Let's Talk Remodeling

[shovan]

How disappointing! I know the feeling! We never seem to be able to hire anyone to do anything, because it's always just too danged much money. We end up doing what we can ourselves, but "we" as craftspeople are definitely not my top choice, and we can never afford to do all we want to.

I think you may be able to pare down a bit a get close to what you want. If you just have him do the wall, which is your biggest problem, and floor and light, that would be great. Extra canned lights are not worth installation costs to me, and even backsplashes are overrated in my opinion.

As for the overhang or furdown or whatever you call it, I think you'd be perfectly fine leaving it. Removing the border to stop calling attention to it, and maybe even painting it a color similar to the cabinets would make it all but disappear. Wallpaper removal is messy but defintely yourself-do-able as long as you use the right method. (Never score!!)

At least your cabinets are lovely!!!!!

Thanks for the sympathy!! Believe me if we could do more of this ourselves we would! (My DH is handicapped.) The things I've have done myself always really wear me out. (I'll have to post the pics of my hall bathroom that I replastered tuscan style & change the lights out myself. )

Going over the bid, we've chopped about $6000 off so far. But we need to cut more. I really need to get the whole kitchen & den area sheetrocked.

I also wouldn't be changing the backsplash if it fit properly. It's expensive Corian back there! But it's too close to the faucet & it's stays wet, the caulking is molding & gross. (The caulking has already been changed twice in 6 years.) If we remove just the short blue edge in front of the white one, the white backsplash will most likely be discolored.

You know the contractor suggested the same thing about removing the border to take the attention off of it. But a friend of DH's at work, actually argued with him & said "You don't have a furdown up there! You have stuff sitting on top your cabinets!" Men?!

 

[mickeysgal]

TWENTY-FREAKIN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! That does not include removing the furdowns or sheetrock in the whole den!!!! This would just include moving the wall, sheetrock in kitchen area. Tile the backsplash, & tile the kitchen floors, fix the light in the kitchen & add some other can lights! And a small granite countertop in our den bar area, (that I didn't take a pic of.)

And unfortunately, you should plan for a budget overrun as things always come up. That alone makes the price even more unbearable.

Can you break up the project into things you'd need the contractor to do and things you can handle yourself?

For granite, you can go straight to a granite yard and fabricator yourself. You don't need him to do that. Granite varies so much in price due to color and style and often you can get a drop piece from the fabricator for a fraction of the price of reserving a full slab. Tiling can be something you may be able to handle as a do-it-yourself project.

Save the contractor for the heavy duty stuff like moving the wall, running more lighting, etc.

What we've found is that the tear out is sometimes as costly as whatever you're putting in. Can any of that be done by you to save money?

I wouldn't can the project until you've looked at all possible combinations of alternatives.

 

[elizke]

Thanks for the sympathy!! Believe me if we could do more of this ourselves we would! (My DH is handicapped.) The things I've have done myself always really wear me out. (I'll have to post the pics of my hall bathroom that I replastered tuscan style & change the lights out myself. )

Going over the bid, we've chopped about $6000 off so far. But we need to cut more. I really need to get the whole kitchen & den area sheetrocked.

I also wouldn't be changing the backsplash if it fit properly. It's expensive Corian back there! But it's too close to the faucet & it's stays wet, the caulking is molding & gross. (The caulking has already been changed twice in 6 years.) If we remove just the short blue edge in front of the white one, the white backsplash will most likely be discolored.

You know the contractor suggested the same thing about removing the border to take the attention off of it. But a friend of DH's at work, actually argued with him & said "You don't have a furdown up there! You have stuff sitting on top your cabinets!" Men?!

Oh yeah, now I remember you had that backsplash problem. Drats. Definitely want to take care of that one.

It's good that you went over it and found ways to cut it. And I know doing it yourself gets really old, especially since for you it's only you. But wallpaper removal is SO overpriced, and not a craft, so that's why I suggested just that.

As for the overhang, much as I rarely agree with a man's opinion on "stuff", I must admit I think cabinets should go to the ceiling. If there's space, up there really DOES get this greasy grimey dust like nowhere else in the house. It's so akward to get to, it really is one of the worst jobs in the house!!

Good luck with all your decisions Shovan!!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

No, due to the construction demands from the hurricane things have really skyrocketed! There are not enough contractors/craftsmen around, especially to do this type of remodeling. There is still so many homes that are still being gutted & redone, which the contractors seem to prefer doing, rather than having to retrofit things & work around people living in the house.

We expected sticker shock but just not this bad!

I wouldn't have thought prices would be that different from N.O. to Houston. Here's what some of our Pre-Katrina remodeling had cost. Does that seem more like the prices you have seen?

Our first kitchen remodel cost $10,000 for cabinets (not custom but high quality), corian counters, low end dishwasher (has already been changed), wall range & stovetop. No walls moved or anything like that. We also spent $3000 on 2 exterior doors, 2 interior doors & replaced baseboards through much of the house. Wood floors ran about $8000. throughout most of the house excluding only the bedrooms & master bath. Wallpaper in the kitchen& changing wall paper in the foyer & painting in the dining room was about $1200. included wall paper cost. All of this was done about 6 years ago.

That seems more in-line with Houston's prices. I wonder how long it will take for things to even out again?

 

[Galahad]

Hi All! Here are a few pics of the finished product. No Kitchen shots yet - it's a mess. I'm putting things away, etc. etc....

 

[mom2rb]

Your house looks beautiful.

 

[mickeysgal]

Incredible pictures Galahad. Beautiful! You added a lot of sq. footage to the house, didn't you? It looks like it. And it looks like its been there forever - there's not a speck of construction anything anywhere.

 

[shovan]

And unfortunately, you should plan for a budget overrun as things always come up. That alone makes the price even more unbearable.

Can you break up the project into things you'd need the contractor to do and things you can handle yourself?

For granite, you can go straight to a granite yard and fabricator yourself. You don't need him to do that. Granite varies so much in price due to color and style and often you can get a drop piece from the fabricator for a fraction of the price of reserving a full slab. Tiling can be something you may be able to handle as a do-it-yourself project.

Save the contractor for the heavy duty stuff like moving the wall, running more lighting, etc.

What we've found is that the tear out is sometimes as costly as whatever you're putting in. Can any of that be done by you to save money?

I wouldn't can the project until you've looked at all possible combinations of alternatives.

We are considering putting off the granite & going straight to the fabricator later for that. Although the contractor said he has worked with this fabricator so often that they accept his template & that saves waiting on them to come out. We really have only one stone company that has been around for years & has a good reputation and this is the one he works with. We called the fabricator & they quoted us a ten week wait! The contractor says he can get the granite in three weeks? Don't know if that's fact or fiction? Since Katrina we have had many new companies pop up that advertise cheap prices but we are a bit leary of going with any of the many new granite/cabinet, etc. companies that have popped up since the storm. We are definitely not going to can the project, we are trying to look before we leap!

 

[shovan]

Oh yeah, now I remember you had that backsplash problem. Drats. Definitely want to take care of that one.

It's good that you went over it and found ways to cut it. And I know doing it yourself gets really old, especially since for you it's only you. But wallpaper removal is SO overpriced, and not a craft, so that's why I suggested just that.

As for the overhang, much as I rarely agree with a man's opinion on "stuff", I must admit I think cabinets should go to the ceiling. If there's space, up there really DOES get this greasy grimey dust like nowhere else in the house. It's so akward to get to, it really is one of the worst jobs in the house!!

Good luck with all your decisions Shovan!!

So far with everything we have worked up, those furdowns/soffits may have to stay?! ( I really hope not.) One of the reasons I didn't fight DH about the furdown removal on the last remodel, was because I considered the dust up there!

 

[shovan]

That seems more in-line with Houston's prices. I wonder how long it will take for things to even out again?

Here we are, almost two years & counting! Maybe we should just give up now and move to Houston! (Really not just a joke, DH is in the oilfield business & brother moved there about 3 years ago.)

 

[shovan]

Hi All! Here are a few pics of the finished product. No Kitchen shots yet - it's a mess. I'm putting things away, etc. etc....[/IMG]

Galahad,Well tell us how happy was your dear wife that it was all finished?

 

[MareQ]

So far with everything we have worked up, those furdowns/soffits may have to stay?! ( I really hope not.) One of the reasons I didn't fight DH about the furdown removal on the last remodel, was because I considered the dust up there!

What about doing that part of the construction yourself? It's really not that hard to unscrew the cabinets - and knock the sheetrock/plywood down. If you happen across some electrical or plumbing - subcontract that out yourself. If you have it ready for taping and mud when they do the rest of your work the cost will be very minimal for that.

We're getting ready to knock a full wall down to a half wall - so DH started by removing the cabinets and soffits himself. There was nothing in our soffits and it was rocked behind it. He's going to take the other cabinets down and remove the rest of teh soffits so they can tape and mud when the rip the wall down. The only electrical we have is the light over the sink - but DH is an Electrical Engineer - so he's not afraid to tackle that one himself : )

 

[Galahad]

Galahad,Well tell us how happy was your dear wife that it was all finished?

LOL! Way Happy! She just kept wandering around the house saying "we have the coolest house....". It was great to see her so happy about it. She literally designed the whole thing. Our nephew is getting married this Saturday and lots of family are coming into town - so I have a week to get it "show worthy".

Our son returned from his first of two music camps he'll do this summer and he's home for a week. Now this new hot tub is only a 4 seater (you could probably get 6 in there but it's designed for 4). So he wants to have his friends over this week but can't narrow down the list . He though we were so "lame" for doing all of these projects when the house was just fine the way it was but now he's really into it. Pretty funny actually.

Oh, and on the suggestion that you can subcontract the plumbing and electrical yourself - Not a bad idea, but I'll chime in with a warning. Unless you are ready to be a semi-full time project mananger, be careful. Coordinating and just getting people to show up when they are just subbing for the homeowner can be iffy in my experience. We had two "projects" that overlapped (like a bad Ven diagram) but each had a "project manager". I was on the phone a lot but I didn't have to spend lots of hours at the house while things were happening.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Here we are, almost two years & counting! Maybe we should just give up now and move to Houston! (Really not just a joke, DH is in the oilfield business & brother moved there about 3 years ago.)

Yeah, Houston has none of that industry here.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

What about doing that part of the construction yourself? It's really not that hard to unscrew the cabinets - and knock the sheetrock/plywood down. If you happen across some electrical or plumbing - subcontract that out yourself. If you have it ready for taping and mud when they do the rest of your work the cost will be very minimal for that.

We're getting ready to knock a full wall down to a half wall - so DH started by removing the cabinets and soffits himself. There was nothing in our soffits and it was rocked behind it. He's going to take the other cabinets down and remove the rest of teh soffits so they can tape and mud when the rip the wall down. The only electrical we have is the light over the sink - but DH is an Electrical Engineer - so he's not afraid to tackle that one himself : )

We did the tear down for both our kitchen and our secondary bathroom remodel. Admittedly, my husband swore he'd never do it again (twice), but we might have to when we do our master bathroom.

It's one of the few things someone relatively unskilled can take on, and it can save some $$. And swinging a sledgehammer can bring a sort of satisfaction that's indescribable.

Just make sure you know where the water, gas and electrical lines are!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Well we survived the first week! Old cabinets out, new cabinets in, and now we wait for our countertops, sink, tiled backsplash, etc.

Before demoltion (don't mind the stickies, I was marking the cabinets we were keeping for our laundry room and our neighbor wanted a couple for his garage):

After the second day (I missed taking pictures after the first day ):

After the third day:

After the fourth (and last day) of this phase:

Oh and we will be repainting. I need to get a sample of the tiles we are using for the backsplash as I forget what color we picked.

Oh and here's what my countertops will be:

Welshpool Black by Cambria (which is a quartz surface).

And we bought a new refrigerator and dishwasher on Saturday. They will be delivered Friday. Woo hoo no more ugly white refrigerator!!!

 

[Galahad]

Oh and we will be repainting. I need to get a sample of the tiles we are using for the backsplash as I forget what color we picked.

Oh and here's what my countertops will be:

Welshpool Black by Cambria (which is a quartz surface).

And we bought a new refrigerator and dishwasher on Saturday. They will be delivered Friday. Woo hoo no more ugly white refrigerator!!!

What are you going to paint it in? I was going to say I was impressed that you were able to salvage the paint job. It's looking great though! You'll love the Quartz!!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

What are you going to paint it in? I was going to say I was impressed that you were able to salvage the paint job. It's looking great though! You'll love the Quartz!!

I don't know what we are going to paint it yet, as I forgot what color tiles we picked for the backsplash. I THINK they are a golden tan. I called the company and they are supposed to be giving me a sample so I can start looking at paint samples. I think a lighter color will give more punch to the cabinets.

ETA: I just went back and looked at your pictures Galahad. It all looks so beautiful. Great job.

 

[triplefigs]

Ok, our remodel is finished!

Kitchen: Before remodel

Templating for the granite.

I took down the backsplash myself.

 

[triplefigs]

Granite is Verde Butterfly. Here is it going in. They did not remove our countertops until the day of install. It is perfect and was cut exactly to size. We love it.

New undermount sink and faucet. It is the deep stainless sink. The faucet is by Price Pfister and the color is Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Here is the new gas cooktop.