Merrell Building Enterprises
Westminster, MD 21158 410-526-5959
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Consumer Ratings for Merrell Building Enterprises — 1 Ratings
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Contractors: Remodelers & General Articles
Thinking About a Home Remodel? Here’s Where to Start
Begin by carefully considering what you think you want and how you can get it. Weigh your wish list against what you’ll probably pay to fulfill it.
Planning a Home Remodel
If you’re adding new rooms, making substantial changes to the existing floor plan, or dealing with complex structural or functional questions, you’ll need to hire professional design help. There are several design options and combinations of options.
How to Check Out Contractors
Some homeowners leave contractor vetting and selection to their architects or house designers, but most make the call themselves, and rightly so: It’s the most important step.
Getting Prices and Proposals for Remodeling Work
Checkbook’s undercover shoppers asked contractors to bid on three different projects. Company-to-company price differences were striking. For the largest of the jobs, quotes ranged from $190,000 to $321,000—a difference of more than $130,000.
What a Contract for Remodeling Work Should Include
Once you’ve picked a contractor, have it prepare a written contract. It should include the following information for medium-sized and major projects; but even if your project is small, many of these points also apply.
Your Role During a Remodel
You can do a lot to help the job run smoothly, finish on time, and produce the best possible results.
Should You Buy Products Yourself for a Remodel?
You can use our advice and price ratings to pay less—often a lot less—for appliances, fixtures, flooring, plantings, and many other products that you can buy on your own, rather than having your contractor buy them for you. But should you?
Financing Options for Remodeling Work
You have several options to pay for your project. Cash certainly is the easiest: no applications, no forms, no appraisals, no debt, no interest. However, many homeowners borrow to cover large remodeling jobs.
More Articles »
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Consumer Comments for Merrell Building Enterprises
Jan 05, 2016
We worked with Merrell for three months to do a full kitchen renovation in our 1914 Victorian and ended up parting ways because we were so frustrated. First, they don't offer a true design service. They work with a kitchen cabinet dealer that sells 2 lines and offers the same level of design you get at Lowe's (I purchased my last cabinets there). Second, they do not offer any type of itemized pricing so that you can decide where to splurge vs. save. We asked repeatedly for the cost of the cabinets to be broken out and said we would and they would not answer. We had a general inkling that the cabinets would be somewhere between $20-$30K but we never received an exact figure despite getting fairly detailed drawings. Third, they could not provide a door sample for 3 months. Not even a block of wood with the cabinet color on it. When I asked why anyone would pay the equivalent of a nice, new car without ever seeing it, driving in it or knowing how it was constructed, they copped a huge attitude and said their customers did this all of the time.
Bottom line, we paid $27K for a wall and a closet to be opened up, electrical rough-ins and drywall. Six months later we still have no kitchen. We ended up going with an independent cabinet-maker and although we don't have the final product, it has been a far more satisfying process and I anticipate the cabinets will be exactly what we want.