Bill wrote a booklet called "Let's Get Started" for every customer, because the same good questions come up in almost every kitchen. These are the answers, in plain words. If yours isn't here, call Bill. He answers his own phone.
Want the whole booklet, jokes included? Download "Let's Get Started" (free PDF).
Bill answers his own phone. Open 8 AM – 10 PM, 7 days a week.
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Call Bill at (630) 890-3379 and set up a free in-home design visit. Bill comes to your house, sits down with you, and designs the kitchen on CAD while you talk through what you want. The visit takes about an hour and fifteen minutes, and you have itemized prices before he leaves.
You talk, and Bill draws. He brings his computer and lays out the new kitchen on CAD while you go through your wish list, so you can see changes as you ask for them. At the end, he gives you a price for each part of the job. Those prices are good for one year.
No. Bring the things that bug you about the kitchen you have now, and any photos you like. Bill measures the room himself at the visit and again at the Storyboard Re-measure, so nobody is counting on your tape measure. The first visit is free either way.
You can hire us for the whole remodel, start to finish. Or you can buy the cabinets from us and have your own contractor install them. Or you can buy the cabinets and have our installer put them in while your contractor does the rest of the room. All three start with the free design visit.
Yes. Every customer gets a reference list of more than 300 past customers, and we hope you call them. Ask how long their kitchen took and how it went. Bill likes to say they will vouch for the fun part too. Our references are the best sales tool we have.
Because everybody wants to know where every dollar is going. Cabinets, countertops, wall removal and the other parts of the job each get their own line, so you can see what each item costs and decide what to keep. Bill used to give one big number years ago, and customers told him they wanted it broken out.
One year from the design visit. That gives you time to think, compare, call references and save up without the numbers changing on you. When you're ready to go ahead, the next step is the Storyboard Re-measure, and the cabinets are ordered after that.
Pipes, ducts and wiring hide inside walls and soffits, and nobody can see them until the old cabinets come out. Instead of padding your price to cover every guess, we price what we can see and price any rerouting once it's in front of us. We aim to break even on that work, not make extra on it.
It's the second visit, after you decide to go ahead. Bill comes back, checks every measurement again and makes any last changes you want. Please have your cabinet door style and color picked by then. The cabinets are ordered at this visit, not from the first drawing.
Most kitchens take 4 to 6 weeks from start to finish. That's a quick pace for a kitchen, and our references will tell you so. You get a day-by-day calendar for your project, so you can see what's planned for each day instead of wondering.
No. There is no line of kitchens you have to wait behind. Your start date depends only on when you place the cabinet order at the Storyboard Re-measure. Once the order goes in, Bill builds your calendar around the day the new cabinets will be installed.
What happens each day of your project, in order. It answers the questions people used to ask Bill every evening: what's happening tomorrow, when the countertops come, when the tile needs to be here and when we'll finish. Every worker on the job has a copy, so everyone is on the same page.
It can happen. We follow the calendar closely, but a late delivery or a surprise inside a wall can push a step back a day or two. Bill fills the calendar out at a brisk pace on purpose, so even with a small delay, your kitchen still gets done quickly.
Yes. If you hire your own countertop company, painter or anyone else, Bill puts them on the calendar too, so they know the exact day they're needed. The calendar works like a game plan for everyone in the house, not just our crew.
Still have a question? Call Bill: (630) 890-3379
Yes. We check every line of the order, down to the smallest piece of trim, before it goes in. Delivery to your house is free, and we stack the cabinets where you tell us. If you find equal cabinets for less, we match the price. Bill also meets your installer to go over the layout.
Yes. Bill meets your installer at the house and goes over every detail of the layout, and gives them as much attention as they need. We don't drop off the cabinets and hope for the best. We want the install to go smoothly, and we'd like your installer to send us their next customer.
Usually because the other quote is missing pieces. Our cabinet price includes every small part the kitchen needs. When someone asks us to match a lower quote, the gap often closes once the missing items are added back in. If the cabinets really are equal, we match the price.
It can be rewarding, and even fun, if you like scheduling people. Bill's test from the booklet: if a hammer to the thumb wouldn't make you flinch, you're built for managing a remodel. If not, hiring us for the whole job means we handle every trade and every day.
Both lines come with soft-close drawers and hinges, full-extension ball-bearing glides and solid wood dovetail drawer boxes. The high-end line is all plywood. The mid-range line uses plywood on the sides you can see. Most customers choose the mid-range line. The two lines don't share every color, so look at doors from both lines on the showroom wall.
No. Every cabinet we sell has soft-close drawers and hinges. The drawers ride on full-extension ball-bearing glides rated for 75 pounds, and the doors hang on hinges that adjust six ways. You don't have to upgrade to get any of it. It's already in your cabinet price.
Yes, and we hope you do. Colors look different in your own light, next to your own floor. Stop by the showroom at 129 N Hale St, open 8 AM to 10 PM every day, and borrow the doors you're considering. We even have pillowcases to carry them in. Please bring them back within 48 hours.
Because other customers want the same doors, and there are only so many to go around. You're welcome to pick them up the day or night before you need them. Bill jokes in the booklet about the one customer who kept a door too long. We just wanted our door back.
Yes. The cabinets come with door frames ready for glass at no extra charge, but you supply the glass, because it breaks too easily to ship. After the cabinets are in, we give you the exact sizes. A local glass shop cuts it, and we put it in.
Two countertop companies bid on your job, and the competition keeps their prices low and their service high. The one that wins treats you like their business depends on it. You're also welcome to get other bids or bring your own company. Whoever you choose goes on the calendar.
At the warehouse of the countertop company that wins your job. You choose the actual slab there. Bring a door sample from the showroom so you can see your cabinet color next to the stone. Quartz, granite and quartzite are the choices.
Bill's booklet spends a whole page on this, because countertops worry people more than anything else. His advice: hold your door sample against the slab, trust your eye, and relax. You've survived harder decisions than this one. Bill or the countertop company can help you narrow it down.
The cabinets take about two to three days to install, and the countertop company usually measures on the second day. Have your edge style, barstool overhang (usually 8 to 12 inches) and backsplash height decided by then. The countertops usually arrive 6 to 10 days later.
Most kitchen sinks are 33 inches wide, and if your sink cabinet is 33 inches or wider, that's usually what goes in. Farmhouse (apron-front) sinks are an option too. A farmhouse sink has to be set in the cabinet before the countertops are measured, so decide on that one early.
Early, and open the box when it arrives. About one in five customers has some problem with the sink they order: it shows up late, damaged or the wrong color, no matter where it came from. A missing sink can hold up the end of the job, so give yourself time to fix any problem.
You supply the sink, the faucet and a basket strainer for each bowl. Those are the metal drain rims at the bottom of the sink. Choose a faucet with a brass body, not plastic; it lasts longer without leaking. Stainless steel strainers bought where you buy the disposal are the safest choice.
Most freestanding ranges are 30 inches wide, with 36, 42 and 48 inches as options. Dishwashers are 24 inches and over-the-range microwaves are 30 inches. The refrigerator is the wild card: usually 33 or 36 inches, in standard or counter depth. We need its size at the Storyboard Re-measure.
Not always. Many microwaves and hoods now recirculate through filters, so no duct to the outside is needed. If you already have a duct of the right size, we reuse it. Making a duct bigger is possible, but it's hard work and adds cost, so many customers choose recirculating.
In a lot of homes, no. The wooden hoods you see online are almost always in kitchens with 9 or 10 foot ceilings, and they look oversized under an 8 foot ceiling. A deeper wall cabinet over a stainless hood gives a similar look in a lower room.
About half our customers remove them and half keep them. Taking soffits out means rerouting what's inside, new drywall, and taller cabinets with crown molding, so it adds work and cost. Keeping them is fine too. We can make the kitchen look great either way, and Bill will price both.
Yes, one thing. The underside of the soffit needs paint after the old cabinets come off and before the new ones go up, or the old paint line will show. Have your painter and ceiling paint ready for that day. After the cabinets are in, it's nearly impossible to reach.
After the cabinets and countertops are in, not before. The walls usually pick up a few marks while the cabinets and countertops go in, so a final coat beforehand would need touching up anyway. Our drywall finisher leaves the walls ready to paint.
Yes. If you supply new window trim (casing) of the same width as the old trim, we install it at no charge during the remodel. It has to be the same width or the cabinets won't fit. Tell the crew on the first day, so they can take the old trim off right away.
We start between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning by taking out the old countertops and cabinets. Please move your cars out of the garage and onto the street. The old cabinets sit in the garage for a few hours, and our truck hauls them away that same day. There's no dumpster in your driveway.
Yes. We move the refrigerator to another room and plug it back in so you can keep using it, and the same goes for the microwave. If there are old cabinets or countertops you want to keep, leave a note on them and we'll set them in your garage or basement.
No. When we do the whole remodel, we take care of everything. Bill says you could be at work all day or on a European vacation, and the job keeps moving. The day-by-day calendar tells you what's happening while you're gone.
If they're in good enough shape, they go to Goodwill. Bill's rule is that nothing goes to the landfill if someone might want it. We also break down the cardboard from the new cabinets and pack it into a few boxes for your recycling. Call us the day before pickup and we'll set them at the street.
On our gallery page, and on our Facebook page, Affordable Kitchens Wheaton, which has about 300 photos of finished kitchens. You can also stop by the showroom on Hale Street in downtown Wheaton, open 8 AM to 10 PM, 7 days a week.
Call Bill. He comes to your house, and you have itemized prices before he leaves.
Call Bill: (630) 890-3379Open 8 AM – 10 PM, 7 days a week
