Kitchen Renovation

This kitchen renovation started with small water leak in a powder room. A thirteen cent washer for the water supply line to a toilet failed and flooded the basement and damaged the hardwood floors close to the powder room. Neighbors helped remove much of the water from the basement and the disaster recovery folks hauled off most of the soaked carpet, sheetrock and trim. The water had probably been leaking for about a week and had gotten between the hardwood flooring and the plywood sub-floor. About one hundred square feet of hardwood flooring had to be replaced. To ensure that the repaired floor matched the existing floor, all the hardwood floors were sanded, stained and refinished.

Damage to Hardwood Floors:

Living Room: Living Room Floor Powder Room: Powder Room Floor

Personal items were boxed up and moved into the bedrooms and garage along with the furniture. With everything out of the house, what better time to do work that might need to be done in the rest of the house! Most of the house was fine but the kitchen looked pretty bad. The kitchen was 15 years old and all white and the oven liked to either turn itself ON or not turn OFF. It was a fire hazard! So, a kitchen remodel was in the offing!

One can’t live in a house when the floors are getting one coat of stain and three coats of polyurethane so the homeowners had to go too. Sadie, the dog, was sent into exile for the week as well. With the homeowners, the dog, the stuff and the furniture all gone, the floor refinishing could begin.

After having interviewed several flooring companies the homeowners decided to go with Harold at H&R Hardwoods. Harold delivered the wood two weeks early to allow it to become acclimatized to the home. About a week before refinishing the floors Harold cut out the water damaged flooring to ensure the sub-floor dried completely. A few days before sanding Harold installed the flooring in the damaged area. He also filled in any cracks and holes with filler. Upon returning home, 6 days later, the floors were finished and, though still a bit tacky, they looked great. To ensure the floors weren't walked on, on their first day back, the homeowners and Sadie used a bathroom window to enter and exit the house and a 8' x 2" x 10" plank to gain access to the upstairs from the front door.

More Floor Pictures

Before: After:

Having decided to redo all the floors and renovate the kitchen, the white Corian countertops needed to go as did the out-dated cabinets, hardware and appliances. Prins was selected to install the new granite countertops. Make sure you go to the supplier to ensure that the granite that you’ve selected matches the sample you have chosen. Bring the sample to the supplier to compare.

Built-To-Fit was selected to install the new cabinets. They measured the space and removed the old cabinets and countertops. These guys gingerly removed the old cabinets so they could be reused elsewhere. The appliances had already been removed and placed in the garage by the homeowners.

Before: After:

Preparing for the renovation:

Cabinets

The homeowners found that selecting cabinets was the biggest decision that they had to make. Built-To-Fit uses KraftMaid cabinets. The homeowners looked through brochures and went on the KraftMaid website and found that they produce 4 grades of cabinets. For only a little more money they went with the better quality cabinet. These are All Plywood Construction (APC). They chose the Rutherford design maple cabinets with the Oatmeal Glaze. Four cabinets have glass doors and many have pullout shelves. The cabinet for the cooktop is 3 inches deeper to provide for the gas cooktop and downdraft. The cabinets were shipped with painted plywood shelves. These shelves fit snugly and were replaced in the cabinets with 3/8" glass shelves purchased at a local glass store. A shelf was provided to the glass store for sizing the glass to fit the cabinets. When the glass shelves were installed the owners realized that they should have had the glass cut about 3/16" shorter than the plywood shelves as each was to long. To correct the problem each of the 48 brackets that hold the shelves in the cabinets had to be ground down. This process took about 5 minutes per bracket but allowed for a better finish than could be had if different brackets had been used.

This home also has a central vacuum system that had to be relocated to allow for the new wine cooler. Parts for this system were not locally available. The homeowners were able to order the parts online through M.D. Manufacturing Central Vacuums. See the link below.

Cabinets:

Countertops

Selection of the granite for the countertops was the second biggest decision. Prins had samples of most of the granite available. This was great as the granite slab at the first supplier looked nothing like the sample. The second supplier’s granite was perfect. Two slabs of Autumn Mahogany granite were reserved.

Granite (good sample on right):

Backsplash

The backsplash selected is a Questech Metals copper Heartland Farms wall mosaic from Crossville with cream colored marble tile.

Backsplash:

Granite Sample and Backsplash:

Appliances

The appliance selection was easy too. The homeowners couldn’t afford Wolf or Viking but were able to get some great deals online from a place called Frederickson’s Tires and Appliances in Sheffield, Alabama. They found them on eBay. Frederickson's also worked with the homeowners on shipping and delivery. For cooking, a 30” stainless steel 4 burner Thermador gas cooktop, 30”stainless steel Thermador downdraft vent with a 10” rise and stainless steel GE Profile 27” built-in double convection/thermal wall oven were purchased. For refrigeration, a cabinet depth stainless steel GE Profile side-by-side refrigerator with ice dispenser and a stainless steel GE Profile Deluxe wine chiller were purchased. The existing white Bosch dishwasher and white GE Profile microwave were replaced with stainless steel models. A ¾ HP In-Sink-Erator garbage disposal unit was also added.

Double Oven Model #: GE Profile, JK955SHSS
Cooktop Model #: Thermador, SGS304ZS
Downdraft Model #: Thermador, CVS30RS
Vent Blower Model #: Thermador, VTN600CVR(Integral)
Microwave Oven Model #: GE Profile, JE1590SH
Refrigerator Model #: GE Profile, PSC23SGPASS
Wine Chiller Model #: GE Profile, PWR04FANBS
Dishwasher Model #: GE Profile, PDW9980LSS
Garbage Disposal Model #: In-Sink-Erator, 100SS

Cooktop vent and gas - Before:

Cooktop vent and gas - After:

Note the "T" off of the existing gas line and the downdraft vent duct modifications.

Cabinet Lighting

The selection of cabinet lighting was a big decision. After some discussion with the cabinet guys, the homeowners arrived at the following conclusion; halogen looks good but it gets HOT, fluorescent lights can flicker, LED lighting would be great but it’s hard to find, Xenon is small, low voltage and it doesn’t get too hot. They went with Xenon from Progress Lighting. They wanted to go for the full lighting experience with over, under and interior cabinet lights. Electrical outlets were installed above the cabinets for the over and interior lighting. These were connected to wall switches. The under cabinet lighting was also run through a switch. The downside of these lights were that each kits come with assembly required. They seem to come with as many pieces as a Bar-B-Q grill. The wire is good tinned wire but it’s cut into 18” lengths that made it useless and the homeowners had to buy other wire. After placing the lights where they wanted them, they cut the wire and tinned the ends. Also, the boxes said 4 and 8 lights but in reality there are only 2 and 4 lights, respectfully. Each little fixture has 2 bulbs! Two holes were drilled about 2 inches apart in the back top of the cabinets for the wire and the interior lights were mounted on the top-rear. This should keep one from bumping into the light when accessing the cabinet. However, the fixture doesn’t come with a lens so it has an unfinished look. The above cabinet lights were mounted to the rear of the cabinet too. The under cabinet light was mounted at the front of the cabinets facing the backsplash behind a trim valance.

Model #: Progress Lighting, P7537-31WB –Black (8 light kit)

The template for the granite countertops are made and taken back to the shop. The original breakfast bar area was only 12 inches wide. The homeowners elected to widen the bar to 16" and add corbels for stability. The green granite tile fireplace surround was also replaced with Autumn Mahogany granite. Black granite was selected for the bar area.

Templates for Countertops:

Fireplace Surround

Before: After:

Kitchen Renovation Complete

Materials

Schedule

Day 1 – Remove all the furniture and kitchen cabinets. Floor sanding starts.
Day 2 – Ordered cabinets.
Day 7 – Floor refinishing complete.
Day 8 through 35 – Prep wall for backsplash, for cabinet lighting and ordered appliances.
Day 36 – Cabinets installed (panel for refrigerator enclosure backordered).
Day 37 – Templates made for countertops and fireplace surround.
Day 50 – Countertops installed.
Day 55 - Appliances installed.
Day 75 - Last outlet cover installed
Day 90 - Refrigerator panel installed - Renovation Complete!

Tips

Include lots money in your budget for eating out.
Schedule the removal of the old kitchen cabinets, appliances and sink long after ordering the new cabinets.
Go to the supplier and inspect the granite slabs.
If you have to open up a wall, be sure to take a high resolution digital picture. This make an excellence future reference for the placement wires, water pipe and most importantly gas pipes. The homeowners also laid a tape measure along the wall for accurate location of these items.
Sell your old appliances, you'd be surprised how much you may get for them.
DO NOT try to put dishes and other items in the cabinets before you have installed all the appliances and water to the sink has been connected.

Budget

A rough estimate of the budget of this kitchen renovation is included for information purposes. It should be noted that often one will go to the local do-it-yourself store and either purchase the wrong item or too many of the correct item. Other items may be broken during installation. All amounts are in 2006 dollars. This project was started in February of 2006. kitchen_renovation_budget.pdf

Vendors

Built-To-Fit, Inc., 388 McDonough Parkway, McDonough GA 30253 Tel.: (770) 490-1323
Exotic Granite & Marble, Inc. 4871 Georgia Hwy 85, Forest Park, GA 30297 Tel.: (404) 209-9977
Website: www.exoticgranite.com
H & R Hardwoods, Inc., Tel.: (770) 616-7762

Resources

Kitchen Renovation Budget (pdf)