Kitchen Remodeling in DC, MD & VA

NICE Contracting provides complete kitchen remodeling and renovation services in Bethesda, Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase, Georgetown, Glen Echo, Great Falls, McLean, Potomact, NW DC, Vienna and surrounding areas.  Kitchen remodeling and renovations services include but not limited to:

• Feasibility studies
• Complete design services
• Complete relocation of the kitchen from one part of the home to another
• In-home or showroom material selection
• Kitchen appliance selection
• Cabinetry only installation
• Expert appliance installation
• Structural changes
• Window & door changes
• Complete renovation from tear-out to a finished installation

By its name you might think the living room is where folks live. Not true. The vast majority of families spend the most time in and around the kitchen. From quick meals while trying to get kids off to sports practice to gourmet dinners for hosting a V.I.P., our kitchens have become the focal point of our homes.

Feasibility studies:

There's an old saying, "you don't know what you don't know". Kitchen remodeling correctly executed requires a team that is highly trained and skilled. When you are considering remodeling one of the most important rooms in your home, consider all the options. Ask your designer to consider the feasibility of different options that, at first blush may seem over the top but, with further consideration and thought turn out to be the best and highest use of a given space. Things to consider might be: should the kitchen stay where it is?; do we use the dining room more than once or twice a year and would that space be better used as part of the kitchen/eating area?

Complete kitchen design services:

Complete relocation of the kitchen from one part of the home to another:

Many older homes were designed by men. That is apparent when you consider how things used to be laid out. Small cramped kitchens and laundry rooms in the basement! I ask you, where do you produce your laundry? Most people don't disrobe in the basement and streak to the bathroom on the second floor to take their shower. Since most men (me included) don't run the washer and dryer, they don't give a hoot where the laundry room is. In the same way, kitchens have for years been these little places tucked away in a corner of the home with little amenities where the mom is expected to turn out world class meals using little more than a Coleman stove and an ice chest to get the job done.

When I remodeled my kitchen several years ago, my wife and I started with the current layout of the entire first floor of the house and considered the exterior walls and the stairs to the second floor as the only limitations of our imagination. It was the best thing we could have ever done. Yes, we ended up with an addition and a virtually re-designed first floor layout however, the change has been so dramatic and so welcomed that we could not imagine living the way we did for nearly 6 years! We have the space we need to entertain the way that fits our lifestyle, we can have 30 people over and not feel the least bit cramped and we live in that space! This was all accomplished by a complete relocation of the kitchen incorporating the use of another part of our home that, if we had "stayed inside the box" would never have happened.

In-home or showroom material selection

Kitchen appliance selection

We have a saying at NICE Contracting and that is "it takes a village to raise a kitchen". Starting with appliance selection based on features, material finishes, size and style can be a daunting process. Let's start with the non-negotiables - refrigeration. Sub Zero has long been a market staple when considering an upscale kitchen remodel due to its ability to adapt to just about any Owner's wildest imagination. One can have a beautiful stainless steel front to show off their knowledge of fine equipment or hide it amongst the cabinetry by adorning the doors with the same materials as the adjacent cabinetry. Sub Zero units have long been appreciated by those in the know of the differences between your basic refrigerator and a true engineering beauty. With dual compressors to provide completely separate cooling/freezing and a vacuum pull on the freezer side of Sub Zero units, frozen foods do not develop freezer burn nor do they pick up odors from the refrigerator side while they are moving to a frozen state. European brands though such as Gaggenau and Liebherr are quickly making their presence known to more knowledgeable clientele. Whether you are considering a set of 48" side by side built-in units to handle a large young family or, want to split your refrigeration between a standard model and an under counter unit to store fruits and vegetables for quick access in the final preparation of a meal, the possibilities are endless.

It used to be that an oven was an oven, a stove a stove and an exhaust hood well, you know where this is going. No more. These items measured against what your parents used to cook with are like comparing a Model T to a Bentley Continental. Now that most units are energy star rated, have integrated sealed burners, convection cooking capabilities and the ability to leave something in the oven at 6:30 in the morning and have it ready to eat at 6:30 in the evening is not out of the question. Ever wonder how commercially baked cookies prepared by the hundreds seem to all come out the same and yours burn on the bottom on the bottom shelf, burn on the top on the top shelf and cook pretty well in the middle? Well, most of it has to do with the proximity of heating elements to the cookie trays and the air movement inside the oven. Issues like this in these better ovens of today are a thing of the past. Some of the top performers for NICE Contracting clients include Bertazzoni, Gaggenau, Wolf and Viking.

Even though the taste and smell of that salmon filet tonight may cause you to forget all about your day, the smell tomorrow morning might not bode so well with your poached eggs! Hence the need to exhaust those odors, airborne grease and other particulates that you do not want left on other surfaces inside your home. I can remember the average exhaust hood was 30 inches wide (just like your range) and had a fan capable of removing a whopping 200 cubic feet of air per minute. Many of the professional grade exhaust hoods on the market today seem to have the ability to pull the hair right off your head. Not only do they move upwards of 1500 cfm, they have the ability to exhaust the air from remote blowers that mount on the outside of your home and, at the same time, cut down on noise. Also available in the better quality hoods from brands as Viking, Best, Miele and Gaggeneau are dishwasher safe filters.

Should space allow, consideration for some of the following items can make all the difference in the world. Consider the purchase of the following items that can go from "do we really need that?" to "I cannot believe we ever lived without it" within a few short weeks after you start using your new kitchen. These items would include:

• Wine coolers of all sizes
• Warming drawers
• Coffee/Expresso machines
• Ice makers
• In-counter fryers, steamers
• Steam ovens

Always take the time to consider all your options when selecting appliances. After nearly 30 years of remodeling I have heard over and over again the phase "I could kick myself for not" At least by consideration, one can point back to why a given decision was made.

Now, after all that fun we need to clean up! Trying to decide between Miele, Asko or Bosch just for a dishwasher can be daunting. Even though each performs essentially the same task, they each have features that the other doesn't that require considerable deliberation. All these models now have sound attenuation making them so quiet that you can actually hold a conversation standing right next to one and, even wonder if the thing is working. Early on after the renovation of my kitchen, I can't tell you how many times I opened our Miele dishwasher in the middle of the cycle simply because I didn't hear it running - and, didn't bother to look at the little light that tells you it is running!

Cabinetry only installation

One of the services we offer as part of your kitchen remodeling project is our cabinet only installation. Many times, the cabinets and associated trim pieces are the most expensive single components of your project. Knowing where to start so that you leave enough room for a given appliance, making sure the boxes are installed plumb level and square are just a handful of the considerations that need to be given to this very important component of the overall project. A couple of wrong moves and twenty thousand dollars worth of cabinets are nothing more than firewood. We perform custom cabinetry installation services for some of the Washington, D.C. area's best and most well known builders, designers, architects and remodelers.

Sometimes where an owner is a do-it-yourselfer but doesn't have the tools, skill set or time to install the cabinets, he or shee will give us a call. NICE Contracting, Inc. and NICE Cabinetry, LLC have invested tens of thousands of dollars in the best installation equipment on the market today allowing for the best of results on our cabinetry installations. Additionally, our principal has developed a patent pending installation tool that virtually guarantees a perfect installation.

If all you want is someone to install your cabinets and associated trim work, give us a call, we would be happy to provide a quote. If this is the case, please allow us to help you at the ordering stage. As part of our service to you, we will come to your home, double check the measurements against the plan that you will be ordering from, and ensure that existing doors, windows, walls, floor to ceiling measurements, electrical, plumbing and HVAC issues will all work with the design. We will verify appliance selections as they are coordinated with the cabinet sizes selected, we will verify rough-in locations for electrical and plumbing appliances, and we will make sure that cabinets come in sizes that will fit through all the passageways that lead to your kitchen space.

We use our near 30 years experience to remove the guesswork of cabinet installation and all at a price that is commensurate with the service we provide.

Expert kitchen appliance installation

High-end major kitchen appliances are a work of art today, not to be handled or installed by someone who last week was fixing your garage door. They are designed to a very close tolerance and are very unforgiving of those who are not familiar with every aspect of their design and installation criteria. As part of our remodeling process, we employ only highly qualified personnel to install appliances to ensure years of care free use of pieces of equipment for which you have paid many thousands of dollars. Today when you call the manufacturer of an appliance with a service problem, the first questions they ask are, "Who installed the appliance?" and  "Were they qualified?"  If you tell them that you performed the installation on a Saturday in your free time or, you hired the guy who did a terrific job on your garage door, they will probably tell you to accept a charge for a kitchen appliance service technician to come out to "properly" install the item.

Structural changes

Information is power. Don't let a teeny weeny thing like the fact that a structural wall has to be relocated scare you. We are experts at changing anything in your home. In our years of being in business we have added 3 floors to buildings in D.C., removed the entire roof and added a second and third level to the homes of too many to count, built additions and built homes from the ground up. Structural changes do not scare us. They shouldn't scare you either. We always consult with a local engineer to ensure that what we believe to be true in fact is! So, let your imagination run wild, 9 times out of 10 a structural change can be made that will make the difference between a good and a great project.

Window & door changes

Similar to items discussed in the structural changes above are concerns over the locations of doors and windows. You have your plans all set and realize that a window or door is right smack dab in the middle of where the new range will go. So what. Again, relocating doors and windows is no different than changing the location of the sink. Consider the locations of those items from a standpoint of what works for you in your particular design. More than likely the locations of windows and doors were considered as part of the aesthetic of the exterior of the home and the interior space was laid out accordingly. Our design team (or yours) could consider existing locations and make the appropriate changes to accommodate the new design.

Complete remodel or renovation from tear-out to a finished installation

Take advantage of our nearly 30 years of experience in kitchen remodeling and consider our involvement as early in the renovation or remodel process as possible. So much time, effort and money can be saved when we are engaged at the concept stage of the process. The process includes the careful planning, execution and runs all the way through to hanging your art work or the placing of heirlooms in display cabinetry. We provide expert advice and installation on every aspect of the project. We coordinate all of the trades (typically 20) in terms of when they need to be on site, how long they will be there, how their work is coordinated with other trades and, provide and manage the protection of newly installed finishes. You have probably heard on TV "don't try this at home". That is a good thing to consider when you are contemplating a kitchen remodel or renovation. Things always look easier than they are. When things go well it is typically because an expert with years of experience has properly planned for things to go well. Problems will arise on any project with any trade at any time. Our ability to head off the situation, to quickly determine the necessary approach based on new information is borne out of years of experience and relationships with experts who are not frazzled by the inevitable issues that arise on any given project.