My husband and I are getting ready to start renovating our kitchen. We finished the bathroom a few weeks ago, took a breather, and are ready to dive in. Any common kitchen pitfalls we should be aware of?
We’re tiling the floor and one countertop, putting formica on the other countertop, repairing cracks in the plaster walls behind the cabinets and installing a new sink and garbage disposal. And painting, of course. The tileboard ceiling was just replaced with drywall, we had to tear the previous one down to gain access to the plumbing above.
Are you actually doing this together? Usually one person does the work and the other person gripes about it. Also, I take it no children are on the premises?
Heh, yes we are doing this together. We like to share the griping equally.
No kids, but there is a dog and three cats. They can be easily blocked out though.
I’m so eager to have it done, it’s a real disaster right now. The biggest improvement is going to be the floor. Right now it’s very thin carpet (!) glued on top of vinyl tile. The carpet is so disgusting. It’s covered in stains and it’s unraveling all over the place. What the heck was the previous owner thinking putting carpet in the kitchen?!
I do not like tiled countertops. They are impossible to keep clean (The NSF has singled them out for their “miles of bacteria laden grout lines”) and they just look icky imho. I’d rather have a nice Formica or other laminate countertop.
If you’re both working on the project and can do so without strangling each and don’t have to worry about kids, you’re already way ahead of most people. Just a few comments:
I agree with the previous poster that tiling a countertop may not be the best idea. You’ll go nuts trying to keep the grout clean. We’ve had mediocre results with grout sealers in our bathrooms and we don’t have to deal with food stains there. We used granite for our island countertop and Formica for the perimeter counters - they’re both low maintenance and in a kitchen that’s a priority.
What kind of prep did you have in mind for the floor? If you’ve got a smooth surface once you pull up the carpet and vinyl tile, good for you, but if (a) there’s crud all over and (b) the subflooring is plywood, you might want to think about replacing the plywood. You do of course have to get the kitchen completely cleared out to do this, but once that’s done the rest of the job isn’t difficult, plus - BIG plus - you can use glue and drywall screws to secure the plywood, eliminating squeaks.
What kind of tile were you going to use on the floor? Eighth-inch vinyl is cheap but after 15 years it won’t look so hot (cracks, tiles loose or separating, etc.) and you’ll want to replace it. We used foot-square ceramic in our mudroom and have been pretty happy with it, although if you drop something heavy you risk cracking a tile. With smaller ceramic I’d be concerned about the annoyance factor of having chairs snag on the grout lines, plus you have the same grout stain problem as with the counters. In our kitchen we used 2-1/4 inch oak planking, which is fairly low maintenance but does require some care (felt pads on chairs are a must) - our problem has been kids leaning back on chairs and putting half-moon dings into the floor. But you don’t notice the dings unless you’re down on your hands and knees.
Sounds like you’re not planning any major rearrangement, which will save you a lot of money and hassle, but now is the time to think about things like traffic patterns and efficient work space and so on. You don’t want to redo the kitchen and two years later decide it’s a sucky place to work in. Naturally much depends on how long you plan to stay in the house. If a relatively short time, I agree cosmetic improvements are your best bet.
Almost forgot - think about the wiring. Not sure how old your kitchen is but if it’s pre-1950 or you’re blowing fuses whenever you use the toaster you may want to think about upgrading.
Good point. The countertop is currently tiled, but there are several broken sections and the grout is mostly gone. We were going to replace the broken tiles and regrout, but I’ll discuss the germ issue with my husband. Neither of the countertops are large, so it’s going to be inexpensive either way.
The tiles underneath the carpet are glued directly onto the hardwood that’s throughout the house. In the very unlikely event that the adhesive hasn’t completely ruined the wood, we’re going to go with that instead of the 12x12 ceramic tiles we’ve picked out. Obviously, backer board will go on top of the hardwood if we go with the tile.
We figure that we can replace broken ceramic tiles if they happen. We both hate laminate. We’ve considered pergo-style flooring, but it might look funny next to the original hardwood in the hallway and dining room unless we can match it exactly.
Sigh. This has been the big discussion, actually. The kitchen is small and the cabinets are built right onto the wall. The stove isn’t in the best place, and there’s only one spot the fridge can go unless we cut one of the wall cabs down. The thought of tearing down and replacing cabinets makes me shudder, but hubby thinks (and wisely so) that we might as well do it while the room is torn apart anyhow. We plan to be in this house for a long time, so I know it makes sense to do it that way, but man, it sounds like a bigger project than we can handle/afford right now.
We’re good on that, thankfully! House was built in 1929, but the wiring was updated.
My kitchen was once carpeted too! We replaced that with a cushioned pergo laminate.
But in an earlier kitchen we went with an Armstrong vinyl sheet something like this and it was very nice underfoot, don’t forget tiles are hard and can get cold. And when considering what color to paint walls, we were able to take off on colors found within the flecks on the floor.
chela, was it carpeted when you moved in? I can’t imagine why someone would carpet that room. It’s like carpeting the bathroom. Which I have also seen. Odd.
We are clumsy and have animals, so sheet laminate is a very bad choice for us. Our last apartment had it and there were numerous dings and dents from dropped pans, knives, and bottles. We definitely need something that can be pried up and replaced easily. I think we’re set on black and white tiles, with pale yellow paint on the cabinets. The walls are white tileboard (the previous owners LOVED tileboard, it’s everywhere) and we probably won’t paint them.
Whatever flooring you decide on, I would extend it under the dishwasher, fridge, and stove. It will make getting the appliances in and out a lot easier. If you decide to do this with the dishwasher, make sure you have enough clearance under the counter top.
An insta-hot on your new sink will rock. Absolutely wonderful when you want a cup of tea, or want poached eggs, but are in a bit of a hurry. 190 degree water in an instant.
I put a 12" base cabinet next to my sink, and put a pull out trash can there. Keeps the place looking a lot neater.
Buy the best garbage disposal you can find. They work so much better and are way quieter than the cheap ones.
Don’t give up too quickly on the hardwood. If it was gouged up, naturally you’ll want to cover it, but adhesive alone shouldn’t have ruined it - any crud that remains once the tile is gone should sand off. I’d advise getting an opinion from a professional floor refinisher. Hardwood floors in kitchens built before World War II typically were maple, which some people don’t like as much as oak; nonetheless maple make for a handsome and durable floor and should be an asset at resale.
I don’t want to push you into a project you can’t afford, but it’s worth sitting down and thinking what you’d do if price were no obstacle. If the kitchen clearly needs to be gutted, walls moved, etc., AND you can see where you might have the wherewithal to do this down the road, then I’d just do cosmetic repairs now and save up for a major overhaul later. On the other hand, if reconfiguring the cabinets would give you a first-class kitchen, well, that might be worth doing now. Hard to say more without knowing way more about your situation; I’d consider getting an opinion from a kitchen designer. The decision was easy for us - the kitchen was a mess when we bought the house and we had no choice but to rebuild. (And I mean seriously rebuild - we put in steel beams.) But the kitchen now is huge and gorgeous and is the heart of the house. We fit our whole extended family in there at Thanksgiving to go around and individually give thanks. If you’re going to knock yourself out in one room of the house, the kitchen is it.
Our kitchen renovation took about 2 years. We had to keep it functional while gutting and slowly rebuilding it from the bottom up, but it was a small kitchen galley style. Nothing in there original was worth saving. We replaced everything and created additional floor space by trimming down a counter, moving the dishwasher replacing it with a spacesaver model. Even the casement window was replaced with a garden window for more light and bigger view. The big splurge was granite counters and backsplash, glass cabs and even all the cabinet pulls put a hurtin in the budget. So it took time, now I can say it was worth it.
But that floor ( some amber plank laminate ) now looks dated
How deep are the current counters? Planning to replace the sink?
Those old stick-built cabinets from way back are a cabinet store’s bestest friends - modern cabinets (and sinks, and dishwasher, rangetops, stoves) are deeper.
The kitchen (I’ve built 2) are the biggest money pits in a house.
Whatever you do, you are going to go over budget, have horror stories for years to come, and hate each other from time to time. I vote against trying "quick and dirty: - you end up throwing money away.
So…
Take deep breath
Mentally erase the current mess - there is nothing there but a hole with a floor. NOw. What should be there? Should it be bigger? Is there an adjacent room with space to spare? Moving walls and doors is not really that tricky…
It comes down to: how long can you live out of a fridge and microwave?
Do it right the first time - it may take forever, but if you are going to be there for a long time, looking at the result of one remodel (they all are god-awful messes) and thinking “we probably SHOULD have gone with new cabinets, and…” will haunt you.
I moved walls, installed new sub-fllooring, re-plastered, re-wired (110 and 220), replumbed (supply and DWV) - I never thought (damn! I should have just left the old…
This is your best shot at getting the kitchen you want - its going to cost more than you expect, be nastier then you expect - is the fridge-and-microwave-in-living-room bit really all that intolerable?
p.s. - I install tile counters. and seal them. properly. no Home Depot crap. 25 years later, they are STILL quite clean and safe for food prep, thank you.
If you’re looking for a reasonably inexpensive alternative to a tiled countertop, and don’t want to go with formica I can recommend stainless steel and/or butcherblock. I did that myself at my old farmhouse, using stainless steel between the stove and around the sink, with butcherblock everywhere else. The stainless steel takes a little extra effort to keep looking nice and shiny, but develops a wonderful patina. Butcherblock is marvelous stuff.
Others posts have covered the major things, but a few to add:
You mentioned the wiring being updated, but do you have enough lighting. We added undercabinet lighting and it makes a world of difference in food prep and cleaning. Strategically positioned cans also are a big plus.
Pictures – take the befores! Believe it or not, you won’t remember and you’ll be sorry if you don’t have them.
Check with your county, or whatever jurisdiction you get the building permits from before blindly thinking you’re OK there.
My county has some pretty stiff electrical requirements on kitchen remodels. It’s to the point that a lot of people will install a subpanel near the kitchen to hold all of the newly-required breakers as you need dedicated circuits for each of the dishwasher, disposer, microwave, fridge, etc. plus something nutty like one circuit for each 12-foot span of countertop space. It’s effectively limiting you to one receptacle per circuit. Oh, plus all of the lights, and they even dictate that the general room lighting (eg: what you turn on with the switch at the doorway) can not be incandescent, and can’t even be CFL bulbs in regular sockets so you can’t put regular bulbs in once you get the final inspection.
I really recommend you spend some time on Garden web’s kitchen forum–very helpful people there and you can really get some good advice. I’d specifically recommend looking at this thread.
It’s like carpeting the bathroom. Which I have also seen. Odd.