Ask RiotACT: kitchen resurfacing recommendations

Warning re Granite Transformations (GT) Canberra / Goulburn. The Goulburn franchise bought out the Canberra franchise in 2018 and has been trading in the CBR area. I engaged them to resurface my kitchen bench tops, as well as replace overhead cabinetry in my laundry and kitchen.

During the initial quotation and final measurement process, I requested that the laundry cupboards be made to ceiling height to maximise storage space as I live in a small townhouse. GT said this was not a problem and could be accommodated. On installation, the laundry cupboards were made with a large baulk head (170mm height) resulting in a quite significant loss of storage space and pokey cupboards. Initial sketch plans provided by GT did not include the baulk head.

During the installation, I requested that the cupboards be made to the ceiling height as originally agreed. GT refused claiming that baulk heads are standard for all cupboards and they do not need to consult clients about small variations to works. An impasse was reached mid-way through the installation and GT said that if we did not accept the baulk head they would pull their workers off the job. This occurred 2 weeks before Christmas. With a family with 2 young children (1 & 3), there was no option other than to agree or potentially be left with a half finished kitchen/laundry for months.

The build quality and workmanship of GT is good, but from experience they are not focused on delivering client briefs and coerce clients into agreeing unilateral variations they have made. I will spend the extra to engage a client focused contractor in the future.