Q. I want to expand my home with an addition. Is it better to hire a building designer to draw up plans for what I want and then have contractors bid; or would it be better tohire an all-in-one design build contractor??

A. If you can afford it ..go with the architecht/designer and let them design it for you, as a painting contractor who works in the luxury home market , I see first hand some plans that come fron design/build co's and they can be pretty lackluster as they have a designer on staff who usually is not the most creative person, the builders who use outside designers always have nicer plans/homes.

Q. I'm looking for some advice on whether I need a kitchen designer. Specifically, what can a kitchen designer do that my kitchen remodeling contractor can't do? I have plans to change the kitchen layout a bit - maybe tear out a wall. Anything else I should be thinking about? Thanks in advance!

A. Any place that sells cabinets will have a person on staff to guide you to what you want. If they dont , go some where else. These people are trained in lay outs and can offer free advice. This is what their paid to do. The better cabinet shops will come to the house or go by your plans to advise you. 1st meetings with a contractor and he / she will offer suggestions and possible see sight unseen problems that may arise. A contractor should know people that they ve worked with in the past that are helpful and the ones that are not. You don t need to pay for a seperate designer. GL

Q. Redoing our kitchen and need someone who can give us a better design than Lowes or Home Depot.

A. Try ME Design Group. I am impressed with their designs and they really stuck to our budget (740) 657-3706

Q. I plan to renovate my kitchen by end of this year.. any good websites that i can refer to for kitchen and bath design ideas?

A. Design.hgtv.com is definitely a good place as well as check out thesexykitchen.com don't be fooled by the name. A great place for photos and ideas

Q. Can anyone recommend a good, remodeling contractor that does excellent carpentry?

A. I used Marrokal here in San Diego. Like someone else said, I don't know if they do work in Orange County. but, contact at least three companies to get preliminary estimates of what you want to do in general. Here's a couple of things to look for when choosing a contractor: Be wary of independent contractors, where a couple of guys do all of the required work instead of subcontracting the job out. The bigger general contractors usually have so much work going on that they use the same subcontractors for every job and this is the only work the subs take. This means that your job will not be delayed by a subcontractor who has a bunch of irons in the fire and decides to put your job on the back burner. Also, the bigger general contractors have reputations and relationships with the city building inspectors. So, they know what to anticipate when submitting building plans that might be a sticking point. The bigger general contractors also buy lots of building materials and suppliers will make their jobs a priority, so the general contractor will continue to use the supplier. Choose a company that is a design-build company. This means they have in-house architects to put the plans together. If you use an independent architect, he might put some design aspect into the plans that he has no idea how expensive it is. If you end up changing the design to eliminate an overly-expensive design aspect, you have to pay the architect to redo the plans. The general contractor should provide you with a list of references. Contact these people and ask what their experience was like. Drive by their house and look at the work. Any horror stories they tell you might save you the grief of having the same thing go wrong with your remodel.

Q. I want to remodel these in a small house in a small town because they are 1960's era. i am not to imaginative on this kind of thing and i don't know where to start. what kind of business do i look for to help me design it, to do the work or whatever. where do i start?

A. For your kitchen or bath, go to www.nkba.org, enter ZIP code in "Find a Professional" and click on "Find". Look for a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD) or a Certified Bathroom Designer (CBD) or a Certified Master Kitchen & Bath Designer (CMKBD). They have been trained with all the criterion to effectively handle your design challenge.

Q. Hi, we are having our kitchen remodeded and I want a backsplash on the wall behind the cooktop. The area is about 84x18 in. Our contractor insists that if I want the wall tiles there, I must have them on all the other wall spaces in the kitchen where there is no cabintery. That will not only be too expensive, but also I dont want that much color in the kitchen(I ve chosen a bright wall tile). Please tell me if I am doing something totally wrong by getting the wall tiles only behind the cooktop

A. It seems that your contractor does not understand your request. You only need tiles exactly where you want them and no where else. Contractors invent ways to take advantage of customers by telling them exactly what your contractor told you figuring that you would agree with him and go along with what ever he wanted instead of what you want your kitchen to look like. I know because until I retired I was a contractor for many years and to this day I only did what my customer wanted and not what I could do to take advantage of them. It is your home, your kitchen, and your money paying for this remodeling project. Get it thew way you want or else. Good luck, If You More info.i suggest you visit this website or wikipedia You can refer to this blog which show you a article about kitchen backsplash ideas: design/remodeling (if those website not change) Kitchen backsplash ideas articles http://kitchen-backsplash-ideas2.blogspot.com/ Source(S) Kitchen backsplash ideas articles http://kitchen-backsplash-ideas2.blogspot.com/

Q. I'm a wanna be remodeler. can't do the work myself, but can lay it out on paper. thought there might be a site i can go to that will let me move things around without all the erasing

A. Download IKEA's kitchen planner; it's fun. Also, Merillat cabinetry has a kitchen design tool.