Kitchen Remodel Bucket list Reality Check Costs/Tips/Warnings?

[RetiredHappy]

We did not remodel our kitchen but we did with 2 bathrooms and a vanity/powder room. We selected a contractor out of 8 and we lucked out because in the bid that came to us from this contactor was the proposed design with material. We could not have been happier. We felt like a Chip and Joanna Gaines or a Property Brothers client. Design was free and beautiful. Work done was excellent.

What I am trying to say here is that a good contractor will help with the design. Checking out with Lowes and Home Depot is a good suggestion.

Regarding crappy wood cabinets, the contractor can refinish the wood and look like new. Our contractor filled out the holes in the wood and repainted them white and they are beautiful and complement the rest of the bathrooms.

 

[Gumby]

It will take longer than you think and it will cost more than you think. But you will forget all that when it is done and you have a brand new kitchen.

P.S. - there is no such thing as too much refrigerator space. I'd put the freezer in the garage to get a larger fridge in the kitchen. We got the side by side unit and I still regret it after 15 years.

 

[Sue J]

We did our kitchen 2 years ago. We went with Home Depot because we had no experience with any kind of remodeling. I really liked the kitchen designer that we worked with. He really knew his stuff, which covered all the things we didn't know that we didn't know!

There were a few glitches, some minor and some major, the biggest being that the first round of cabinet doors and drawers were poorly painted in spots. This was their Thomasville line and Home Depot was really good at making sure that these were reordered and installed to our satisfaction. I felt that having a BIG company being the general contractor made a difference.

The hardest part of a kitchen remodel is coordinating and timing all the parts and subcontractors. That's where Home Depot did a great job. Material was delivered on time, workers knew what they were doing and overall it went well.

The best thing we did during the process was that when they ripped out the old cabinets, counters and sink, we kept the sink and some countertop space and set it aside. After the new cabinets went in we carefully laid the counter/sink back in place and hooked it back up. That way we had a temporary sink while we waited for the new countertops. This made a big difference in the usability of the kitchen. It was about 6 weeks from measuring for the countertops until the delivery and installation.

Here is my post about it with pics. We have since replaced the stove, too. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/blow-that-dough-2019-a-95591-14.html#post2296214

 

[Jenna]

1. It will take 3 times as long as they quote you-or longer. Plan well.
2. I didnt pay for my kitchen design-the contractor had someone on staff
3. Check their measurements on everything.


All good here! Love our new kitchen.

 

[Marita40]

The timing of my kitchen remodel was definitely longer due to me coordinating all the workers. It was important to me to do it in the summer so I had the outdoors as an escape and place to grill. I also set up a temporary kitchen in the basement: dorm sized fridge, hot plate, George Foreman grill, etc. and it worked out just fine. From demo to finish, it was at least 3, closer to 4 months.

 

[Bamaman]

I'm in the process of redoing a large kitchen at our lake house. I replaced all the cabinet doors and drawer fronts with raised panel MDF doors--$650. Painted them a cream color myself. Then we put in a black granite with a new sink the next year. I'm now going to put in a back splash up to the top cabinets--a multi color subway tile browns and greens to match the swirl in the granite.

My wife found 1 year old stainless stove, fridge, microhood and dishwasher on F/B Marketplace cheap. I've yet to switch them out as the fridge is going to be a b*tch to get down the hill to the house--down steps.

You can get great kitchen ideas in magazines, online and at big (expensive) kitchen showrooms. That doesn't mean you need to spend mega bucks, however.

 

[Ronstar]

…. From demo to finish, it was at least 3, closer to 4 months.

Sounds about right. It took me 5 months 10 days from demo through completion with me doing all the work, to include hardwood floors for living room, dining room, halls, and a complete powder room remodel.

That was back in 2018 when there were no product delays. It could a long time now if 1 piece gets on back order.

 

[Starsky]

Like others, we used Lowes and it came out great. I don't know If it would have worked as well if we were both still working, but being home, we could keep an eye on things and answer questions people had about what goes where, etc.
They were flexible and didn't get in the way of our using other subs for some of the details. There were very few surprises and I think we spent about $55K using our existing stove. By taking their in-house interest-free financing, we were able to get a decent discount on the appliances too.

 

[RetireeRobert]

We remodeled our kitchen a piece at a time. We replaced the tile countertops with granite tops and backsplashes. We also went with one big sink instead the divided ones. Now we can wash big pans flat.

As far as the cabinets, we had them refaced and the crappy drawers replaced.
We also replaced the white contractor grade appliances with better ones.

Nice looking kitchen redo. Thanks for sharing pics.

 

[RobbieB]

The before;

The after;

 

[Ready]

We are on our third designer now for a kitchen and bathroom remodel. This is DH’s pet project. My preference would be to do nothing. The first designer wasted our time and billed us $3,000 for some sketches that were worthless.

The second designer charged us $3,000 for a beautiful set of designs for the kitchen and bath. We went into the project with a budget of $80K for the kitchen and $50K for the bathroom. Her final budget came in at $223K for the kitchen and $132K for the bathroom. I was so floored by these numbers that I insisted we end the relationship and move on.

Now we are waiting for a design and budget from designer #3. I have not enjoyed the process so far. And we haven’t even started doing any construction yet. Even worse, lead times for cabinets and appliances are up to six months out. So if we do end up moving forward, I’m expecting down time to be several months, and whatever budget they give us will be lower than the actual amount. This is not a good time to do a remodel, at least not in my area.

 

[RetireeRobert]

The before;

The after;

Very nice improvements! Thanks for pics.

 

[Bamaman]

We are on our third designer now for a kitchen and bathroom remodel. This is DH’s pet project. My preference would be to do nothing. The first designer wasted our time and billed us $3,000 for some sketches that were worthless.

The second designer charged us $3,000 for a beautiful set of designs for the kitchen and bath. We went into the project with a budget of $80K for the kitchen and $50K for the bathroom. Her final budget came in at $223K for the kitchen and $132K for the bathroom. I was so floored by these numbers that I insisted we end the relationship and move on.

Now we are waiting for a design and budget from designer #3. I have not enjoyed the process so far. And we haven’t even started doing any construction yet. Even worse, lead times for cabinets and appliances are up to six months out. So if we do end up moving forward, I’m expecting down time to be several months, and whatever budget they give us will be lower than the actual amount. This is not a good time to do a remodel, at least not in my area.

I'm appalled at the amounts of money you're talking. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of by kitchen and bath contractors. My sister has one of those really expensive, furniture quality kitchens in a neighborhood of zero lot line homes. But people in her neighborhood don't cook or entertain any more. They eat dinner in the bar at Ruth's Chris and other fine restaurants.

Like I said previously, I'm rebuilding a kitchen right now, and hanging new cabinet doors is no terrible job. And I'm also laying new porcelain tile in a shower and master bathroom. Tile work is not at all difficult--and not worthy of the prices many tile contractors charge. I'm just glad in ER that my time is free, and that I enjoy a good challenge of building--something.

 

[Winemaker]

I've heard of people just replacing the doors and front part of a cabinet and not the whole cabinet, or is that a bad idea?

We didn't replace doors, we just refinished ours.

About 15 years ago, DW wanted the kitchen redone from the solid cherry cabinets we had in place. So she went out and spent a week pricing cabinets, and came back deeply disappointed. Just the cabinets, were to run $47,000 and that included the addition of bulkhead cabinets! So she went out an bought stripper, a DeWalt orbital sander and a ton of sandpaper, and she asked me to teach her how to do use it. Now, she was a teacher, and had the summers off, and her project started.

And might I say, she did one hell of a job. All the doors were removed, stripped, sanded, stained and finished. Same with cabinet facings. We bought new cherry wood, and I built her new bulkhead cabinets, which surprised myself. I had never built cabinets before. Cost us about $3,000. And then we bought quartz countertops from HD.

The next summer, she did all 3 bathroom cherry vanities, but she did have to buy a new sander. Bought 3 new quartz countertops.

We bought brand new a near matching a 48" cherry cabinet with doors on either side. She stripped, sanded, stained and refinished it. I beefed up the bottom, added refrigerator casters, and put 4 cheery legs on the corners. Put a matching quartz counter top on it, and now we have a mobile kitchen island that we use for food prep, or serving. Some times we use it as a high top table, when we have wine tastings. Blew about $800 on that DIY project.

We just started tearing up the ceramic tile floor on the first floor. Entrance way, hall, half bath, kitchen, breakfast room, pantry and laundry room. All the flooring professionals told us not to do it, as it would be dusty, dirty and time consuming. They(6 flooring companies, including the one I use for the rentals) were right; they didn't want to do the tear out. But the process has started, grapes are coming and wine season is upon us. It will get done eventually, and the professionals will install for about $12,000.

You can do it, it just takes some time.

 

[Koolau]

We didn't replace doors, we just refinished ours.

About 15 years ago, DW wanted the kitchen redone from the solid cherry cabinets we had in place. So she went out and spent a week pricing cabinets, and came back deeply disappointed. Just the cabinets, were to run $47,000 and that included the addition of bulkhead cabinets! So she went out an bought stripper, a DeWalt orbital sander and a ton of sandpaper, and she asked me to teach her how to do use it. Now, she was a teacher, and had the summers off, and her project started.

And might I say, she did one hell of a job. All the doors were removed, stripped, sanded, stained and finished. Same with cabinet facings. We bought new cherry wood, and I built her new bulkhead cabinets, which surprised myself. I had never built cabinets before. Cost us about $3,000. And then we bought quartz countertops from HD.

The next summer, she did all 3 bathroom cherry vanities, but she did have to buy a new sander. Bought 3 new quartz countertops.

We bought brand new a near matching a 48" cherry cabinet with doors on either side. She stripped, sanded, stained and refinished it. I beefed up the bottom, added refrigerator casters, and put 4 cheery legs on the corners. Put a matching quartz counter top on it, and now we have a mobile kitchen island that we use for food prep, or serving. Some times we use it as a high top table, when we have wine tastings. Blew about $800 on that DIY project.

We just started tearing up the ceramic tile floor on the first floor. Entrance way, hall, half bath, kitchen, breakfast room, pantry and laundry room. All the flooring professionals told us not to do it, as it would be dusty, dirty and time consuming. They(6 flooring companies, including the one I use for the rentals) were right; they didn't want to do the tear out. But the process has started, grapes are coming and wine season is upon us. It will get done eventually, and the professionals will install for about $12,000.

You can do it, it just takes some time.

DW and I would never try to take on such projects, BUT we have done the tear-out in all our remodels. No idea how much that saves, but it's something we could do ourselves. It takes little talent, but a fair amount of courage to swing that first hammer or crowbar. YMMV

 

[CRLLS]

We did a remodel 16 years ago. We still get compliments on it. We used Lowes in-house designer. We went back and forth several times before settling on the final design. I think we were around 17K all in for new flooring, cabinets, countertop, appliances. and lighting. Nothing extravagant except for the granite countertop. We did the installation including electrical. The hardwood flooring was contracted out. I had not installed hardwood flooring before. After watching the floor being put in, I have done that on another project.

Modern cabinets are so much more user friendly than the ones originally put in in 1987. Pull out shelves and no center stiles to open up the access are pretty much standard today. soft closing, ball bearing drawer slides and doors. I would highly recommend considering new cabinetry if the budget allows. DW really loves her cookie sheet storage. 12" wide base cabinet.

 

[ponyboy]

When you think you're kitchen remodel is expensive...I used to work at a cabinet manufacturer (wood mode.) Very expensive cabinets. I saw a single cabinet made for a clothes closet that cost over $200k...yes, $200k for a single cabinet.

That company used to give 75% discount to employees...and very few employees had a wood mode kitchen. Their average shipment was around $115k per kitchen.

 

[1242Vintage]

Completed a tear out and replacement of our kitchen last year.

Design was done by a local custom cabinet shop that we used for a remodel in our first home. We have all the nice little upgrades, like soft close drawers and pull out shelves, spice rack, etc.

We love the halogen lighting that’s installed under the upper cabinets. Provides nice task lighting to the countertop workspace. We also have halogen lights in the glass front upper cabinet in the bar area.

To save a bit of money we only used the very pricey and awesome looking granite on the island. The countertops along the walls are a flat black with a grey glass tile backsplash. That choice also helps to focus attention on the beautiful granite on the island and the huge six burner stainless steel downdraft range in the middle of it.

One other thing. We also installed a small built-in glass door bar fridge. We keep it stocked with all kinds of drinks. Friends that come over are always welcome to grab a cool one from the fridge. Guests find it easier to help themselves to something from that little bar fridge rather than going to the big kitchen fridge.

Our next project is to have the same cabinet shop fix up our pantry. Now it’s just open shelves and is need of a little TLC.

 

[CRLLS]

Completed a tear out and replacement of our kitchen last year.

Design was done by a local custom cabinet shop that we used for a remodel in our first home. We have all the nice little upgrades, like soft close drawers and pull out shelves, spice rack, etc.

We love the halogen lighting that’s installed under the upper cabinets. Provides nice task lighting to the countertop workspace. We also have halogen lights in the glass front upper cabinet in the bar area.

To save a bit of money we only used the very pricey and awesome looking granite on the island. The countertops along the walls are a flat black with a grey glass tile backsplash. That choice also helps to focus attention on the beautiful granite on the island and the huge six burner stainless steel downdraft range in the middle of it.

One other thing. We also installed a small built-in glass door bar fridge. We keep it stocked with all kinds of drinks. Friends that come over are always welcome to grab a cool one from the fridge. Guests find it easier to help themselves to something from that little bar fridge rather than going to the big kitchen fridge.

Our next project is to have the same cabinet shop fix up our pantry. Now it’s just open shelves and is need of a little TLC.

We had all kinds of problems with Halogen puck lighting under out cabinets. Ours were 20W each. Either the heat or the high current was constantly destroying the electrical contacts inside the housing sockets. We replaced many of the housings. We also had various touch controllers. I think we now have the final solution (we hope) using the same puck housings but switched to LED lamps and an LED driver power supply with a separate touch on/off controller. You are right, the undercabinet lights are a wonderful addition. I hope you have better luck than we had with halogen. The reflection of the lights on the granite really light up the unfinished underside of the cabinets. Something you don't notice without under cabinet lighting. If you haven't already, build some nice cover panels for the underside

 

[1242Vintage]

We had all kinds of problems with Halogen puck lighting under out cabinets.

Sorry. No issues at all with our under cabinet and bar glass door display cabinet halogen lights. Ours are small dimmable halogen bulbs on a strip. This lighting and the electrical work for new outlets and switches added $1,800 to our remodel project.

 

[pjigar]

Those pot filler faucets over a stove always made me nervous. Faucet over a sink always has a drain to drain the water away. But over a stove? And the cook gets momentarily distracted? Like an accident waiting to happen. And if it is an electric stove, oh boy....

We have one over a propane cook top. Yes, faucet is FAST and you can't take the eye off when using it. But it fills up 8 quarts in 10 seconds so you don't have to watch them for too long. They are good eye catcher for the decor. I use it all the time for any water needs when I am cooking but DW rarely uses them. By the way, they have two shutoffs in series so if one fails then you have another backup so I am not too concerned about leaks.

 

[pjigar]

We designed the small kitchen ourselves and built it too (all but cabinets and counters)! The semi-custom cabinet maker can design the cabinets with features you want for free (which is what we did). We used sketch up for layout/framing design.

 

[Aerides]

Sorry. No issues at all with our under cabinet and bar glass door display cabinet halogen lights. Ours are small dimmable halogen bulbs on a strip. This lighting and the electrical work for new outlets and switches added $1,800 to our remodel project.

View attachment 40277

Same here, I have in, and under, installed in 2007. I think I've replaced the bulbs of the pucks that were are the cabinets, but not the under-cabinet lights yet. Under-cabinet lighting is great for extra lighting at the working surface - overhead lighting doesn't always work well at the chopping board, for example.

All good interior design includes good lighting design.

 

[OldShooter]

We are on our third designer now for a kitchen and bathroom remodel. This is DH’s pet project. My preference would be to do nothing. The first designer wasted our time and billed us $3,000 for some sketches that were worthless.

The second designer charged us $3,000 for a beautiful set of designs for the kitchen and bath. We went into the project with a budget of $80K for the kitchen and $50K for the bathroom. Her final budget came in at $223K for the kitchen and $132K for the bathroom. I was so floored by these numbers that I insisted we end the relationship and move on.

Now we are waiting for a design and budget from designer #3. I have not enjoyed the process so far. And we haven’t even started doing any construction yet. Even worse, lead times for cabinets and appliances are up to six months out. So if we do end up moving forward, I’m expecting down time to be several months, and whatever budget they give us will be lower than the actual amount. This is not a good time to do a remodel, at least not in my area.

WADR, I would suggest that part of the "Designer Problem" here is weak or nonexistent supervision.

If you had agreed on a list of deliverables and a schedule with Designer #1, then he/she should not be expecting to get paid for delivering only a sketch.

Similarly, if Designer #2 had been given even just a firm budget, then came in 5X over budget then he/she should not be expecting to get paid.

With Designer #3, if you do not have a clear list of deliverables and dates, and do not have an agreed-on budget, I suggest that you immediately instruct him/her to stop work until these things can be nailed down. Part of the message during the stand-down should be that if the work is not done in a way that is acceptable to you, no payment will be forthcoming.

A designer is your employee in the same way that a lawn service is your employee. You are not hiring a friend in either case. If the job is not completed within agreed-on standards and on schedule, then you are entirely within your rights to completely withhold or to negotiate only partial payment. To do otherwise is to accept the role of "victim" rather than retaining the role of "customer" and "project manager."

 

[brett]

Invest in your kitchen reno only to the value of your home.

Don't invest 100K in a kitchen reno if there is no chance of recouping it on sale.

When we did one we took time to speak with an experienced realtor. She gave us some great tips. Just as well because we sold and transferred to another city a few years later. So glad that we did not go with high end appliances and cabinets.