Collaborative Post
You don’t need to spend a massive amount of money to make your kitchen look good. But, before you jump right in with a sledgehammer and begin to knock down the walls, you do need to have a plan. This might involve doing the following things:
- Getting building permits if necessary.
- Buying your paint, baseboards, tiles, faucets, sink, lighting fixtures, and appliances in advance.
- To make things a bit easier financially, you might even want to think about your expected monthly payments for kitchen appliances. Store them onsite while you remodel.
- Hire a designer to draw a scale design.
- Plan your new kitchen around how the rest of your home is styled.
Before You Begin
Before you begin take a look around your current kitchen. If the flooring, tiles or cabinets are in good condition, then keep them where you can. This will save time, money and be more environmentally friendly. If the cabinets are good then replacement kitchen doors are a great way to refresh the kitchen without the need for a complete overhaul. Take a look at Kitchen Warehouse.
Getting Started
Once you’ve done all of that, it’s time to get started on the actual project. Most of the time, this will be the demolition of your existing kitchen. If you do need to then get rid of everything from the cabinets to the vinyl floors and everything in between. You can recycle your old appliances and some of your fixtures, but everything else should be taken to the tip.
Replace Outdated Plumbing
You can either hire a general contractor who will be in charge of hiring and overseeing the other workers or you might do it yourself. Remember that a general contractor might charge as much as 30% of the entire cost of the remodel to do this for you. That said, you should still hire the plumbers yourself.
It’s always a good idea to hire a licensed, bonded, and insured plumber for the pipes and the rest of the plumbing. This is essential if installing a gas cooker. They have the experience and know-how to get the job done how it should be done. Don’t forget to get a few estimates and check references before deciding on one.
Lighting
A lot of kitchen remodelling projects involve installing recessed lighting and/or lighting for a breakfast nook. Check with the code department in your city (if in the US or EU Regulations if int he UK) to find out if you have to adhere to any code requirements for halogen, fluorescent, and incandescent bulbs.
As with the plumbing, this is a job that should be done by a licensed, bonded and insured professional. While remodelling the kitchen, you should go ahead and update all of the wiring’s in the walls.
Walls and Ceiling
Once the wiring has been updated or replaced, it’s time to hang the drywall, do the mudding, and sand it all. Hanging the sheetrock might be simple, but there’s an art to mudding it. This part can be done by the intrepid DIYer.
Once the walls have been done, it’ll be time to paint them and the ceiling. A lot of people might say they can paint, but only a few are really good at it. If you want it done, you can do it yourself, but if you want it done both quickly and correctly, you might want to hire a painter or two.
Once all this ground work is complete, you’ll be ready to put in the cabinets, appliances, faucets, flooring, etc.
This is the exciting part – where you can begin to see what the finished product will look like. Just remember that while it might cost a bit more for contractors to do this, you’ll take more pride in it if you do at least some of it yourself.
Once the hard work is all over, you can relax and enjoy your new kitchen for many more years to come- it will all be worth it!
Excellent planning mine later this year