Scituate Caseworks

Do not hire Scituate Caseworks! As the company hired by Traemand to assemble IKEA cabinets, SCITUATE CASEWORKS was not suited for the project. Their project managed lied to us, and tried to charge us for work without a supporting documentation. They charged our credit card for second (supposedly final) payment for the installation before we even had cabinets in the kitchen.
The cabinets were installed with multiple issues: veneer was chipped in multiple spots, with cracks left around a screw, shelves were left loose, and gaps between the cabinets or molding and a wall. We had to point out the issues repeatedly, and every time it was met like a normal thing and some of it still not finished. Their subs did a terrible job. The electrician left AFCIs breaking from use of kitchen appliances. He did not label electrical panel correctly, and not even apologized when we brought it to his attention. He also started to run wires for under-cabinet lights, which we did not have on our kitchen plan, and we had to stop him, not the project manager, who was not on site every day. So the quality control was our daily task.
The plumber did a lousy job with piping, and estimated other work which we asked about almost twice more expensive than other plumber that we selected later. He worked on a spigot and it leaked when we checked it afterwards.
Project manager did not like looking into drawings, so we had to ask them not to forget to remove an outlet or not to forget to add another one. Their subs had to come multiple times to complete work missed because they did not look into the kitchen plans. She suggested us to have a hose to supply water to the fridge to run through the cabinets, as well as to keep exposed sewer pipe inside of another cabinet.
Countertop company came twice to take the measurements, as the project manager did not reschedule and the renovation was significantly delayed. It took them more than promised 8 weeks and still was not fully done when they left last time.
We love IKEA, but this experience shows that IKEA needs to excersice stronger supervision and not to tolerate Traemand hiring contractors that hurt IKEA's reputation.

We feel like we are are the luckiest people in the world to have worked with Scituate Caseworks and Linda Bate on our kitchen project.

I connected with Linda one Monday afternoon when I discovered that the contractor we had planned to have build our IKEA cabinets was not licensed to work in our (condo) building. From the minute I spoke to her, I felt like we were in *very good hands* ... and we were.

Linda took care of everything and she knows how to deal with IKEA - I figure she saved me hours of aggravation on that alone. She handled all the permitting, which was a big plus. Her cabinet-building team, Jose and his crew, were AMAZING. Polite, fast, accurate -- and they also gave us "inside baseball" tips on how to make the most of our new cabinets. Linda's advice on choosing a sink and counter-top was fantastic and she kept after the countertop company to make sure our countertop was installed on schedule.

She also made a bunch of calls to IKEA folks to make sure we got the (3) fairly-large credits we were owed -- she knew who to talk to and they were willing to help her in a way I don't believe the IKEA people would have helped a random customer like me.

I know some people have "nightmare kitchen remodels." BUT, totally thanks to Linda Bate, ours was a happy experience indeed. One month start-to-finish!

IKEA is very-very-very lucky to have Scituate Caseworks working with the homeowners, because IKEA's *system* is complicated and more than a little difficult. I know we would have had a complete disaster on our hands without Linda Bate and Scituate Caseworks. Instead we have a brand-new kitchen we are delighted with. We are so appreciative and we will remember Linda Bate most fondly forever. She's cares about her customers and takes good care of them. God bless her for that!

(P.S. IKEA makes it look *so easy* to put their kitchens together. After doing ours, I think IKEA should have A Big Sign in their kitchen department indicating that a kitchen assembly requires serious Expert Level construction skills, tools, experience and a lot of physical strength. It's not any kind of weekend DIY! We actually went to IKEA and ordered our kitchen from the IKEA planner's recommended design. And just that part was stressful - getting there at a time the kitchen department wouldn't be packed. And then we had to double-check 150+ complicatedly-named, heavy boxes of parts within 48 hours. If I had it to do over again, the ONLY thing I would do differently is I would have hired Scituate Caseworks to do everything from the very start. It would have been some of the best money we could have spent.)

When we began researching our kitchen remodel we had spoken to several contractors who quoted us very high, out-of-market prices for our kitchen renovation.
On a whim we went to Ikea and looked at their kitchens and spoke to a very helpful woman named Grace who suggested we pay $199 for an in-home consultation with a design for our new kitchen. We really liked some of the kitchen cabinets/hardware so we scheduled our in-home consultation with Beth Ellen from Scituate Caseworks. Beth worked very patiently with us to design our kitchen based on our ideas. At the end of this consultation we had a design that Beth printed out with a parts list and estimate to complete the kitchen renovation.
We moved forward with our kitchen renovation and between Beth Ellen and Linda (project manager) our kitchen was completed in the 6-8 weeks that they estimated and came in on budget. We are extremely happy with the final product and with the professionalism with which this was carried out.
As is normal with any renovation there were issues that came up but these were are resolved to our complete satisfaction and all completed within the original estimated timeline. We had to do a redesign at the last minute due to plumbing constraints in our building and both Beth Ellen and Linda were very helpful in providing an alternate strategy that worked out beautifully.
We really appreciated this flexibility in making changes as required as they came up and are extremely happy with our kitchen renovation.
We would highly recommend using Ikea’s design services as well as working together with all the people at Scituate Caseworks. Ed L and Mark K

We love our new kitchen!

We renovated a few months back and decided to go with the new Ikea line. After reading some of the reviews online, we had our doubts about Scituate but we decided to meet with them. We liked that they have a lot of experience with IKEA products, and that they were open to working with some other contractors that we chose. For example, we saved some money by hiring someone different to do the demolition and painting. Additionally, we selected a third-party to install our high-end countertops, and Scituate was able to work with them easily.

We met the whole team and felt we were in good hands. Everyone was very professional and hard working, but also kind and respectful. The initial process seemed a little disjointed as there were two different teams managing our account (Traemond and Scituate). It definitely took a lot of coordinating and organizing on our part throughout the process. We were very involved in the project, wanting to assure a smooth process and timely completion of the project.

We met initially with Erik. He is very knowledgeable and experienced and spent a fair amount of time with us putting our kitchen plan into the Ikea design software. However, once we had committed to working with Scituate, it was very difficult to reach Eric either by phone or by email. In fact, after signing up we never saw him again. The Ikea software was quite cumbersome to use, even for Erik, who never provided a final printout of the design we wanted. We ended up drawing out our own plans on paper and making our own shopping list, and our kitchen was built based on these.

On the other hand, Linda, our project manager was great. She communicated well, responded quickly to emails or phone calls, managed our budget neatly, was accessible, and kept us well informed about the progress. This is impressive knowing the amount of other parallel projects she manages.

Scott, the plumber, is very nice. He is very professional and did a great job!

Sergio, our lead contractor and carpenter, did an amazing job! His work was precise, with a lot of attention to detail, and he was receptive and responsive to our concerns. He and his team are very skillful, and they were able to customize much of the cabinetry to fit our existing layout.

Our kitchen looks professional, modern, and custom made! People do not guess it comes from Ikea. The cabinetry is sleek and very functional with a lot of nice features such as hidden drawers, a garbage bin that opens with a gentle tap, and doors that close slowly and do not slam.

Overall, we are very pleased with the end result and would use Scituate again.

We used Scituate Caseworks (SCW) to install our new Ikea kitchen and are very satisfied with the outcome (it is now ~12 months post-install and everything still works flawlessly and looks great). We checked approximately 5 references and our experience was similar to that of the references we checked. Rather than providing a full prose report, I will highlight several of the issues we encountered.

1) If you choose to have Ikea manage the installation of your kitchen, you have to use Scituate Caseworks. You can always have your own contractor install an Ikea kitchen or you can DIY. But we paid for the whole process to be managed by Ikea’s subcontractor and, as such, you must work with SCW.

2) We paid SCW a “management fee” to manage the whole purchasing process, returns, exchanges, etc. While it was not the cheapest fee, it was well worth it and handled pretty much flawlessly by SCW’s staff. When all was said and done, we received some pretty sizeable rebates for un-needed product returned and we avoided the dreaded return lines at Ikea. So, all told, this particular expense was, in our minds, more than well worth it.

3) We paid $299 for a design of our kitchen, performed by a most lovely woman by the name of Sandy. Sandy spent more time than expected with us, reviewing our needs and overall plan for the kitchen and crafted a complete set of plans. We were within expected range as far as measurements go and we are delighted with how everything functions in the final product. Some of minor problems we faced reflect limitations with Ikea’s product or with our kitchen layout, but overall, our final product functions great and to our expectations. We did not have to make any significant modifications to the plans provided by Sandy and any adjustments we had to make were readily handled by our installer.

4) With respect to our installer…what can I say? Tony did a fantastic job with the install. We had a few challenges pop up along the way (particularly fitting a paneled DW into its space), but Tony reassured us that we need not worry and he always proved this to be true. Tony asserts that he has installed 1000s of kitchens over the years and it clearly shows. He also claims to be a perfectionist and it was evident with the way he made many final adjustments and adaptations to ensure that the final product looked great. The finished product is as close to perfect as we could expect. We had to coordinate cabinet and appliance installations and many of our appliances required multistep close coordination with our cabinet installation and Tony worked both processes out really well. Given the extensive number of our “built-in look” appliances, this was not an easy task.

5) Our subcontractors for plumbing and electrical were great. When work-order changes were required, they were not cheap, but they were performed expertly and in a timely fashion, so as not to hold the project up. Jim (electrician) and Scott (plumber) were both really nice guys and very methodical with their work. I would hire either of them independently, as they do great work.

6) Linda Bate…I would consider her our general contractor, coordinating installers, subcontractors, Ikea returns, etc. Whenever problems arose, she was only a cell phone call or email away. Don’t get me wrong…a few issues did arise with respect to layout, one or two disputes over work-order charges, coordination of services, etc, but in the end, I always felt that Linda was responsive, understanding and fair. Linda has her hands full, coordinating the schedules for an endless number of installs and in the end, our project was completed pretty much on time and within budget.

Very, very happy with the final outcome. Pics to follow soon.

The bottom line: This was a complete gut rehab kitchen remodel. There were expected challenges along the way, many of which had nothing to do with SCW, a few of which had to be managed by SCW. Complete gut rehabs can be stressful, but our 6-8 week project was fairly low stress. Yes, we had work order changes and these came with charges, some of which seemed a little bit excessive, but we were able to negotiate our way through it and when all was said and done, we were very satisfied. This was a fully permitted, insured and bonded project and we feel that we added far more in value to our condo than the project cost. We and our guests very much marvel at our final kitchen product and we couldn’t be more delighted with its functionality and appearance.

We hired SC's Tasha Champage to design a new kitchen for my daughter and son-in- law's first home. Per her advice, we also bought Ikea's purchasing all if the prices and parts. Delivering, and inventorying the items purchased at Ikea . Erik Knapp, the owner of Scituate Caseworks, met with my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and Tasha at the house in Bristol RI. Scituate Casework is the New England Ikea kitchen contractor chosen by Traemond in CO who is the ONLY Ikea approved group choosing these regional contractors.
Erik Knapp has a general "manager" named Linda Bate who only visited our home and work site one time. She pulled her workers off of the job four times within four weeks. A EI man named Alan showed up two days after our supposed start date with an electrician an d no plans. None. We had no idea who they were. Turns out Erik knapp isn't licensed in RI as a contractor so Alan will do job but hasn't seen plans yet.
Linda put UNAPPROVED chafe orders totaling 6000.00 in for "additional electrical work" and "additional sheet rocking and plastering needed" but cod not tell me where extra was needed or provide receipts. Instead she pulled Alan off the job. The electrician is nowhere to be found. He hasn't been back in five months and he hasn't done half of what we were chared for and what we paid Scituate. They charged me for building permits and electric permits but didn't get either electric or plumbing permits from Town Hall. They charged me $350.00 for a cover to protect our newly refinished wooden floors and then they didn't cover them with ANYTHING. The delivery of Ikea kitchen purchased happened 6 weeks before the inventory was done that we paid extra for ($1599.00). The dishwasher as well as all handles, knobs, broken and missing cabinets prevented assembly but we wasted six weeks to find the missing parts and get them picked up everyday we found that we owed more money and Libda pulled the workers off the job if we disagreed over this. Quite frankly it felt as if we were being held hostage by Scituate Casework- pay more or we leave the house safely sealed- we has a six foot by six foot hole in the exterior wall today with high temps in mid 20s when Linda told me she was telling her worker and Alan to leave the job permanently. They have lied repeatedly and refuse to talk or meet at the house to see the problems with their own eyes. Alan is not getting paid and the electrician do not use erik knapp or Tasha Champagne or Scituate Caseworks

What a nightmare! We had a schedule to adhere to with appliances, flooring contractors and counter tops. Our first experience with the installer was the day he didn't show up. The next day he showed up late and informed me that I was "lucky he came by at all". Evidently the only other employee was sick with a cold and "Eric" also had a cold. We have a very small kitchen. There were only 4 base cabinets and 6 wall cabinets, plus a pull-out pantry cabinet. We were told it would take 2 days to install the cabinets - it took a week. The installer would show up at 10:00am (ish!) and leave by 2:30pm. Needless to say this put a big wrench in the schedule. One of the drawer faces was damaged either in shipment or while unpacking. After waiting 3 weeks for the replacement to be installed, it turned out that the installer ordered the wrong replacement. Also, he didn't leave enough space for the [standard] dishwasher. We had to have the sink, counter top and base cabinets removed and reinstalled costing us an additional $1200 from the countertop installer, plumber and carpenter. Further, the installer did a horrible job of installing the cabinets. We had to have our carpenter make several tweaks and modifications to level and make the cabinets presentable. If you order IKEA cabinets - they are beautiful and are well made - do yourself and your wallet a favor and hire someone other than Scituate Caseworks to install them. They charged almost as much to (poorly) install the cabinets as the cabinets themselves cost. The installer was a slob, left a mess whenever he was there and was in general very unprofessional. The only glimmer of hope in this entire experience was a sub-contractor who came out to fix the damaged drawer face. He was very pleasant to work with, cleaned up after himself and communicated when he would be returning. Hire the sub-contractor, not Scituate Caseworks!