Kitchen reno questions? With PICS :)

[CRXican]

Keeping up with the Jones family?

That's what I was thinking but yowza, his kitchen is rather scary.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Kitchen remodels are fun. I turned:

This:
http://v6suqa.bay.livefilestore.com...rhAN6OiRKG3BJI9cqELpIFnHR/IMG_3397.jpg?psid=1

This:
http://v6suqa.bay.livefilestore.com...DSIh3_KDx5rh80RCrxXtouV84/IMG_3396.jpg?psid=1

And this:
http://v6suqa.bay.livefilestore.com...4LTi2VlWEQandqtuWoIp8SKNW/IMG_3399.jpg?psid=1

Into:
This:
http://v6suqa.bay.livefilestore.com...LRIMtdNVlsJG57xs9d03T1jZM/IMG_3624.jpg?psid=1

And this:
http://v6suqa.bay.livefilestore.com...dxu-14rZO5ePsWjlxR0W17Qsb/IMG_3625.jpg?psid=1

When you remodel, get some tile in there if you don't have plans for it. Tile backsplashes add a lot of character in and aren't excessively expensive to install.

That remodel cost me about $7,000 for everything....counters, cabinets, sink, fixture, microwave, and tile & setting materials.

I priced out Ikea at the time...but it was as much if not more than the fully constructed, glazed maple cabinets I went with. My cabinet bill was like $3500.

very nice.
is that labor included, or you did it yourself?

 

[D1gger]

Quite frankly, if you aren't willing to spend the money to get quality cabinets, and perhaps redo a portion of the floor to correct the island position, I would just get new cabinet doors, counter-tops, new appliances, new sink, remove the wallpaper and repaint.

 

[Locut0s]

Thanks for the replies. As for the quality of the cabinets they are really not that bad. I've seen them in person and while they are certainly not custom cabinet quality but they are definitely not flimsy. Our own cabinets right now are only particle board as well and these look better. As for the microwave yeah I agree with that but my parents seem set on this, they have seen it in person and like it. Go figure. About the hardwood floors thanks for the suggestion about trying to get someone in to fill in the holes ill look into this, thou I doubt my parents will go for it.

 

[Spydermag68]

On the DIY show "Cool Tools" had a set of tools to hold the upper cabinets in place from the floor and clamps so you can line them up perfectly with only one person.

 

[preslove]

shouldn't you be focusing on getting your own place and going to college?

 

[hurt]

We have a similar layout to yours. Here's our before/after:

Before:

After:

We extended the island significantly to eat up some dead space b/w the kitchen and the family room. The floors were also changed from vinyl to wood.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

very nice, hurt. counter tops and chairs are a little dark for my taste, but whatever. :thumbsup:

 

[dullard]

Wallpaper can be very easy, or quite a pain. I've done it four times now. At first I thought it was horrible, but that is when I tried the scoring tools and the steamers.

In most cases, it shouldn't take too long. The biggest key is to get through the paper to the glue behind it. Those scoring tools make little holes, but those tools are very slow and almost useless. Same with steamers, they just can't get the water through the top wallpaper layer. Instead, you can often just grab a pealing corner or edge and pull. A 6" drywall knife helps to pull it off. You'll probably get the whole top layer off in a few minutes (with a few pieces stuck randomly but ignore them). Then you'll be left with lots of residue. That residue needs to be wettened. A sponge and a bucket of water is all you need. I tend to get the sponge almost soaking, then wipe in on until the sponge is dry. Take the drywall knife and scrape gently along the wettened part of the wall (don't jab it into the wall) and the residue will fall right off. Whole room done in a couple of hours with tools you probably already have.

Only if that trick fails, then you'd want to try something like a scorer or a steamer. But in that case, I'd just hire it done because you were the unlucky type and it'll be a real pain to do.

The real problem is what may be underneath that wallpaper. Holes, more paper, etc. Be sure to wipe it down when you are done (plain water is ok, but try using a bit of TSP which is a common soap for that).

 

[Howard]

A small sink in the island would be awesome, too, if you're planning on doing a lot of food prep there. And if you are, you can put in a butcher block countertop.

 

[Locut0s]

shouldn't you be focusing on gettingur own place and going to college?

Don't see how these are connected. Not like I'm spending a penny of my own money on this.

 

[Locut0s]

Wallpaper can be very easy, or quite a pain. I've done it four times now. At first I thought it was horrible, but that is when I tried the scoring tools and the steamers.

In most cases, it shouldn't take too long. The biggest key is to get through the paper to the glue behind it. Those scoring tools make little holes, but those tools are very slow and almost useless. Same with steamers, they just can't get the water through the top wallpaper layer. Instead, you can often just grab a pealing corner or edge and pull. A 6" drywall knife helps to pull it off. You'll probably get the whole top layer off in a few minutes (with a few pieces stuck randomly but ignore them). Then you'll be left with lots of residue. That residue needs to be wettened. A sponge and a bucket of water is all you need. I tend to get the sponge almost soaking, then wipe in on until the sponge is dry. Take the drywall knife and scrape gently along the wettened part of the wall (don't jab it into the wall) and the residue will fall right off. Whole room done in a couple of hours with tools you probably already have.

Only if that trick fails, then you'd want to try something like a scorer or a steamer. But in that case, I'd just hire it done because you were the unlucky type and it'll be a real pain to do.

The real problem is what may be underneath that wallpaper. Holes, more paper, etc. Be sure to wipe it down when you are done (plain water is ok, but try using a bit of TSP which is a common soap for that).

Thanks for this!

 

[Locut0s]

Well my parents apparently paid for just about everything today and set a date so, looks like most of it is set. The sink they are still arguing over, see this poll I made:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2135487

Still haven't paid for the counter tops yet. They will be a compressed quartz product, so some real stone (quartz) but not 100% solid stone. I've seen the product and it looks fairly nice.