Stonewood Design, Inc. — Local services in Kirkland

We just got our countertops installed in the kitchen and I think we went there just once, the rest was done over email. I was hovering between 3 and 4 as a rating, but they are better than an A-OK.

PROS: They are very quick and efficient in the whole process, from submitting a quote to getting you on their schedule. Generally, it was hard to get ahold of the sales person by phone, so a lot was done through emails, which is fine I guess. The front desk did all the scheduling and from picking the stone, getting the final quote and installation was maybe 3 weeks.

The guys installing the countertop were awesome, they made sure nothing got damaged in the process, since our entry was pretty tight and they had some corners to work around. They came a bit late, but were nice enough to call us and my husband went back to work for 2 hours, before they showed up later in the afternoon.

Price, they were one of the best around, no one was able to compete with them.

CON: The only downside to the whole thing was, they never confirmed which side of the slab we want and just cut it the way they thought is good. We did go to different shops and all of them talked about templating and they will send a picture of the template on the slab so we can see and choose where they cut it. We went to a couple of places, but I'm pretty sure they said the same thing at Stonewood, but we don't have anything in writing. The slab had a lighter and much darker side and we wanted the light one, so believe me, I was sitting there crying the whole weekend for having the wrong side of the slab. I know it is our fault for not having our own checklist, but as a newbie to renovations, I was just thinking this is something that every granite company would do automatically. Every single slab has so many different variations, I would just expect them to let me know or ask me if they are unsure. This is the only downside and we both learned the lesson that babysitting is needed from start to finish at all times for any project that you give out of your own hands. My husband talked to a manager and he said, the margins are too low to be offering extra services like that,... if the sales person would have said that right away, it is on you guys to let us know what side you want and email it over, I would have put a note somewhere to remember doing it. We had so much going on in our lives, that neither my husband or me realized that there was no communication from their side, otherwise, we would have checked in with them where the picture and template is.

Overall, I would pick them again, but boy would I make sure I get the correct side of the slab the next time! The price is right and its easy and affordable with them, but make sure you keep...

This may seem like a firm with great options and great customer service. However, the installation is not on the professional level, and they blatantly refuse responsibility for their substandard work.

This firm installed 3 granite countertops with granite backsplashes for us. The installation was performed by immigrant workers with apparent lack of professional qualification. Namely, instead of cutting out 2 cm thick backsplashes, they got them cut somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cm thick. As a result, the backsplash kept cracking, and they kept trying and redoing it again and again. They also were not putting shims behind the backsplash where the wall was not flat. Eventually, they installed 1 backsplash cracked, tried to mask it, and just left. I had to contact the firm and request the backsplash to be reinstalled - this time other workers came, and did the job correctly, with right thickness of the backsplash, and with shims behind the backsplash. However that fixed only 1 out of 3 countertops - the other 2 remained with overly thin backsplashes, and with no shims installed for the back support.

And so, 2 years later, we see water leak on one of the bathroom walls. Turned out caulking between the backsplash and the countertop was so bad, that water eventually found its way to the wall. I reported that to the firm, and they kindly sent workers to redo the caulking free of charge. However, since the backsplash was overly thin, and there were no shims for the back support, the workers cracked the backsplash while re-caulking it. And again, they did not say what happened, and just left. This time, when I reported to the firm that the workers cracked the backsplash, the firm refused all responsibility, and offered to epoxy the crack for a charge. They did not acknowledge that the backsplash was cracked when re-caulked, and they did not acknowledge that it cracked because it was overly thin to begin with, and without shims for the back support. The excuse they presented was that this is a “normal problem”. Now we are left with a broken backsplash.

They also originally performed detailed kitchen measurements but never provided the quote for the kitchen, despite numerous reminders - this was very strange.

Update: On the upside the management was very reasonable - they sent an expert (not the original under-qualified workers) to properly seal the splash crack, and provided partial reimbursement in case I will decide to replace the...

As an interior designer by trade I was left feeling like I wasn't a worthy customer because the order wasnt large enough for them to want to provide decent customer service. Little did they know I am remodeling all our bathrooms and was going to spec them on a clients remodel as well.

My experience was absolutely terrible...I ordered tile for our kitchen in store and was told it would be available for pick up the following Wednesday in Kirkland.

Wednesday comes around and I give them a call to check in on the order. Apparently it had not been picked up from their warehouse as it wasn't ever received. I asked for tonya to call me back when they had it at the Kirkland store and never heard back via telephone. As my contractor is now waiting around for the tile to be at the home and I'm left thinking the tile would be at the Kirkland store sooner than later.

Friday rolls around and I call to ask about the update on the tile I bought and Totyana has me check my email as she sent me an update on Wednesday at 4pm saying they now want to charge me $100 for it be delivered to Seattle or I can DRIVE down to Georgetown and get it from their warehouse since they weren't installing it?!?

What! Firstly, she didn't have my number to call me and secondly and you can't flip flop on what you original said after the purchase has been made and after the date it was supposed to be delivered. Terribly flaky customer service.

I asked them to either vouche for what they originally told me that the tile would be either collected in Kirkland or refund my order as I wasn't going to drive down to George Town after I was told it would be at the Kirkland store up the street from my house. I chose their location for a reason!

They chose to refund my order.

Unbelievable. If you want a store that's going to over promise and have floppy unclear direction go ahead with them.

Certainly not my cup of tea and I have worked in both commercial and...