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NO NO NO NO. I have been around this country a bit but I have never seen a Menards but I suspect they are almost as bad as your popular big box stores. These big box stores do not have staff to do the work. They hire clowns with minimal screening. These clowns are local contractor who happen to take on Home Depot work too. HD will contact the clowns with a job asking for a price. The clown wants $2000 for the job. HD will double that price and charge you the poor unsuspecting consumer $4000. Now all you had to do was find a trust-able local contractor to do that job and you just saved yourself 2 grand. Holly sheet now that is some serious savings huh?
Now for the challenge. Finding a trust-able contractor. Ask friends, ask neighbors, use your church bulletin ads on back. I will even recommend the franchise handyman companies which are in every city because they do screen their people and even give warranties on their work.
You don't know me or who I am. All I can do is tell you to trust me when I tell you that using those clowns hired by the big box stores you will be in for a heap of trouble and never ending nightmares. Good luck to you.
I second what DesertSun said. Don't use the installation service from the big box stores. Too much money, and if things don't go well, too much headache getting it sorted out.
Hire someone local, via word of mouth, church bulletins, etc. Also try rental and property management companies, as a lot of them will have a short list of contractors they've used and will recommend.
The only place I don't agree is with the handyman franchises. You'll end up paying more because of it being a franchise than you would if you hired a knowledgeable local handyman. Not to say they aren't good at what they do, but being a handyman myself I know what the price difference is between what I charge and what they charge. Trust me, they're charging more and the guy doing the work isn't making as much as I do. The key is to hire someone with good references. Ask for numbers of customers they've had to go back and fix their screw-ups for. If they say they don't have any, move on to the next guy. We all make mistakes, no matter how good we are.
After my nightmare having a big box store deliver and install my dishwasher I would NEVER allow them to install anything in my home again. Accountability is a nightmare.
Installing a shower stall is a huge job that you truly want a professional to do. Too much damage can be done by a poorly executed job.
I second what DesertSun said. Don't use the installation service from the big box stores. Too much money, and if things don't go well, too much headache getting it sorted out.
Hire someone local, via word of mouth, church bulletins, etc. Also try rental and property management companies, as a lot of them will have a short list of contractors they've used and will recommend.
The only place I don't agree is with the handyman franchises. You'll end up paying more because of it being a franchise than you would if you hired a knowledgeable local handyman. Not to say they aren't good at what they do, but being a handyman myself I know what the price difference is between what I charge and what they charge. Trust me, they're charging more and the guy doing the work isn't making as much as I do. The key is to hire someone with good references. Ask for numbers of customers they've had to go back and fix their screw-ups for. If they say they don't have any, move on to the next guy. We all make mistakes, no matter how good we are.
You are right. But those big franchises charge more because they are insured heavy and sometimes even bonded, and people presumably will pay more to a brick and mortar store rather then some guy with a pick up truck, a tool box and a phone number. That does not mean all the little guys without a store are bad and untrustworthy. People are more comfortable giving deposits to big stores and franchises because they feel some comfort that they will not run away with that deposit. The consumer will pay for this comfort and the big box stores are happy to charge more.
Sure these big box stores will not run away with your money but they do charge the total bill up front in full. No deposits. This leaves room for bad service because they have NO ZERO ZILCH motive to fix problems because they already have your money.
On the other hand with the little guy, if something goes wrong then the consumer does not pay the balance till the work is complete and satisfactory.
I haven't tried it yet, but people keep telling me you can learn to tile yourself pretty easily. Or find a local guy to do it for you, there's usually lots of them looking for work (try craigslist even) and you can ask them for a free estimate, references, and photos of their work.
Tiling is actually 'fairly'* easy, but a shower stall probably isn't the place to start learning. Even with the semi-fabricated products like Kerdi that are out now, you really don't want to practice your handy skills on an enclosure designed to contain water.
* Tiling is back-breaking, knee-crunching work. Learning how to do it properly takes lots of practice, and the physical stamina to stay in a contorted kneeling position for lengthy periods of time while picking up heavy objects (especially when working on floors). However, next to painting, it's probably the most satisfying work I do.
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