View Full Version : Countertop replacements? Any experience with Home Depot or Lowe's?



SoonerDave
06-12-2017, 08:44 AM
We are in the process of choosing a replacement for our worn-out laminate countertops. We've been to several suppliers and fabricators, and checked out enough samples such that we're almost dizzy keeping track of who had what.

We're going with quartz counters, and an undermount sink. We tried to go through local vendors to start, but each one came in with bids fully 50% higher than our expectations, save one vendor who only does minimal quartz and had only part of one slab we could see on which to base an estimate - which didn't leave us with a strong "warm-fuzzy" as it were. We've been to Builder's Warehouse on 10th and they have only about six or seven varieties of quartz that neither my wife nor I cared for. We then went to Lowe's and Home Depot, and our estimates with their pricing are much more in line with our budget/expectations,

Has anyone had experience with either of these retailers in doing countertops? I'm sure they just subcontract the install/fab, and I will be handling the demo of our existing tops and disconnect of sink/cooktop myself. I've read a few online discussions and it seems general experiences with either have been fairly decent. It seems if there have been problems, Lowes/HD have been pretty good about going to bat for the customer back to the contractor. Appreciate any opinions.

OSUPeterson
06-12-2017, 09:07 AM
I ended up not using Lowes for our new countertops but I have had them do other work (flooring and gutters) and they do good work. They do subcontract it out, but they do take care of any issues that come up, if any.

They have full quartz ( we went with a recycled glass), but a company called granite transformations does a great cost effective job. The build new counters that mount on top of your current counters (as well as undermount seamless sinks). The cost was way more affordable and they look amazing. You cant see any seams which is nice. Install was super quick since they build everything offsite and just come to install it.

OkiePoke
06-12-2017, 09:16 AM
I used L&L. Their price was hard to beat. You will have to do some cleanup after the install though.

SoonerDave
06-12-2017, 09:19 AM
I used L&L. Their price was hard to beat. You will have to do some cleanup after the install though.

We initially visited L&L but I became wary of them for some information I came across tied to this very issue.

SoonerDave
06-12-2017, 09:21 AM
I ended up not using Lowes for our new countertops but I have had them do other work (flooring and gutters) and they do good work. They do subcontract it out, but they do take care of any issues that come up, if any.

They have full quartz ( we went with a recycled glass), but a company called granite transformations does a great cost effective job....

We had heard about GT but some of our underlying material (behind the laminate) has failed/swollen/rotted and has to be discarded, so the "overlay" method they use really isn't an option for us.

Bullbear
06-12-2017, 09:35 AM
I know you said you tried some local spots.. not sure if you checked into Countertops By Tom in OKC. great local business and competitive prices for sure.

Richard at Remax
06-12-2017, 09:40 AM
I used Home Depot on a Rental house not too long ago to put a quartz countertop in. Despite what I had heard I found it to be very painless, granted it was a pretty straightforward and easy job.

mkjeeves
06-12-2017, 10:08 AM
We had Home Depot install granite in the kitchen, laundry, two bath vanities and fireplace hearth a few years ago. It went really well. Could not be more pleased with the results.

They scheduled a time for a guy to get measurements and make templates. Story at that time was they sent all the templates to a fabricator in Texas weekly, and then shipped the cut granite back for installation, then pick up more templates for the return trip. Two guys showed up about a week after he measured it up and knocked it out in an afternoon/evening. I did the demo, new vanity install in one bath, new cabinet install in the laundry, less the tops for those two, and the little bit of cabinet work that needed to be done in the kitchen to make it ready for new tops.

gurantula35
06-12-2017, 10:36 AM
I've used L&L on all 3 houses I've done. They get a lot of bad reviews due to their customer service (mainly because its hard to communicat), but i'm a very simple guy and are not bothered by things that other people are. They have been good to me everytime. This last time, i had to have them come back out and redrill a hole becuase it wasnt big enough, and they came next day without any problems. You can really save a lot by using them.

turnpup
06-12-2017, 11:20 AM
While I can't help you out on a contractor for this, I do want to alert you to an issue a friend of mine had—beware of quartz versus "quartz" if you go with that material. Apparently there's an issue with people thinking they're getting actual quartz (tough, impervious to staining, etc.) when they're actually getting marble or another material that appears to be quartz, but isn't.

My friend purchased a very expensive and very large amount of what her designer told her (and I believe the designer was told this by the quarry so not sure if someone was lying or just incompetent) was gorgeous white quartz. Shortly after it was installed, my friend was cutting up a watermelon and a couple of drops of juice landed on the countertop. It stained and wouldn't come up. It was at that point she realized something wasn't right. Some research turned up the issue of mistaken identity. So just a heads-up if you're leaning in that direction!

GaryOKC6
06-12-2017, 11:21 AM
We are in the process of choosing a replacement for our worn-out laminate countertops. We've been to several suppliers and fabricators, and checked out enough samples such that we're almost dizzy keeping track of who had what.

We're going with quartz counters, and an undermount sink. We tried to go through local vendors to start, but each one came in with bids fully 50% higher than our expectations, save one vendor who only does minimal quartz and had only part of one slab we could see on which to base an estimate - which didn't leave us with a strong "warm-fuzzy" as it were. We've been to Builder's Warehouse on 10th and they have only about six or seven varieties of quartz that neither my wife nor I cared for. We then went to Lowe's and Home Depot, and our estimates with their pricing are much more in line with our budget/expectations,

Has anyone had experience with either of these retailers in doing countertops? I'm sure they just subcontract the install/fab, and I will be handling the demo of our existing tops and disconnect of sink/cooktop myself. I've read a few online discussions and it seems general experiences with either have been fairly decent. It seems if there have been problems, Lowes/HD have been pretty good about going to bat for the customer back to the contractor. Appreciate any opinions.

Great local company with very good pricing.
Metro Granite
7701 N. Broadway Extension, Suite A-15
(405) 842-8222 www.metrograniteokc.com

Relentless85
06-14-2017, 03:48 PM
We are in the process of choosing a replacement for our worn-out laminate countertops. We've been to several suppliers and fabricators, and checked out enough samples such that we're almost dizzy keeping track of who had what.

We're going with quartz counters, and an undermount sink. We tried to go through local vendors to start, but each one came in with bids fully 50% higher than our expectations, save one vendor who only does minimal quartz and had only part of one slab we could see on which to base an estimate - which didn't leave us with a strong "warm-fuzzy" as it were. We've been to Builder's Warehouse on 10th and they have only about six or seven varieties of quartz that neither my wife nor I cared for. We then went to Lowe's and Home Depot, and our estimates with their pricing are much more in line with our budget/expectations,

Has anyone had experience with either of these retailers in doing countertops? I'm sure they just subcontract the install/fab, and I will be handling the demo of our existing tops and disconnect of sink/cooktop myself. I've read a few online discussions and it seems general experiences with either have been fairly decent. It seems if there have been problems, Lowes/HD have been pretty good about going to bat for the customer back to the contractor. Appreciate any opinions.

We used lowes for granite and back slplash installation for our kitchen. They were reasonably priced and the work is good. They contracted it out. I believe the company they contracted the work out to was from Texas. The contractor came out and laser measured every counter top. I did all the demo work. They also did an under mount sink, but I had to redo the plumbing. Make sure you have all of the details worked out and the materials you want worked out with lowes. On the day of installation, the contractor brought the wrong backsplash trim. I called lowes and they were able to deliver the correct trim out to the house so the installation could continue.

In our bathrooms, we recently used friends custom granite. They did good work also. We went with friends because they had a better selection of the granite we wanted. I don't know off hand if they do any other counter tops besides granite.

SoonerDave
08-18-2017, 05:48 PM
I thought I would update this thread with the results of our kitchen "renovation." I'll warn you - it's long. But if you're considering a kitchen rework, I'd encourage you to read through it.

Bottom line: Home Depot has serious issues.

Let's preface it by saying it was an unexpected saga.

Baseline: We were replacing countertops, appliances, and sink - our original site-built cabinets need some surface updates, but that's something I'll attack on another day. I did all countertop demo, (almost all) sink plumbing rework, and cabinet rebuilds to migrate the existing single oven to a double-oven unit. I contracted out the install of the natural gas line.

Supplier/contractor: We bought all our appliances from Hahn's, over a July 4th sale that gave us some of the best prices I'd been tracking (OTC microwave, double oven, basic gas cooktop). My wife liked the color of the Silestone sample from Home Depot, so that's where we went for the counters. Important point I'd likely revisit: Lowe's also offers Silestone, but in 3cm thickness; Home Depot in OKC offers only 2cm, which we were told is a regional HD choice (they sell 3cm in other regions). The local sales contact tried to tell us quartz only exists in 2cm, and I knew that wasn't true or accurate. But Lowe's didn't have a 3cm version of the Silestone the Mrs liked, so HD is where we ended up.

The job: In late June, based on my own scale drawing, we ordered 57 sq ft of Silestone and a 10" deep, 16-gauge stainless sink (which proved to be the pain point of the endeavor). The fabrication and install job was contracted out to Hoffman Kitchens in Tulsa. Because we had only the 2cm option from Home Depot, we also chose the double-thickness exterior trim. Hoffman's came out and performed the detail measurements the following week. Based on some technical install details, we needed an extra 4 sq ft of material, and were told to expect an early August completion.

Hoffman's called in or around the last week of July to schedule the installation - Aug 8 was the date.

About two weeks before, I had already started the rebuild of the cabinet to accommodate the new oven. That amounted to removing a drawer, two existing shelves, installing a new bottom shelf, and repurposing the doors to avoid having to purchase and stain new ones to match. That part went very well, and it was a very enjoyable part of the project for me - always love to build stuff with wood :)

When I got a peek under the sink, I realized the plumbing for our 8" sink interfered with where the 10" sink would have to go - to the tune of about 2-1/2", meaning a lower location for the disposal, and rebuild of the loop vent with its sanitary t. Drawings of the sink drain location indicated the cold supply valve would also interfere, so some pipe sweating allowed the replacement of that line with a 90* elbow to move the cutoff out of the way. I did some of that myself, but did have to get a plumber to finish it off. For the demo, I picked up a Waste Management "Bagster" vinyl dumper for the debris ($30), which they'll then pick up and haul away for about $110.

The big saga came with the sink. About two weeks before the counters were to be installed, I realized we had no sink. I called Hoffman's and they said they don't provide sinks from HD (at least not the one we ordered). So I call HD, and our kitchen sales contact said I needed to come in and pick it up. So I go in that Sunday afternoon to pick it up...and the HD rep in the kitchen area (our lady had the day off) tells us "oh, that's a special order sink. We don't have it in stock." And, no, their automated, web-based, 21st century Kitchen Counter Ordering Thing, which allowed me to *select* the sink, never advised us (and the HD kitchen lady was blithely unaware) that it was a special order - and didn't release a special order to the vendor, or to Hoffman's, or to anyone else. HD happily took my additional ~$320 for the sink that no one had...

And those were the first words in an odyssey of incredible incompetence and indifference that almost staggers the imagination.

When our regular HD kitchen lady called us back, she offered "oh, they didn't order the sink, and it's a special order. It can't get here in time for your install. So if you want to wait, it'll push you back about five days or more." And I said, no, that's not acceptable; the sink was ordered in there system some six weeks ago and they needed to get it to my house, somehow, because our kitchen was already torn down and unusable, and we were in no position to extend that by the better part of a week.

And that was the last time I talked to our kitchen lady at HD.

A call back from an assistant manager at HD advised they'd contacted the vendor and were going to expedite the special order sink, and it was "guaranteed" to arrive in time for the Aug 8 counter install. "Guaranteed," and it was going to be shipped to the vendor for them to bring to the install site.

So, when Aug 8 arrives, and Hoffman's shows up, one of the first things they ask me is "Do you have the sink?"

And I knew immediately HD had screwed up again.

I told them *they* were supposed to have the sink; asked them if they'd been in touch with HD on the ordering failure; they hadn't heard a thing. All Hoffman's could do was install the counters in the non-sink area of the kitchen, which they did, and that allowed Hahn's to come out the next day and install the gas cooktop and oven (which are super, by the way).

While they were installing, I was on the phone fuming with HD. How did it get messed up again? The HD manager advised that their "Order Execution Team" didn't follow up with the sink vendor to ensure the sink had been shipped out; and when I was given the UPS tracking number, I was readily able to discover the sink had been shipped out *the night before*, from Los Angeles, CA, to OKC, via **UPS GROUND**. We were doomed the moment that sink was shipped out ground, which I presume was because HD didn't really *tell* them to expedite it. And they hadn't.

Two days later, I find out the sink is due to arrive *at the Moore HD* on Thursday. So I call Hoffman's myself to reschedule the rest of the install, then play UPS truck stalker at the HD to get that sink *myself*.

And it wasn't on their Thursday delivery. The HD manager says, "Well, we'll check again tomorrow." He is seemingly clueless about this situation or the other dominoes that can't fall without that sink. He then tells me he'll watch for a later truck.

Armed with UPS info that the driver in that area usually finishes up by 4pm, I go back to HD at 2:30 and wait in the parking lot. And while I'm waiting, I get a UPS exception report that the sink delivery had been attempted, but *no one was there*.

That's right - despite two different managers being made aware of this colossal chain of failure, and that a customer was there pleading with them to find that sink, *no one* had been advised to keep an extra ear out for a late UPS delivery, no follow-up, and if I *hadn't* been there to dog the delivery, it would have been *five more days* before I could have had that sink in hand.

After a frantic call to UPS to put the package on hold, I tell them I'll get it myself, and the UPS dispatcher in OKC tells me to meet the driver at the USPS office on SW 134th, which I did. And never let anyone tell you they can't GPS their trucks and call their drivers, because that's exactly what they did for me :) And with absolutely zero help, zero contact, and zero interest from HD.

Our installs proceeded uneventfully the next day, and my last contact with HD advised that some problem with their web system didn't communicate with Hoffman's or the sink vendor properly, they had to do an upgrade, orders weren't released, etc. etc., and tossed $158 back my way for the trouble (which was about 3% of the job).

And I won't even begin to relay the number of phone calls and chat line conversations I'm *omitting* in this absurdly long discourse. You can't believe how frustrated I became, and how astonishingly *bad* HD is at following up on *any aspect* of this failure. I received not *one* follow-up, "how's it going" phone call from HD. None. And I coordinated 99% of the sink reacquisition, contractor rescheduling, and coordination myself - without the slightest help or interest from HD.

You read that right: Home Depot's kitchen remodel department has trouble ordering sinks. Beware. I realize my situation may be unique, but the fact the problem happened in the first place, with such horrendous follow up, was stupefying. If you want to use HD, *you have been warned* - particularly if you choose a special order sink in your remodel.

Bottom line: Hahn's Appliance was fantastic, their installs were quick and flawless, and I'm delighted with them yet again. HD was essentially incompetent from ordering to follow-up to resolution. Hoffman's Kitchen Fixtures in Tulsa did a great job on their installation and working hard to pull people off other jobs to send them back from Tulsa to OKC to finish our job. Kudos to TPC-ThePlumbingCompany for a great job on the gas line install, and to Brandon's Plumbing for a last-minute bailout to fix a pipe soldering issue.

As long as this is, it doesn't begin to touch all the hassle HD put us through because they couldn't order a sink. If you're planning a kitchen remodel, caveat emptor.

If you've hung on this long, thanks for reading.

mkjeeves
08-19-2017, 09:05 AM
I bought counters from HD, with a special order sink, and it all went fine with zero issues. That was a few years ago and may have been the exception.

I take that back, we ordered a vanity at the same time that was to be installed by us before they installed the tops. It came in, did not meet expectations for quality. We took it back, got a more expensive vanity, bumped the date on the tops, got the new one in, installed it, modified the kitchen cabinets, and then the new sinks and tops went in. It seems like we changed that initial order two or three times before they measured for the counters but I don't remember why, other than the vanity.

turnpup
08-19-2017, 10:03 AM
Wow, SoonerDave, sorry you had so much trouble! And all because of a sink! Glad you FINALLY got everything worked out though.