Kitchen Renovation Summary: who did it, what they did, how much? are you happy?

[Anonymous]

We are embarking on the process of redoing our kitchen-which will entail removing a wall and opening up the back of the house to light, etc. Major remodel on moderate budget--we hope. I am especially interested in hearing from people who transformed kitchens in older row houses and did not have massive budgets.

Would love to hear from folks

1) did you use an architect? or design-build? and who do you recommend (or not)
2) did you use a builder or GC? can you recommend them? did you subcontract yourself?
3) what was the scope and cost of work? (eg, replacing things versus moving around layout, walls, windows, etc)
5) what do you like and not like about your team? your design?

thank you!

[Anonymous]

We did a smilar project. We did not use design build-- to0 much money!!! We used an architect to consult on removing the wall only (he helped design the right beam to put in the ceiling, but it is not visible).

My recommendation is to design it yourself, shop for best prices on cabinets, fixtures, appliances, etc, and then hire a GC to demo and install. The GC subbed out the plumbing and electrical. The countertops were done by the stone company. You will save a ton of $$$$ by bypassing the totally overpriced design services.

We spent $45k: removed wall/installed the beam; moved gas line and fridge (water line for ice). Did not move any windows or major walls.

Every design-build place we talked to quoted us $75K+++. We found that once you tell them where you live, and what you want to do (if they hear "load bearing wall, moving appliances," etc), it's $75k+++

[Anonymous]

i agree that design build will cost more. We were blown away by them wanting to do jobs at least $200K at a minimum. We ended up hiring an architect and then hiring a small GC / carpenter to do the work. I would not recommend designing it yourself. You need detailed plans to get permits and i couldn't imagine doing that myself. I do agree about shopping yourself for all fixtures and appliances. that will be much cheaper although it is more work than you think. And also we hired a stone company to do the countertops directly bypassing GC and that was a lot cheaper although troublesome and i am not sure it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

home depot and my own leg work saved a bunch and turned out exactly like I wanted but we didn't move walls just cabinets, sinks and counter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i agree that design build will cost more. We were blown away by them wanting to do jobs at least $200K at a minimum. We ended up hiring an architect and then hiring a small GC / carpenter to do the work. I would not recommend designing it yourself. You need detailed plans to get permits and i couldn't imagine doing that myself. I do agree about shopping yourself for all fixtures and appliances. that will be much cheaper although it is more work than you think. And also we hired a stone company to do the countertops directly bypassing GC and that was a lot cheaper although troublesome and i am not sure it was worth it.

It's disgusting considering you can built a new home for 200k. Those people are raping us someone needs to stop it.

[Anonymous]

1) did you use an architect? or design-build? and who do you recommend (or not)

We used a friend who is in the process of getting her license. She is considered a jr architect. But because she is not licensed, her rates were considerably cheaper. We used her plans to file for permits ourselves.


2) did you use a builder or GC? can you recommend them? did you subcontract yourself?

My husband functioned as the GC but he was a carpenter by trade many moons ago. He handled all of the contracts, problems, subs, and inspections.


3) what was the scope and cost of work? (eg, replacing things versus moving around layout, walls, windows, etc)

Moved load bearing walls, cut in new windows and had to re side, moved HVAC, added insulation to code and had to bring up plumbing and electricity to current code. Total kitchen remodel came to about $100K including high end applicances, hardwood floors, granite, and custom cabinets.


5) what do you like and not like about your team? your design?

I designed the kitchen layout with the help of my cabinet guy and the folks on gardenweb. My kitchen is very custom but everything has a place and a space was designed for everything....ie measure your pots and pans and then have the drawers built to accomodate them. Count how many glasses you have and then design cabinets to accomodate them. Do wine glasses get stored with the water glasses. The folks on gardenweb will ask you hundreds of questions that force you think about how you currently cook and how you want to cook, they'll ask you about what other purposes you want the space to serve. At the time, I hated being asked those questions. I just wanted someone to say, yep, great plan. But now, I see the benefit and I love, love, love my kitchen

[Anonymous]

Design/build firm, terrible experience, over $200,000+, felt cheated afterwards. I cannot name the firm, but buyer beware.

[Anonymous]

Designing a kitchen is not that hard unless you have an unusual space. Cabinets come in standard sizes. Likely you have ideas about where you want things to go (sink under the window, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are embarking on the process of redoing our kitchen-which will entail removing a wall and opening up the back of the house to light, etc. Major remodel on moderate budget--we hope. I am especially interested in hearing from people who transformed kitchens in older row houses and did not have massive budgets.

Would love to hear from folks

1) did you use an architect? or design-build? and who do you recommend (or not)
2) did you use a builder or GC? can you recommend them? did you subcontract yourself?
3) what was the scope and cost of work? (eg, replacing things versus moving around layout, walls, windows, etc)
5) what do you like and not like about your team? your design?

thank you!

We didn't do an old row house, but we just redid the kitchen in a 1950s cape out in the 'burbs.

1) We didn't use an architect or design-build, designed it ourselves using the IKEA kitchen planner since we went with IKEA cabinets. Though we also consulted the free kitchen design service at Home Depot, who didn't really come up with a layout any different than the one we already had in mind.

2) GC

3) Spent about $26k total, not including my husband doing the painting and floors himself. We sealed up a window, and knocked down two non-load-bearing internal walls and a knee-wall. Removed everything, put in all new cabinets in a new layout, new countertops, new appliances (including new circuits), new lights, new backsplash, re-routed two HVAC vents, installed new vent for microwave hood. The gas line only moved a couple of feet. The ice maker line and sink and dishwasher plumbing moved more significantly.

4) We enjoyed working with the GC, though he wasn't licensed in MD so we had to pull some of the permits ourselves. The plumber and electrician were licensed. It took about a month to finish the whole thing, which was on the longer side for the size of the project, and we weren't given any specific schedule in advance of what was happening on what day, which would've been nice. But we're happy with the result. The new layout is much more functional, given the size of the space. I do wish we had had room to put in a tall cabinet/pantry, or to keep the one window, but neither was in the cards.

[Anonymous]

Kept the same footprint so it was easy for me to design myself. Went to see cabinets at local stores but ordered same semi custom cabinets from wholesaler online and it turned out great. Same cabinets but saved $13,000! I've gone back to the stores I initially visited and am sure they are indeed the same cabinets that I have.


Places that specialize in kitchen design are almost always so much more expensive. Much better to get cabinets and HD, Lowe's (or online) and have a contractor install them. There are several places that just insisted on coming to our home the second we walked in. They could come anytime and said it would be so much easier to take a look in person and then help me figure things out. They actually walked around coming up with more and more projects they could do. Their prices were outrageous. They just found things to do that were not necessary at all. I wanted some cool things but they just insisted I needed so many bells and whistles (like a pot filler) that were just ridiculously expensive because we were doing a lot of work and had to watch every dollar we spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Design/build firm, terrible experience, over $200,000+, felt cheated afterwards. I cannot name the firm, but buyer beware.

Why can't you name them? I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable or put you on the spot. It's just that those of us considering a project appreciate being warned off of the bad companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kept the same footprint so it was easy for me to design myself. Went to see cabinets at local stores but ordered same semi custom cabinets from wholesaler online and it turned out great. Same cabinets but saved $13,000! I've gone back to the stores I initially visited and am sure they are indeed the same cabinets that I have.


Places that specialize in kitchen design are almost always so much more expensive. Much better to get cabinets and HD, Lowe's (or online) and have a contractor install them. There are several places that just insisted on coming to our home the second we walked in. They could come anytime and said it would be so much easier to take a look in person and then help me figure things out. They actually walked around coming up with more and more projects they could do. Their prices were outrageous. They just found things to do that were not necessary at all. I wanted some cool things but they just insisted I needed so many bells and whistles (like a pot filler) that were just ridiculously expensive because we were doing a lot of work and had to watch every dollar we spent.

A pot filler. I don't even know what that is! And having just googled it, am still mystified as to why one would ever be needed outside of, say, a commercial kitchen.

[Anonymous]

I Love my pot filler. I would not want to have a kitchen without one again. It is just darn convenient for making soup and pasta and I don't have to carry heavy pots of water across the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Design/build firm, terrible experience, over $200,000+, felt cheated afterwards. I cannot name the firm, but buyer beware.

Why can't you name them? I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable or put you on the spot. It's just that those of us considering a project appreciate being warned off of the bad companies.

+1. I want to know too!

[Anonymous]

To the 26K. Wow, great job! Did you interview GCs or luck out with a good one? Also, what are the best site for wholesale cabinets?