Reflections On WrightWorks

Any home remodel project comes with regrets, and ours was no exception. In fact, according to the list of “Top Five Regrets Homeowners Have After Their Remodel” on remodelingcontractorfinder.com, we were in good company following our Spring 2010 kitchen remodel. The only thing we didn’t do wrong was try to do it ourselves.

Topping our list of regrets was Hiring the Wrong Contractor. The details are gory, and going into them will only compromise the heart health of this homeowner. So let’s skip right to the happy ending: WrightWorks. During a three-week lull after firing our initial bumbling contractor, Christopher Wright, owner of WrightWorks, arrived on the scene to save the day.

While he could not undo the design mistakes and resulting cabinetry errors we had made without his guidance at the beginning of our project, but he did do what he could to recapture my dream. He and his men did everything in their power to correct blunders made by the contractor-who-must-not-be-named–and there were many.

• Hardwood flooring ravaged and poorly patched
• New cabinetry improperly installed
• Range exhaust installation mishandled and inaccurately measured
• Wiring, plumbing, drywall and painting: wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong!

Pretty much every aspect of remodeling a kitchen, from measurement to execution, had to be undone and fixed from the ground-up.

For a few weeks after we let the offender go, we stopped to breathe and regroup. It was the dead of winter, our kitchen was gutted and useless, and we had set up a kitchenette in our family room, mostly grilling out, microwaving, and ordering our dinners. It was not pleasant. [Friends joked that our house looked like a crack den.]

During our lull, I asked around but shied away from personal recommendations (the way we found the first guy). Eventually, an extensive internet search of area contractors led me to WrightWorks. The website reflected a precision and style that resonated with me as solid. When Chris came out to survey the damage, he bore a demeanor of compassion and empathy, not unlike the way a good ER doctor enters an exam room to assess a patient’s condition. Our house was such a mess and his image so clean and upscale, we worried that he wouldn’t want to bother with our abominable situation. But for whatever reason, he decided to take on the challenge.

We braced ourselves for the quote and were pleasantly surprised by how reasonable it was. For the next three months, Chris’s men (who were delightful to have in our home) came in and, wire by wire, board by board, pipe by pipe, nail by nail, coat by coat, and tile by tile, transformed our gutted and mangled space into a gorgeous, usable kitchen.

During the process of materials selection, Chris connected us to the most helpful and knowledgeable suppliers who came alongside me in my trepidation and indecision to create the beautiful space that existed only in my mind. Though too late in the game to consult on the cabinetry and layout decisions (which were regrettable), Chris engaged with me to salvage my original vision. From magazine photos and online galleries, he transformed my ideas for the back and sides of my cabinets into a one of a kind work of art, and it was no small feat in executing it. Creating it required precise, detailed and copious woodworking, followed by the challenge of matching the fabricated cabinetry by finding the right shades of stain and a dark wash that was tricky to work with. Chris’s millwork man tirelessly measured, cut, installed, nailed, glued, stained, washed, and re-stained and rewashed until it was perfect. Through hours and hours of toiling, he created what many consider to be the highlight of the kitchen.

When friends and family enter our new kitchen for the first time, they are wowed. The space truly is visually arresting. Cleaning, cooking, or preparing morning tea in the lovely room, regrets vanish. It is a vision, and Christopher Wright brought it to life. He rode in on a horse and, restoring order to chaos, transformed a heartbreaking disaster into a dazzling, peaceful heart of our home.

We cannot thank you enough, Chris.

Sincerely,

Beth and Dan Bates
Carmel