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Blackman is very pushy with the high end stuff. I went to a couple different Blackman when doing my reno a few years ago and their salesmen are not that nice either. Now maybe their tune has changed since the bubble burst. Just do your brand-name homework before you go in there. My DH had to tell them in so many words that we weren't interested in paying $1000 for a kitchen faucet.
We had good luck at Artista kitchens in Huntington for our reno. They are on Jericho just west of Route 110.
efaucets.com - for any plumbing needs. I went to Blackmann for a Farm sink and they wanted $1300 without the faucet (Stainless). I went onto efaucet.com and paid $550 shipped - It came with the faucet, grate, and drain
I felt greenart and blackman didn't want to sell me anything on the less expensive side. the salespeople were generally nice enough, except 1 girl, but they seem to think its perfectly normal to spend $500-1000 on a bathroom faucet, which maybe it is for them, but not for me.
I was trying to shop there as a slight step up from Home depot in quality and found them starting higher than where HD ended.
I eventually turned to Faucetdirect.com and bought my fixtures there. I tried to go to blackman to see if A) I could see the Delta fixtures or B) they could pricematch the online price. they told me they don't pricematch the internet... ok, and they only have these 5 items from delta, none of which were what I wanted... so I figured if I'm going to shop by picture, I might as well get the better price.
We used Five Star Kitchens in Valley Stream - they carry Medallion cabinetry as well as another line, and appliances were from Appliance World.
We almost went with Artista Kitchens until the owner wouldn't budge on his kitchen plan. I disagreed with his plan and on placement of the appliances - I wanted a large kitchen island and wanted to use a wall he wouldn't agree to use. Five Star was flexible in that regard, and our kitchen turned out great. It does look like it's out of a magazine.
The biggest problem you're faced with is coming up with a good contractor. Most of them will cheat you on materials and labor costs. Or they will do awful work and assume that you, the consumer, haven't a clue about what's up to code and correct and what isn't. Watch Holmes on Homes on HGTV to see what I'm talking about.
Regarding plumbing items, my cousin is in the business, so I got 40% off all that. Our Grohe faucet ran about $350 and so did the sink.
Artista was decent before one of their lead designers left a few years ago. The owner was always a difficult person to work with. Not worth the hassle.
AndreaII -- Holmes on Holmes deliberately points out the bad; after all, what's the point in having such a show if all they did was work on homes which had been properly renovated in the past? Also note -- he's in Canada and the work he ultimately performs is to Ontario building code, not NYS building code. There have been a few things on his show which will fly in Canada but not here.
Yes, the OP does need to carefully vet their contractor to make certain that not only are they ethical and highly skilled, that they are licensed, insured AND (in the case of so many pre-1978 homes) RRP certified.
Going back to the cabinetry - Consumers hikes prices up. Someone walking in off the street will pay more than the contractor will. Some contractors will pass their discount (or portion of) to the homeowner, others won't. Personally, I loathe Consumers from a service standpoint. You can go in, order your kitchen, receive it and find you're short a piece or that something came in marred. Then you're back to waiting 6-8 weeks for said piece. They don't expedite things in cases like this for either the contractor or homeowner. One screw up on a cabinet can toss the entire install schedule way off. Imagine waiting on a screwed up sink base cabinet and not being able to move forward with the granite -- one client had that happen. Two month wait.
The OP needs to have some idea as to the quality/build of cabinet they are looking for. I've had two clients who've used Home Depot. One good, one not so good. It all depended upon who the client worked with.
I've had clients who used Bertch cabinetry and loved it. However they start nickle and diming with the upcharges and the next thing you know, you might as well have checked out Signature.
AndreaII -- Holmes on Holmes deliberately points out the bad; after all, what's the point in having such a show if all they did was work on homes which had been properly renovated in the past? Also note -- he's in Canada and the work he ultimately performs is to Ontario building code, not NYS building code. There have been a few things on his show which will fly in Canada but not here.
And vice-versa. There are also things that pass here in NYS (or by indiv town/village/etc) that dont work in Canada either.
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