How does one function during kitchen remodel

[citrine]

When I did my little kitchen in the condo it took about 2 weeks....no replacing cabinets and stuff....lots of take out and eating at my parents!

[donheff]

One doesn't function during a kitchen remodel.

[freebird5825]

I almost forgot, and this is an important one. I'm assuming the w*rkers are doing custom cutting inside, pretty much a given fact in a kitchen remodel.
Close all doors to other rooms at all times. Take clear plastic, for example those cheap painting dropcloths, and hang a sheet across all the doors. If it is a room you rarely enter, seal edges with painter's masking tape. This will mimimize the drift of fine sawdust/cut tile powder residue to the rest of the house. If possible, set up a window fan to draw the fumes from adhesives or polyurethane/varnishes outside. Cover all nearby furniture and knick-knacks (use plastic grocery store bags) so you don't have to clean them later.

[My Dream]

The fridge can easily be repositioned in another room and plugged back in. Paper plates and cups are very helpful, patience is the key. We just finished our remodel and I did all the work myself. Try getting through that one, my dw was very patient and even helped paint as well as pull wire etc. As long as she saw progress everything worked out.
Now the whole house needs to be cleaned and don't forget to vacuum inside the vents including the return air vents.

Good luck.

[ratface]

This is a bit extreme but if you are getting all new stuff you could mobilize your current kitchen on moving dollies including cabinets therefore all your storage will stay intact and roll everything into another room. A sink base Cabinet can be made functional by supplying it with a garden hose and a pool drain hose. A stove can be re-piped for gas maybe in a basement.

I will be doing what you are doing and would be interested in your research, measuring, plans, did you try the big box store route, who comes to the house and who dose not type of thing or just anything you feel is pertinent to such a task. My home is very rural so I might have limited access.

[Dawg52]

Kitchen? What does one do in such a room?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg54 Kitchen? What does one do in such a room?

Good question - - maybe admire the granite and make coffee?

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Good question - - maybe admire the granite and make coffee?

No granite in this old house. But I did figure it out. It's where I store my med's.

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg54 Kitchen? What does one do in such a room?

10,000 square feet, no kitchen or master bedroom-
the ExW's dream home.

[BUM]

I'm a do-it-yourselfer. When it came time to remodel the kitchen, I sent DW on a 2 week vacation.

[FUEGO]

I don't really care what our team of chefs do while the kitchen is being remodeled as long as they serve me dinner on time. I'll let them and our butler figure out the details. Maybe use one of the kitchens in the guest house?

[freebird5825]

Some thoughts for the design stage...if that's OK to go in that direction in this thread.
1. Outlets - There is no such thing as too many outlets in your new kitchen. We specified at least one 4 receptacle outlet (all GFCI) on every counter surface, regardless of size and dimension. I actually taped yellow stickies up for the contractor so he knew exactly where I wanted them.
2. Backsplash - My countertops are black speckle Corian with a full Corian back splash, running from counter top to right under the cabinet. So easy to keep clean. I will never have to paint any surfaces above the counters again.
3. Water draining channels - We selected the option to have parallel draining channels carved right into the Corian countertop to the right of the sink. I use a regular drainboard above it. Eliminated the need to put a flat plastic water catcher under the draining rack.
4. Pull out drawers in all lower cabinets and inside the full length pantry.

[Moemg]

Usually the re modelers know how to do it so you still have use of the stove and refrigerator . Pack up all the dishes and most of the pots and pans and just keep a few essentials out . Heavy use of a crock pot , grill and paper plates and lots of patience .

[samclem]

Kitchen design: We have a small galley-style kitchen, so we needed to maximize storage space.
1) As Freebird suggested, we went with all drawers below the counter--the only cabinets down there are under the sink. We have a pull-out trash/recycling thingee, and everything else is 3, 4, or 5 drawer stacks. It's GREAT. We did not want to do the pull-out/roll-out things. I know they are popular, and they are a good retrofit if you have low cabinets already, but why have two things to move (open door, operate roll-out) rather than one (open drawer). Plus the backs of the cabinets can get marred quickly from bashing into the roll-outs.
2) European-style cabinets (the ones without face frames). Not having the frames on the edges and especially not having the center stile in the middle of the larger upper cabinets is very nice. We went with simple (inexpensive) cabinet-grade particle board with laminate for the cabinet boxes. The drawer boxes are solid birch (top drawers) and birch plywood (all the rest). I'm building solid walnut doors and drawer fronts. It's going to look nice enough.
3) Our house had upper soffits above the upper cabinets. We got rid of those and now the upper cabinets go to the ceiling. Yes, my wife has trouble reaching the stuff way up there, and we have one of those library kick-steps in/near the kitchen for this reason. But it is useful storage for seldom-used stuff (stemware, the turkey platter, extra rolls of paper towels, etc)
4) A pantry: We had an empty wall space that we could use for a shallow pantry. Though there was only room for the shelves to be 9" deep, the pantry is 5 feet wide and goes from floor to ceiling. It is great. We can load it up with a lot of cans, and nothing gets "lost" in the back.
5) We went with Corian countertops and have been very happy. The molded-in sink doesn't catch crud around the rim and the whole thing looks pretty good.

[Walt34]

Break out the camping cooking gear. Lots of paper plates, plastic tableware, and as others said, grill, microwave, canned food and crock pot.

[Sarah in SC]

pizza delivery and chex mix.

[cashflo2u2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratface I will be doing what you are doing and would be interested in your research, measuring, plans, did you try the big box store route, who comes to the house and who dose not type of thing or just anything you feel is pertinent to such a task. My home is very rural so I might have limited access.

A small 5 store regional hardware outlet has local independent contractor and an on staff designer with a computer design software. They come and measure the kitchen and do quite of bit of preliminary design work all free with the hope you will buy stuff from them. The local Home Depot sends out one of their independent contractors and will do a preliminary design recommendation for $100. Both have been here and done extensive measuring. My friends tell me to just buy another house, it will be easier.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashflo2u2 We are thinking of doing a complete kitchen remodel. We are both retired and at home most of the time. We both love to cook and really need the old kitchen remodeled. How do we live with workmen coming to the house at 8AM everyday for 6+ weeks and taking over the section of the house where we spend most of our time then do without a kitchen for all that time? Anybody survive such a thing? Move out? Eat out, etc.?

If you have the money, move to one of the short-stay executive rental places. They have kitchenettes for small meals, and you could give yourself a vacation by going to some restaurants. It probably would represent a very small part of your remodel budget. You can go by your house every few days to pick up mail, get other clothes, etc.

Ha

[cashflo2u2]

Bingo! HaHa. That is just what I had decided was the best alternative to keep sanity. Want2retire didn't give me Frank's address or say whether we could be accommodated we go with your suggestion. Tack a two week stay at an extended stay joint onto our regular two week away vacation and takes care of the bulk of the time. Considering what we are spending for the kitch I look at it as part of the kitch budget. We're older and firecalc says we can do it- we're just spending our kids inheritance.