# What do you do while your getting a new bath and kitchen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360 "2018-05-17T18:49:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/41 "2018-05-19T16:23:25Z")
Ikea sells kitchens, they are not in the business of installing them, no. But every Ikea will recommend local contractors to you that do that. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/42 "2018-05-19T17:46:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I wasn’t talking about whether you could afford a high-end kitchen and bath, but that you need to understand why, for example, one kitchen remodel might cost $50,000 while another approach might cost only $15,000. Certainly some costs are going to be the same either way. But other things, like countertops vary in cost from perhaps $15 per square foot for Formica to $100 per square foot for granite or marble. The guy said his price didn’t include appliances. And he didn’t lay out a big price spread with options. He thought it was in the neighborhood of 80K no matter what I opted for, apparently. I’m way ahead of you on that I need to do more research. I need to find a more accomodating vendor for one thing. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/43 "2018-05-19T18:35:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > If you just translated from € through a currency converter it’s not quite the same, though (cost of living is higher in most of the US than in the Netherlands), although it would still be nowhere near 80K. A quick check at [this comparison calculator](https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living). I ran comparisons between the three cities of Dallas, Cincinatti, and Las Vegas with both Amsterdam and Rotterdam. One American city was about the same as one Dutch; all five remaining results favored the American cities. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/44 "2018-05-20T04:24:46Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Ikea sells kitchens, they are not in the business of installing them, no. But every Ikea will recommend local contractors to you that do that. In some countries they don’t even recommend them but subcontract them. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/45 "2018-05-20T06:35:23Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The guy said his price didn’t include appliances. And he didn’t lay out a big price spread with options. He thought it was in the neighborhood of 80K no matter what I opted for, apparently. > > I’m way ahead of you on that I need to do more research. I need to find a more accomodating vendor for one thing. You think? Yes, this guy is scamming you. And to answer your earlier question: a decent L shaped kitchen, medium luxury finish, including appliances, not including installing, paint and tiles… I’d say 3 to 5 K. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/46 "2018-05-20T06:43:10Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The guy said his price didn’t include appliances. And he didn’t lay out a big price spread with options. He thought it was in the neighborhood of 80K no matter what I opted for, apparently. > > I’m way ahead of you on that I need to do more research. I need to find a more accomodating vendor for one thing. You think? Yes, this guy is scamming you. And to answer your earlier question: a decent L shaped kitchen fron IKEA, medium luxury finish, including appliances and cabinets and countertop, not including installing, paint and tiles… I’d say 3 to 5 K. That would not be granite though. Ikea has their own kind of material for custom made countertops. It’s a kind of modern terrazzo, a composite that looks like granite but is cheaper, more durable, lighter, less fussy in upkeep, and - I think- [overall a better choice.](https://countertopinvestigator.com/ikea-countertops/). See what I mean about their design being really better and not just fancier? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/47 "2018-05-20T07:07:06Z")
There are eight units per floor in our condo building. The lady five doors down from us on the end is getting her bathroom redone, and we’ve been letting her shower in our place. But she also owns the unit next door to us and rents that out, and the tenants just moved out yesterday, and her new tenant won’t move in until June 1, so now she’s using that place. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/48 "2018-05-20T18:43:06Z")
Sounds like this guy either wants you to buy him a new truck or put one of his kids through a year or two of college. Get some bids. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/49 "2018-05-25T20:34:20Z")
My sister-in-law’s family had their kitchen renovated. The contractor, despite coming highly recommended, started the job but then inexplicably left for almost three weeks before returning and finishing up. My SIL said she did a lot of cooking in a toaster oven in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/50 "2018-05-30T16:52:14Z")
We stayed in an extended-stay hotel for 10 days during the worst of the kitchen renovation. Then we ate takeout for the remaining 2-3 weeks. A bathroom would only be an issue if we didn’t have a spare (we do, at this house). ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360/51 "2018-05-30T20:27:11Z")
We had our kitchen, family room and both baths remodeled last year (about 40% of our house). A family friend had a vacation/rental house in a nearby town so we rented it for the 3.5 months it took to renovate the house. Pricey but for our family (myself, husband, two kids and two cats) it was totally worth it to not have to live in a house under construction. Plus the contractors were able to shave a little time off the timeline since they didn’t have to accommodate people living in the house. The cost and duration depends on how extensive the renovations are. In our case for the kitchen renovation they took out walls, installed a new structural beam, flipped the kitchen from one side of the room to the other, framed an entirely new soffit, and leveled a floor slab that was very not level. That took a while. And was definitely not cheap, but the numerous problems with the old kitchen and layout have all been solved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-while-your-getting-a-new-bath-and-kitchen/814360.md?page=2)