I’m in the beginning phases of a total kitchen renovation (it’s going to be fabulous and a half) and I have heard that Angie’s List is a good place to find contractors and kitchen designers. However, they charge a fee to sign up.
Have you used them before? What do you think?
I signed up for free when they started here. It took several years to become worthwhile, since it is dependent on local users for reviews.
If your location is accurate, I can’t imagine you’ll have that problem.
It’s worked for me. I’ve found several good contractors/services through AL.
Be sure to actually read through the reviews for any that you’re considering - don’t just go by the grades.
I used Angie’s List to have granite kitchen counter-tops, a wood floor, and a whole house interior painting (2,200 square feet). One challenge you may have is that many places subcontract out their work to small job shop places to do installations/paining, which is, of course, the important part.
As such, just because ABC flooring did a great job on someone’s house, and Frank was the installer, there is no guarantee that Frank will be available to do the install at your house when you contact ABC for a quote. In fact, Frank may work for all the competitors. I insisted I get the recommended installers from the reviews, which worked out for the flooring, but only partially worked out for the counter-tops, and paining. That is, I started out with the good guy, but then he got called away to another job and it was finished up by the other folks. As a result, the work was ‘just o.k.’ Honestly, I think your odds of success are about equal with Yelp at this point, provided you take the usual precautions. That is, anyone with one or two stellar reviews could have been written by the company itself. Look for any telltale similar syntax or expressions between the reviews as one possible indicator or fraud…
I’ve been pleased - I hired a hardwood refinisher from reviews there and was extremely happy with the work. The reviews are definitely a cut above what you find on Yelp and such.
Picked a bikini waxer from there too.
I’ve subscribed for about 6 years now. I use someone from the list 1-2 times a year. It’s worth it for me.
One thing that you get with AL over Yelp is if there is a problem with the job they will mediate for you and help you resolve complaints.
They also offer something called “Big Deals” now which is like Groupon but for services by companies on the list. Haven’t been too impressed with these…but I feel the same way about Groupon.
There’s also another website (ServiceMagic, now HomeAdvisor, apparently) that I consulted in my search for a roofer. Between Yelp, ServiceMagic, BBB, and whatever various reviews I found from Google or whatever, I was able to build a pretty good picture. It might be more work, but I’d probably consult two or three websites in addition to Angie’s List anyway, were I a member.
I was a member a few years ago, but didn’t have any renovation needs then, and so didn’t get much out of it. I didn’t bother to reup this year when I did have some needs, so I guess you wouldn’t be wrong if you thought I didn’t find it worth the money. That said, they’re always sending me 40% off codes in the mail - if I have one handy, I’ll forward it to you, if you’d like. Check first to see if you can find out how long they’ve been reviewing in your area, though - like **redtail **says, it’s only as good as how many reviews are out there.
I’ve used ServiceMagic before for a flooring guy and electrical and was satisfied. I haven’t done anything of this scale (or expense) before, though, so multiple sources sounds like a good idea.
Angie’s List is great. I’ve used it a lot. Service Magic doesn’t have many entries in my area.
Of course, to make it worthwhile, you need to make sure the job/contractor you’re looking for is worth the $750.00 annual fee that Angie’s List charges.
(My point being that the cost is only $20 per year, so given how much you’re going to spend on your “total kitchen renovation,” it seems like a reasonable gamble.)*
I subscribed to try and find doctors and dentists (in the southern 'burbs of Boston) but they didn’t have many reviews beyond what I could find on Yelp or Google or whatever. To their credit, they gave me a refund after a very quick and easy phone call. So I’d say go ahead and give it a go. At the very least, you’ll have a source of information that won’t be stuffed with the fraudulent positive reviews that seem to be infecting other review sites.
I’ve used Angie’s and have been very pleased with the results, especially my cat sitter.
The one exception was a plumber who installed my new kitchen faucet sideways, and with the pipes reversed.
When I used service magic a few years ago, they wouldn’t delete my account with them and I had to manually call them 
I like the idea of Angie’s List, and it’s been useful for a few things. However, when I started looking for a renovation contractor here, it seemed like there were a hundred people listed with one or two reviews each. It hasn’t been around all that long in my area, though, and it does seem to improve as time goes on.
I can somewhat picture getting the pipes reversed. But how the hell did this plumber manage to install a faucet SIDEWAYS?
I hope it was different people. 