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

Forum Index » Real Estate

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=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![/quote]

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.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics