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hey everyone how’s it going this is Michael with RTA we work with a lot of customers who are considering going with a local contractor for their outdoor kitchen project in this video we’re going to break down some of the unknown disadvantages of having your local
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contractor build your outdoor kitchen you’re likely aware of the advantages of working with one but in our pursuit of being the leading source of information in the industry we just wanted to take some time to discuss this topic but before we dive in if you enjoy watching
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this video and you get some value don’t forget to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel and stay tuned for future videos alright let’s get started the reality is that contractors
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Generalist vs Specialist Contractors
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that truly specialize in outdoor kitchens are a bit more rare than you would imagine many contractors take on projects that might fall outside of the scope of what they specialize in and while this may be fine for other types of projects due to the complexity and
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nuances of an outdoor kitchen project we would strongly encourage you to find someone who truly specializes in outdoor kitchen Construction now we’ve all heard the saying jack of all trades master of none what applies to this situation as well it’s the same
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reason a general doctor is going to refer you to a specialist if you have a specific type of medical issue because the general doctor won’t be qualified to perform that task now I know an outdoor kitchen project isn’t the same thing as your health but who you hire could have
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everything to do with your safety and we’ll talk more about that a little bit later if you do choose to go with a contractor you want to make sure they are a specialist always ask how many outdoor kitchen projects they’ve built over the last year or two and this is usually a
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good first step in understanding if this is something they do on a regular basis or if an outdoor kitchen is outside of their normal scope of work you can also check the reviews to see if they have anything that specifically talks about the outdoor kitchen projects they’ve
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built and a good review of a patio project they completed unfortunately won’t help you much in determining if they’re qualified to build your outdoor kitchen since the skill sets to complete the two aren’t the same setting proper expectations is the
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Outdoor Kitchen Expectations vs Reality
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foundation of a successful project outcome and a positive experience always proceed with caution if you feel your contractor is over compromising on what they’ll deliver we know it might be tempting when you’re given rows the expectations of the cost and timeline
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but unfortunately a common shortcoming for contractors is overcompromising and under delivering especially when it comes to your project timeline ask yourself when was the last time a contractor run project was truly done on time some of the factors that can extend
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projects may be out of the contractor’s control but at the end of the day no one likes to be blindsided with outcomes that are different from the expectations that were originally set especially when it comes to the project pricing which we’ll get to a little bit later in this video
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we’d like to believe that our friendly local contractor is always going to be
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Contractor Reliability
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reliable and responsive in their communication the unfortunate thing is this isn’t always the case most of the time contractors truly have the best intentions but a lot of them take on more than they can handle and they just don’t have the business operations to
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support it this can lead contractors to being unresponsive or making mistakes due to juggling too many things at once and we know that working with someone local might lead you to believe that you can get a hold of them easier especially if there are any issues when in fact
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this isn’t always true you don’t ever want to be the person chasing someone to complete what was promised and get what you paid for if you’ve worked with a contractor in the past you may be familiar with the
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Hidden Costs & Change Orders
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term change order contractor run projects can be notorious for incurring change orders which can drive the cost of the project up as at times they forget to include things in the pricing that was agreed upon up front this goes back to that generalist versus
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specialist concept we talked about if you’re working with someone that specializes in outdoor kitchens this will be less of an issue a specialist will understand how to price the project on the front end so you’re not dealing with unforeseen costs that could lead you to go over budget
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some local contractors will offer
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Warranties & Guarantees
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warranties but most won’t the type of warranty that is offered is a very important thing to consider as well a common warranty that most contractors will offer is called a workmanship warranty which basically covers their workmanship this unfortunately won’t
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cover the product or anything that could go wrong this is mostly due to the fact that contractors aren’t typically manufacturers of the products they’re installing so it would be hard for them to warranty them if your contractor is offering a limited warranty or no
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warranty at all this could leave you on the hook if anything goes wrong with the project years down the road we started to talk about safety earlier so let’s
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Outdoor Kitchen Safety
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take a deeper dive into that if your contractor specializes in outdoor kitchens this is an area you likely won’t have to worry about safety when it comes to outdoor kitchen construction can be an area that is often overlooked most of the time this
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is just due to the inexperience of the person you’re hiring the issue here is that a small oversight on safety can lead to a very dangerous situation and we’ve heard horror stories of people’s outdoor kitchens blowing up or Catching Fire because the proper safety measures
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were not taken if you end up going with a contractor always be sure they have a plan for ventilation and the materials they’re building out of are rated for outdoor kitchen construction most of the time your local contractor won’t be able
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Multiple Suppliers
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to provide you with a complete package they may not handle the appliance side of things or you may have to Source your countertops from a local fabricator this may not be a big deal but with the complexity of an outdoor kitchen project anytime you involve multiple parties in
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that project the likelihood of something going wrong increases as soon as you have to start working with multiple suppliers it puts you in the middle of everything and can lead you to having to GC the project yourself ultimately you want to hire someone that
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can take care of all of that for you so finding someone that can handle these different elements of the project will make the process more convenient and hassle-free for you there you have it the shocking disadvantages of hiring a local contractor for your outdoor kitchen
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we do want to say that this isn’t to say there aren’t good contractors out there there absolutely are and in fact we work with some great ones that are part of our contractor Network we made this video to spread awareness of the things that we have seen and
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heard in our experience of working with customers and contractors over the years at RTA we offer a solution that avoids some of the challenges with traditional outdoor kitchen projects that we discussed in this video if you’re interested in learning more feel free to
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check out our website where you can find an abundance of great information and helpful resources we would love to help you with your project and with us you can be sure that you’ll be working with someone who specializes in outdoor kitchens and will make sure you’re taken
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care of we appreciate you joining us today don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up subscribe to our Channel and ask us any questions in the comments below once again I’m Michael with RTA Outdoor Living I look forward to seeing you in the next video foreign
