misread Keith's schedule and we lost almost an entire day in the remodeling project because of the contractor's mistake. Toward the end of the kitchen remodel, two issues we had with the kitchen were: length and width of the kitchen sink counter top opening and one piece of molding around the refrigerator. The counter top opening is 1" smaller that the sink specified width and 3/4" smaller than the sink length. This keeps us from finding a in-sink strainer which fits these sinks. The loss of width and length should have been brought to our attention. The second issue was a piece of molding to the right of the refrigerator that did not look as professional as the rest of the kitchen. We had a discussion with Keith over what could be done. It was clear to me that Keith did not view these two issues as a problem. My wife and I decided to drop the molding issue rather than pursue it further with Keith. Once Kieth felt the cabinet build was done he had a very different attitude towards us. He became very short a abrupt and explained to me, on one occasion, that there is a certain type of individuals that just wants to complain. Our flooring contractor recommended that after a final coat of poly was placed on the floor to wait a few days before moving heavy appliances across the floor. Keith has offered to move the appliances from the garage to the kitchen. Based on the flooring contractor recommendation I delayed having Keith move the appliances for a few days. On the day he agreed to move the appliances he stated he would be over around noon, Kieth called that morning and said he had a family appointment and would show up around 3 pm. At 5 pm he finally arrived with a helper. When I mentioned to him I expected him at 3 pm, he brought up my delay from the time the cabinets were done to when I wanted the appliances moved. (Remember the flooring contractors told me to hold off on moving heavy pieces across the floor for a few days to let the poly to cure.) The refrigerator was moved to the center of the kitchen and the range was brought into the kitchen. His worker was cut by the stove as he set it down in the kitchen. Kieth and the worker left to get the worker medical attention. I was left with the install of the kitchen range. Kieth had done all the measuring to insure the appliance fit and was not around for the large appliance installs. The range proved to be difficult because the back on the counter top was lower than the front. The range install needed to be done that evening since the range was in the middle of the floor an the plumber was due early next day to install the dishwasher, the kitchen sink drains, kitchen faucet, and make the water connection to the refrigerator. The plumber helped me move the refrigerator into the opening. Final appliance leveling was left to me. Keith provided a very good design, listened and reacted to our comments and concerns during the design phase. He was a true craftsman with the installation of the cabinets. He worked long hours during the install of the cabinets, even both days of a weekend. However, once the cabinets were installed and Keith determined he was done he requested immediate final payment. Final payment was approximately 6% of the total cost of the kitchen. This change in Keith was unexpected and caught me off guard. Because of this change in his attitude I have reservations before engaging Keith for future work.

unknown

Keith is very professional with extraordinary attention to detail. The project was completed on time and on budget. I would not hesitate to hire Sandwich kitchens for future projects.

Keith was very professional and responsive. His costs were very competitive and he worked closely with us to get the exact design we expected. We never even went into his shop, and he was very helpful via phone and email. He helped resolve an issue we had with our counter top supplier and we were very pleased by his proactive approach. Keith was in our home for approximately 2 days working very carefully and precisely. His work and craftsmanship were top notch. We would recommend Keith and Sandwich Kitchens.

Keith Petipas is an outstanding contractor, and Sandwich Kitchens is top notch. I very much enjoyed working with him, and found him to represent the very highest of professional and ethical standards. He was personable, respectful, and did an outstanding job on every aspect of this large job. He worked with me in developing an appropriate budget for the project, and enabled me to maximize the level of renovation with what was a reasonable level of investment. The quality of the products that he recommended is excellent, and I have not regretted for a minute hiring Mr. Petipas, and Sandwich Kitchens, to handle the project for us. I had several contractors provide estimates for this work, and Mr. Petipas was far and away the most reasonable, and professional, of all of the contractors who offered bids. His personal, one-on-one attention to service and detail was exemplary, and I am just sooooo grateful to him for the work that he did. I have recommended him to others, and would feel fully confident in doing so to anyone. We have only a small kitchen space, and Mr. Petipas was able to really design a new kitchen that provided us the very most in storage and amenities for the limited space that we have. From the very first design that he developed, I knew that we were in good hands! He kept our living areas as clean and organized as possible during the whole process, and worked closely with us so that we were not inconvenienced during the project.

Excellent job! Contractor was always available for questions and help with ordering appliances, He also helped with the choices we made with cabinets, hardware and countertop.