Let's Talk Remodeling

[JimFitz]

Well, we just finished a major kitchen remodel and here are the results. We live in an older home (Crafstman built in 1920) and we were dealing with the original kitchen for two years. One day I went to get Windex from under the sink and I had to go down to the basement drop ceiling to get it because it fell through the huge hole under the sink. Another time I went to open the bread drawer and the entire draw fell apart. Needless to say my wife won the debate on wether or not we should get a new kitchen.

We went with Cherry cabinets and then decided to paint them (I know I know). This was a battle between me and my wife, I wanted stain and she wanted paint. The cabinet maker bought the cherry wood and then my wife said she wanted paint!!! UGH. We also went with Honed Uba Tuba counters.

We need to pick a backsplash now and are having a little trouble. I want glass subway tile and the wife wants slate. Any suggestions?

EDIT......

I seem to be having technical difficulties which means I am an idiot. Here is a link to the web gallery that has the pics. Disregard the family pics.

http://www.pbase.com/jimfitz/inbox&page=all

enjoy

 

[triplefigs]

Well, we just finished a major kitchen remodel and here are the results. We live in an older home (Crafstman built in 1920) and we were dealing with the original kitchen for two years. One day I went to get windex from under the sink and I had to go down to the basement drop ceiling to get it because it fell through the huge hole under the sink. Another time I went to open the bread drawer and the entire draw fell apart. Needless to say my wife won the debate on whether or not we should get a new kitchen.

We went with Cherry cabinets and then decided to paint them (I know I know). This was a battle between me and my wife, I wanted stain and she wanted paint. The cabinet maker bought the cherry wood and then my wife said she wanted paint!!! UGH. We also went with Honed Uba Tuba counters.

We need to pick a backsplash now and are having a little trouble. I want glass subway tile and the wife wants slate. Any suggestions?

That is so pretty! I used tumbled slate, and you can see it in my posts on this page and the previous page.

 

[JimFitz]

I fixed the images, they were not showing up.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I fixed the images, they were not showing up.

I still can't see them.

 

[JimFitz]

I seem to be having technical difficulties which means I am an idiot. Here is a link to the web gallery that has the pics. Disregard the family pics.

http://www.pbase.com/jimfitz/inbox&page=all

enjoy

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I seem to be having technical difficulties which means I am an idiot. Here is a link to the web gallery that has the pics. Disregard the family pics.

http://www.pbase.com/jimfitz/inbox&page=all

enjoy

Well, I have a Mac, so I figured it was just me.

ETA: I LOVE your kitchen. (And your family was pretty too! Sorry! I couldn't resist!)

 

[JimFitz]

Well, I have a Mac, so I figured it was just me.

I am actually in the market for a Mac. Do you like it?

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I am actually in the market for a Mac. Do you like it?

I absolutely love it! I've had some issues with work-related websites that only work on IE, but I have MacBook Pro, so I was able to load Windows on it too and solve the problems.

Look at this thread that I had going on awhile back. It totally swayed me! http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1427451

 

[shovan]

JimFitz, Love the remodel & you have a beautiful family too!

I've noticed several kitchens with wood floors in them. Am I the only person unhappy with having the wood in the kitchen? Can't really mop them, anything that is dropped dents it, love it everywhere else just doesn't seem to be working in the kitchen for me.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

JimFitz, Love the remodel & you have a beautiful family too!

I've noticed several kitchens with wood floors in them. Am I the only person unhappy with having the wood in the kitchen? Can't really mop them, anything that is dropped dents it, love it everywhere else just doesn't seem to be working in the kitchen for me.

I love mine, and I do mop them! I just use the spray that doesn't require water. There are more and more products out now to keep up wood floors. If I spill something, I just squirt some on the floor and wipe it up with a paper towel.

 

[Galahad]

JimFitz, Love the remodel & you have a beautiful family too!

I've noticed several kitchens with wood floors in them. Am I the only person unhappy with having the wood in the kitchen? Can't really mop them, anything that is dropped dents it, love it everywhere else just doesn't seem to be working in the kitchen for me.

My folks have a laminate floor in their kitchen. They are paranoid about getting it wet. I would think wood would be better than that at least.

 

[tiggger1]

went out last night and bought out lowes!

We bought this vanity for the 1/2 bath

with this top

and this moen faucet

We also bought a toilet, a 2 bowl sink for the kitchen and a moen kitchen faucet and all the lovely drains and such for them!

now all we need is to decide on a floor so we can finish!

 

[shovan]

I love mine, and I do mop them! I just use the spray that doesn't require water. There are more and more products out now to keep up wood floors. If I spill something, I just squirt some on the floor and wipe it up with a paper towel.

That's what I use, the wood floor spray either the one in the bottle with the terry cloth mop thing or the swiffer wet jet with wood spray. (I just meant mop in the traditional sense, with soap & water.) I just find that I'm bending over to clean more than I'm mopping. I love the look & feel of the wood. I really wanted a continuous look in the living, dining & kitchen area. But I also find that it's getting beat up pretty quickly in the kitchen area. I'm very happy with it everywhere else. When we get the master bath done, I am going to put the wood in the bedroom also.

My folks have a laminate floor in their kitchen. They are paranoid about getting it wet. I would think wood would be better than that at least.

I understood the laminate would hold up better to water damage. The Bruce floor we put down is not supposed to get wet. (prefinished oak planks, tongue & groove, glued down to concrete) My floors around my fridge got wet during Katrina (from everything defrosting & leaking) The floor rippled but laid back down & looked like it was going to be okay, but then turned dark in the seams. I could just have it refinished, but have decided that there is just too many opportunities for water damage in the kitchen to keep it.

 

[shovan]

Well, we have decided to cut way back on the kitchen remodel for now. The contractor is coming tonight to sign the contract.

We are going to fix the fridge fit, tile the backsplash, take out the wood floor, tile the kitchen, do something with the ugly light. No furdown (soffit) or cabinet removal for now. This is coming out around $6500.

The sheetrocking of the kitchen, living area will be next. We are still waiting to see if the state will approve the contractor to do the bathroom. We have decided that if they don't we will still use this guy & pay for all of it ourselves. So that's why we needed to hold off on more in the kitchen for now. The bathroom is going to be a killer.

On the bathroom, there were only 2 state approved contractors who wanted the job. One has gone bankrupt several times. THe other one had a new home in the home show we went to a couple of weeks ago. REALLY bad workmanship! Nails holes in the baseboards not puttied, under counter sinks not aligned properly, horrible caulking, it was shocking. Especially considering it was a $350,000 house!

 

[Galahad]

I understood the laminate would hold up better to water damage.

I don't know what brand they used, but they were told never to get it wet beyond cleaning it. A section did get quite wet from a leak and was ruined and had to be replaced. I guess I assumed that this was a problem with laminates. I suppose it's possible that it's just a problem with the kind they used.

 

[shovan]

I've picked out my tiles & the contractor is going to start on Monday!

I picked a porcelain travertine look alike similar to the darker beige one I had posted. The tile color varies a bit from tile to tile. I'm going with 19" on the floor and 6 inch on the back splash. May or may not add some 2x2 carved stone diagonal ones to the backsplash. The flooring designer recommended it, but I'm not sure, I'm going to leave it up to the contractor. Tile is his thing, funny he actually gets excited talking about tile!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I've picked out my tiles & the contractor is going to start on Monday!

I picked a porcelain travertine look alike similar to the darker beige one I had posted. The tile color varies a bit from tile to tile. I'm going with 19" on the floor and 6 inch on the back splash. May or may not add some 2x2 carved stone diagonal ones to the backsplash. The flooring designer recommended it, but I'm not sure, I'm going to leave it up to the contractor. Tile is his thing, funny he actually gets excited talking about tile!

We added a row of diagonal tiles to our backsplash. They're the same color as the others, so the look is subtle, but adds a little punch to it.

 

[binny]

omgosh looks like I might be "sort of" back on track for a kitchen!!

I thought we had wiped ourselves out with the flooring but I just got some countertop off of Freecycle! Can you imagine?

It is this and brand new. The supplier sent the wrong kind. Isnt that great?

http://www.formica.com/publish/site...s_collections/patterns.detail.7216.0001.html#

Its close to what I had chosen and I think it might look better. it wont do everything but will do a nice chunk of it! YAY!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

omgosh looks like I might be "sort of" back on track for a kitchen!!

I thought we had wiped ourselves out with the flooring but I just got some countertop off of Freecycle! Can you imagine?

It is this and brand new. The supplier sent the wrong kind. Isnt that great?

http://www.formica.com/publish/site...s_collections/patterns.detail.7216.0001.html#

Its close to what I had chosen and I think it might look better. it wont do everything but will do a nice chunk of it! YAY!

I like it!

We actually sat down and discussed our bathroom last night too. I think we're going to go ahead and start doing what we can, a little bit at a time, paying cash as we go.

We have double mirrored doors, with brass trim closing off our closet. I wanted to remove those, wall it off, and add a regular door. It'll give us more workable space inside the closet, and I'll lose those hideous doors.

I think we're going to start there. I bet we can get that done for around $600.

 

[Hixski]

I have a question for anyone about refinishing kitchen cabinets. Just a little background. We have a 1400 sq. ft. ranch. We built it in 1987. We are in the process of changing alot of things right now. We have changed all the 1987 light fixtures. All the vinyl has been changed to ceramic tile. We had carpet ripped out and very nice Dupont laminate wood floors put in. They actually look like wood. We didn't want wood with a 90lb dog. Since we had to take all the baseboards off I knew it was time for a change there. We changed our fake wood trim and hollow core doors for all new trim and 6 panel doors. The kitchen cabinets are still very nice and a light golden oak.

My question is this: Has anyone stripped their cabinets and put a new stain on. I don't want to get new cabinets at this point but I think a little bit darker stain would make them pop. We are going to get new counter tops and I think this would really make a big change. So if anyone has done this project please let me know how much trouble it was and if you would do it again. Thanks.