Unexpected Kitchen Remodel

[mikehn]

This time, be sure to install water leak detectors so you dont have this problem again. The Zircon detectors have saved me several times.

 

[arthur06]

We are remodeling our house.

We got an estimate for cabinets from Menards... $14,000. Uninstalled and no counter tops or sink.

We have some local Amish that build furniture and do custom woodwork.

We stopped into there showroom. They were $8,000 for custom built, solid wood, with Quartz counter top and installed.

Is that an option with where you live?

 

[fronkfam]

We are remodeling our house.

We got an estimate for cabinets from Menards... $14,000. Uninstalled and no counter tops or sink.

We have some local Amish that build furniture and do custom woodwork.

We stopped into there showroom. They were $8,000 for custom built, solid wood, with Quartz counter top and installed.

Is that an option with where you live?

Unfortunately not an option for us.

 

[bjscheel]

We got our cabinets, etc. at Menards and did the work ourselves. We did everything- the only thing original now in our kitchen is the ceiling, ceiling fan, and window. It wasn't unusable for very long. The table was moved to the dining room. I had use of the microwave the whole time...and dishes can be washed in the bathroom!

I posted here for help too and got good advice- I'll see if I can dig up a link to the thread.

 

[bjscheel]

Here is my thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2678658&highlight=kitchen

We spent $8000-$10,000 including new appliances, table, flooring, cabinets, counter, drywall, paint, etc.

 

[wiigirl]

That's the first step - figuring out your budget. I once had a leak in a bathroom wall. The insurance money was enough to redo the whole bathroom. (We did most ourselves with a bit of professional plumber work.)

Good luck with your whole project!

This...get a budget and try to stay on budget...best advice.

 

[pixiewings71]

We used Home Depot for our complete home rebuild, they were great, had everything on time ad correct.
We got our cabinets from them and they look great, the flooring we actually bought at a liquidator for a great deal, then the contractor installed them. We did go with the contractor our insurance company suggested but after a few weeks we did wish we had gone with someone else, that contractor is now out of business. The work was done on time but to this day we find "issues" with work that they did, things like the cupboard doors not lining up, small dings in the floors where they dropped tools, but we just move on because there's nothing we can do about it now. My advice is to get a good contractor and shop around, we wanted granite counters, if we had gone through the contractor we would have paid $10,000 more than we did by buying them ourselves.

 

[fronkfam]

Here is my thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2678658&highlight=kitchen

We spent $8000-$10,000 including new appliances, table, flooring, cabinets, counter, drywall, paint, etc.

Thank you for posting your thread!

 

[Aliceacc]

We're going to start our remodel any day now, as soon as the permits come in. (Long Island's permit departments are apparently swamped in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.) We're knocking down the wall between the living and dining rooms, and adding a front foyer with a coat closet. (Don't tell my husband, but this is one of the best parts of the project!!) We're moving the back door, and changing it to sliders. This is a project that's long overdue for my post WWII kitchen.

Anyway, a great source of inspiration is www.houzz.com You can open up an Ideabook and flag any pictures that appeal to you. After a while, you'll start to see trends in the stuff you're choosing.

We met with 3 different contractors. The first was one we've used before, and I assumed we would go with them. But the two different people we were talking to there weren't on the same page, and it really turned us off. The second was a delight... but $30,000 more than the other two. (Not a typo: thirty thousand dollars more.) The third contractor, the one we're using, listened to what we wanted. At that point,we were talking about blowing out the back of the house for a mudroom. He asked why. He asked whether we used our front door (we do.) Then he asked why not blow out the front instead of the back, knowing that the kids would be unlikely to walk through the house to hang up their stuff. This was a professional who knew his job, and knew how to give us what we needed, not what we thought we needed. We checked around, and found that two good friends worked with him and recommeded him highly.

We asked about Ikea cabinets. He said that they come unassembled. Either we do it ourselves (and put them somewhere until they're ready to go in) or he had to charge us to assemble them. He sent us to the local Home Depot. Home Depot will do a computer workup of your room for something like $100, and change and change it until it's to your liking.

As for the appliances, we went out Super Bowl weekend, just to look. We found a great sale on a 4 piece LG kitchen. It's been stored in our garage since February. We used a small local appliance place (Jays in Levittown for anyone on LI) that we've used in the past.

As for surving with kids, we're planning to move our current fridge into the basement to replace the 20+ year old model currently there. We'll use that during the construction. And we'll plug the micro in somewhere. And BBQ a lot, and probably do too much fast food.

 

[wekhogan]

First stop should be the Gardenweb kitchen forum - link below. Just like these boards are Disney experts, that one has kitchen remodel experts. Drawers are the thing right now. No opening both cabinet doors, leaning down for the pullout, or scrambling around on your knees in the dark recesses of the cab. We just redid our kitchen, and I love, love Our drawers.

Your first job is the insurance, though. And don't forget You've paid premiums to be put back whole to where you were. Do not let them talk you into re-using countertop - very unlikely it can be put back undamaged.

The boards below have a couple of threads on "what do you wish you had done in your remodel". So many great ideas. I missed the one about getting a sink with an offset drain - in the corner of the sink- so the drainpipe isn't smack in the middle of the cabinet anymore.

Good luck with your remodel. So much annoyance, but you have a brand new kitchen to look forward to.


http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A lot of posters have mentioned IKEA, so I thought I'd post a link to a thread about our kitchen remodel using IKEA cabinets. I explain in post #10 of the thread their options for design and installation. We've had them for a few years now and they're as nice today as they were the day they were installed. I'd use them again. (In fact, I will be soon as we're re-doing the cabinets in our In-Law apt.) DH was at the store recently and said they have more options now, too.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2483725&referrerid=70088

As an update, we also built a sunroom off the kitchen and used French doors between the two spaces to make a nice, big, usable space for our own use and when we have friends and family over. I'll see if I can dig up a pic and add it to that thread.(Added to that OP as I didn't want to resurrect a zombie thread, lol.)

Good luck to everyone doing renovations! Once you do them you wonder why you didn't do them sooner! (But it's all good!)

 

[karinaselander]

We had a similar problem a couple of months back. Did our kitchen remodeling at Castle Kitchens, Ontario. We just outsourced the whole work to them and gave a clear picture about how we really want our kitchen to look. They did a pretty good job.

 

[aprilpeter]

I suggest you to check on the online furniture store hopmelivngstyle.com. One of my friends has bought a nice bathroom vanity from their site and I am also planning to buy one from them. I have visited their site and I also liked the collection. Those are really very beautiful, antique and look elegant.

 

[fronkfam]

Thank you so much for all of the help and suggestions! Insurance is paying for new floors and counter tops along with some drywall work and painting. We think we can stretch the budget for new cabinets if we go to Ikea. We will be checking out all the links everyone shared and trying out the kitchen planner on the ikea website.

 

[Them!]

Yeah, stay far away from Home Depot. Their "kitchen designers" are nothing but. I picked out my kitchen in August, paid for it in September and it was finally done the last week of November. If I had not be aggressively pro active about nagging them it probably still wouldn't be done. I gave up and called HD Corporate. Suddenly, stuff got done!

The product that I bought is great, the service was AWFUL.

 

[wekhogan]

I thought you said the cabinets had buckled from the leak - why should you be worried about stretching the budget to cover cabinets? And if they weren't Ikea quality, you shouldn't be settling for that.

 

[dfchelbay]

Help! We had a leak under our dishwasher. When the restoration company started pulling up flooring we realized that the counters and cabinets have buckled from the water. So, instead of just replacing flooring, it looks like we'll be tackling the entire kitchen. We are still in the process of drying things out, and our cabinets, counters and sink are still in place. I am looking for any tips on how to survive this with 4 kids (one of them has autism). Also wondering if anyone has tips on how make the budget work. I honestly have no idea where to start looking for flooring, cabinets, etc. You guys are always so helpful! Thanks!!

Maybe you can take a trip to Lowes & Home Depot. They have model kitchens to look at, as well as all appliances, flooring, cabinets, etc. Take a look at them, see what you like/dislike, take notes, check out pricing, etc. They have flooring too. Go see things in person, then you'll better know what things cost, what they look like and different things you can choose from.

 

[fronkfam]

I thought you said the cabinets had buckled from the leak - why should you be worried about stretching the budget to cover cabinets? And if they weren't Ikea quality, you shouldn't be settling for that.

It was the seam in the counter that buckled. The cabinets weren't damaged, so insurance won't cover to replace them.