Granite fabrication costs a good amount of money but it’s well worth it. It is one of the most important things while getting your kitchen or bathroom countertop installations. Picking the right fabricator makes sure you get value for money in the form of a smooth, beautiful quality countertop.

We have all heard tips and tricks from our friends and family about how to spot a top quality granite countertop fabricator to execute your kitchen renovation projects. But do you actually know what granite fabricators actually do? And what are the qualities that we should look for in a quality granite fabricator? Here are somethings to ensure you are getting the right person for the job:

1. Interview the Contractors

Your evaluation of the contractor begins as soon as you pick up the phone for the first time to call them. It is very crucial to be able to reach your contractor and easily talk to them about anything during business hours. Other things you should ask includes licensing, portfolio, membership of trade organizations and references you could call.

Also check whether or not they educate you on sealing and other general processes involved before or after the installation. These things will give you a good idea of whom you should pick. Don’t forget to describe your project but keep the expectation for a quote over the phone to a minimum.

2. Call References and Verify Insurance

Verifying the references and the insurance claims is one of the ways to ensure you have a reliable fabrication contractor. Have a few questions ready before calling the references and let them talk about their experiences. Verify the insurance bond and how long has the contractor’s company been insured for.

This might be considered private information depending upon the company you call but make sure he/she has active insurance. Remember to check out Angie’s list, better business bureau for reviews too and complaints. If you find a percentage of customers with complaints they couldn’t satisfy or have a repeated list of complaints, please scratch that contractor off your list

3. Get Item By Item Estimates

After the initial visit of your kitchen and when both of you are satisfied with the aspects of installation. Ask the contractor to send in an itemized bid of everything that will be done step by step. This will allow you to get everything written step by step in plain sight. Items such as tear out of old countertop, templating, material, number of cutouts, sink, faucet etc and sealing would be on the list. These practices not only proves the professionalism of the contractor but also saves a lot of misunderstanding based arguments. Once you have all the bids from the selected contractors. Compare and negotiate.

4. Low Ballers Are A Red Flag

Don’t be fooled by advertisers who have very low per square foot pricing. They generally do this to attract customers and then add the upcharges and make the bill exactly the same as any other local fabricator. Other things include the cheapest and lowest quality granite installation which will cause problems of leakage and breakage in the future. Better to be cautious than being stuck with unsatisfactory countertop installations.

If you ask around contractors and bad installation job stories are dime a dozen. You don’t want to ruin your beautiful kitchen and have that happen to you. Taking your time while looking for contractors, interviewing and checking out their reviews is the way to go. It might feel like a pain now but brings peace in the longer run. Good hunting.