Gilmans Kitchens and Baths - Mountain View

We've worked with a solid handful of kitchen designers and Justin has blown me out of the water with the experience provided. We're planning a non-traditional kitchen design and his depth and breadth of knowledge on top of the level of customer service has been phenomenal. I have a lot more confidence in our overall project design because of his guidance. We look forward to finishing out the project together!

Customers are in wonderful hands with Justin.

Too slow and totally unprofessional. Walked in 25-Nov, sent measurements via email that week requesting a quote. Sent a reminder mid-Dec. Received a quote now!! 2 months have gone by! Person we met and emailed with was the only one I saw there - JG.

Email says "Thanks for your patients"...!!

Other cabinet places including one just down the road responded quickly and were far more professional.

I bought a house with thirty year old Dura Supreme cabinets. Which, by the way, still look and function terrific. We recently broke a small part on one of the sliding doors. I wasn't hopeful in finding a replacement and in fact, came up empty handed at several of our local hardware and cabinetry establishments here in Marin. Since we had recently upgraded our laundry room cabinets through Gilmans Design I contacted Cary Ng. Wow! quick response, helpful solution, and a dozen FREE clips are on my way. Having been a manager involved in customer service for the past 40 years I am fairly discerning in my praise. This kind of customer service is so rare these days. Thank you Cary for being so responsive and helpful to our needs.

Denice Barsness
Mill Valley CA

I am giving 3 stars and that is for the product.

Unfortunately, we feel they were not upfront about the costs. From our correspondence and many emails we exchanged, we had expressed our budget for the full cabinet renovation project at our apartment community. The designer mentioned she was confident they would be able to match our budget for the project. The pricing and wording used were very confusing. They had sent the plans/proposal for each item on a different invoice for us to review and sign. We believed this was the cost of the project total adding up to the 1st contract we signed, until we realized the first contract was an ADDITIONAL $5,600 charge for labor alone for 2 bathroom vanities, and 1 kitchen installation. The total cost of the project ended up being close to double our budget. We have another cabinet vendor who charges us $200-300 more of the total cost of Gilmans labor alone, and that is for everything (white painted Maple Cabinets with labor included) but we wanted to use Gilmans due to the high turnover.

We believe the communication used was not honest. The designer could tell from my emails that I believed I was getting everything within that budget we had discussed on multiple occasion both over the phone and through email, and yet never clarified. Always proof read the contract before signing to make sure it matches up with what you are told. Something I did not pay close enough attention to, but lesson learned.

I had an great experience remodeling my Kitchen with Gilmans. When I walked into the Mountain View office, I was immediately introduced to Michele. From there, I had a positive experience discussing my design ideas, budget and timing needs. I let them know that I would want to move quickly when I was ready to proceed.

Design -
After a few weeks deliberation, I decided to pull the trigger on the entire design/build process with Gilmans. Working with Michele I was able to find cabinetry to meet my needs in my stated budget. We spent several weeks measuring and going over the design. Michele also accompanied on a search for granite countertop options since I was not interested in quartz. The initial design process took about 4 weeks and then an additional two months for the cabinets to be ordered.

Build - The build process was new for me, but Gilmans was very professional and upfront about costs. They provided a clear list of expense categories and as the job proceeded everything was clearly itemized and tracked as a percentage of completion. I was billed every 2-3 weeks based on milestones of completion. Any overage that I had was because I made change requests and clearly authorized them. I appreciated the transparency. I will note that my kitchen did not have any surprising electrical or plumbing issues as the house is not particularly old. Gilmans did tell me that the costs could change is there were major issues they uncovered once they brought everything down to the studs.

In the final weeks of the job, they remained on top of getting sign off from the city and they continually cleaned their workspace to avoid any dangerous situations.

I would definitely use Gilmans for any additional kitchen or bath remodels.

My wife and I contacted Janis for a kitchen remodel in Menlo Park. From there we hired Gilmans Design-Build team to do the remainder or our house remodel (except the roof and window/doors which we had already chosen firms.) From a February 2014 start to the end in mid June, we could not have been more happier in the results.

With our small kitchen footprint and some of our needs, wants and ideas collated, Janis incorporated this into a couple designs which we then narrowed down into a concise end single product. The cabinets turned out fantastic and with the space slightly re-worked, not to mention new appliances, the kitchen feels a dream to be in.

Design Build also managed the construction of the kitchen/living room skylight well which was worth every time and money spent, opened up our small space even further, and feels like a piece of architecture in its own right; re-lighting in the kitchen space to match the new area perfectly including LED uplit in the sky well; the complete re-painting of the exterior and interior of the house; a remodeled contemporary fireplace that is stunning to look at thanks to the unique tiles sourced by Brigette and Avery; and the overhaul and re-design of our back landscaping so we have a space for our young children to play in.

Keeping to our budget was very important to us and Gilmans made sure of this. Yes we did spend some of a contingency but this was for items added into the scope.

So thank you Janis and to all the team at Design Build - Sean, Brigette, Avery, Alex and Phil.

Paul and Cara

This places gets a 5 star for great customer service and satisfaction. After a couple of months searching around for kitchen cabinets, we walked into Gilmans and met Linda. She wasn't pushy like many places we experienced before and was very kind and helpful from the start. She showed us various options and informed us about the materials and such. She was extremely patient with us (as we toyed with several ideas) and was always ready to incorporate our requirements and ideas. She worked thru design ideas to optimize for our small kitchen footprint and incorporated space change such as taking walls down. She really listens and pays attentions to your needs. Thanks for fitting the spice rack and wine rack Linda!!!

Linda helped us with millions of other details as well from coordinating the countertop with our cabinets to taking care of ordering and scheduling the countertop installation. She even helped us pick the tile for our fireplace so that the whole living area and kitchen were coordinated. The cabinets turned out fantastic and with the space slightly re-worked and new appliances, the kitchen feels a dream to be in.

The best part was their service after the sale (at which point other places often leave you on your own). They took care of ordering replacement doors for the couple of doors that had minor imperfections and scheduling the cabinet representative to make sure that the cabinet were level.

Thank you Linda for making this part of the remodeling work so smooth and stress free.

I stopped in to ask about Kitchen Cabinet pull-outs and Kitchen/Bath Faucet fixtures. They do more comprehensive remodelling jobs, but Cynthia took the time to give me names of brands, contractors, and showed me catalogs and gave me pamphlets. Very helpful, despite my not bringing them overt business.

Working with Cheryl to finish our master bath. Cheryl really listens to what you want and need plus offers fantastic ideas and options to make the project special while being mindful of price. Excited to see it all come together! My husband and I truly enjoy working with Cheryl!

My son and his wife worked with Janis Manacsa on their bathroom remodel. The outcome of their bathroom was awesome so without hesitation, I took the plunge and contacted Janis about my long-overdue total bathroom redo. I've been looking at bathroom pictures online and in magazines for years; little did I know that someone who would really listen to my needs/taste was working nearby at Gilmans Kitchens & Baths in Mtn. View. Janis is very patient, thorough and a stickler for detail. Janis not only helped me pick out the perfect vanity and quartz counter top, she worked with me on tile and paint choices. She guided me through the whole process (I used an independent contractor) and followed up after the job was completed. The end result exceeded my expectations thanks to Janis!