Introducing our new IKEA kitchen service, install connect!

An introduction to IKD’s newest kitchen design service — Install Connect!

Today we’re launching our new service, IKD Install Connect! Install Connect is our free service that connects our customers with highly qualified, independent IKEA kitchen installers. Get access to our database of IKEA kitchen installers when you purchase The IKD Design Package.

If you’re wondering:

• Why you should hire an independent kitchen contractor instead of IKEA
• What your kitchen installer wishes you knew before you hired them
• What the no. 1 cause of arguments is during a kitchen installation

Let our installer “Mark” tell you why! Today’s post kicks off our new series, Kitchen Installation Confidential.

#1: Why do your customers hire you instead of using IKEA’s installation services?

If you think about it, 100% of IKEA kitchen buyers are offered the IKEA installation service, but not everyone buys it. Part of the appeal of IKEA is the do-it-yourself aspect, so I can see where many aren’t interested in paying for that service.

Our customers don’t choose IKEA for installation because somewhere along the way, they stopped trusting IKEA. Something went wrong during the process of buying their kitchen, so they’re wary of giving IKEA another opportunity to mess something up.

#2: What do you wish people knew about installing a kitchen in their home?

That their home isn’t perfect. Walls or floors or ceilings won’t be perfectly straight or level no matter what you do. So sometimes, the finished kitchen will not look exactly the way it does in the design drawing.

Most people don’t know something isn’t straight until they put something straight next to it. One of my clients wanted a pantry high cabinet next to a little wall. But the wall wasn’t straight, so the cabinet and the wall looked crooked. We ended up making the cabinet a little crooked so it would actually be straight. The client was upset, and I never like that, but these flaws exist in every home.

#3: What’s the most common kitchen design mistake you’ve seen?

Putting a kitchen island in front of a refrigerator. Once an island is in, it’s in. No matter what, at some point you’ll need to move that refrigerator to make way for a new one. The island becomes a huge obstacle. I had to help someone move a refrigerator out of the kitchen and it just wouldn’t fit. Eventually we took the side panels out of the island but it was still a tight squeeze.

#4: What situations typically cause delays?

A shortage of cabinet legs. I’ve had enough clients buy the wrong number of legs that I just bring extras with me. Most of them live more than an hour from IKEA, and waiting for them to go get the legs would just take too long. So we just have them on hand.

The other common source of delay is when a client schedules all of the contractors to come in at once. I always tell my clients to have the area clean for us so we’re not bumping into the other trades. And I ask them to leave 2 or 3 days in between trades so if someone goes over, the entire schedule isn’t ruined.

#5: Where should an IKEA kitchen buyer absolutely not try to save money?

Spend the money on wall-to-wall flooring. Do not try to save money by putting flooring around the cabinets.

That actually ends up costing more money because you create more work for the flooring installer. And because nobody’s kitchen is perfect, there are always gaps between the cabinets and the flooring, so then the flooring installer has to come back and create custom toekicks to cover the gaps.

So what you “save” on less flooring is lost because you have to pay people to do extra work.

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#6: Do you see a lot of couples argue during the process?

Handles get really contentious. We bring them into the kitchen and say, “where should we drill the holes for the handles?” Cue the big debate. Sometimes this lasts for 2 hours. Each of them has a different idea where the handles should be placed. Then it turns into a question of who does most of the cooking…and from there, why doesn’t the other person do more to help in the kitchen anyway…

Do you ever get impatient with this process?

No, not really. What I tell my clients is, you will be looking at this kitchen for the next 20 or 30 years. We charge a project fee, not an hourly fee, so it’s in your best interest to take the time to make the right decision. We encourage people to spend the time thinking and talking about this.

There’s always something me and my team can do in the downtime, like picking up stuff to put in the work truck, cleaning up, etc.

Some people get stressed out just looking at us. I tell those clients, “Find a comfy chair and just hang out. We’ll take care of it from here.” At the end of the project, 90 percent of people say “this (the installation) has been the least stressful part of the kitchen renovation.”

#7 Why should someone hire you instead of IKEA?

I worked on a large project once where the client hired IKEA to do the kitchen, but hired us to do the bathroom, bedrooms, and closets.

We showed up at 8 a.m. with all of our tools. IKEA showed up at 9 a.m. and the guys were wearing Crocs. On a construction site. That’s just not safe. They had to borrow tools from us. My team took turns taking lunch, so that the work could continue. IKEA went for their hour-long lunch all together. They worked a little more and then at 4 p.m. they left.

My team finished that day. When I checked back with the client a week later, IKEA still wasn’t done with the kitchen.

Our clients like us because we talk to them. My team is programmed to listen to and consult with the clients, and not rush them. We work hard.

My guess is that for IKEA, it’s probably just another day at a job they don’t like.

If you want to hire Mark or another one of our IKD-Approved Install Connect Contractors.

Photograph is in the public domain and taken from Wikimedia Commons.