In Part One we covered the beginning stages 1-4 of your kitchen remodel project. In Part Two we’re getting down to show time! 5. Specifying Your Fixtures and Finishes And you’ve been looking at and saving photos of things you like. You know if you want classic white cabinets, a natural wood finish or a paint color. The big day will come when you need to make your final specifications. This might be a little scary but if you’ve done your homework it shouldn’t be white knuckle time. Take a deep breath, you cando this. 6. Design finalization and construction documents This is the day your design is finalized, and your final floor plans, elevations and details are finished. If it is a full-out remodel your mechanical and electrical plans and your lighting plan will be done too. 7. Contractor Estimates You need to get a contractor to take your project from the design board to the finish line. Get at least three contractor estimates. There’s more to this than the lowest bid. You want to check your contractors out and make sure there are no complaints filed against them and that they have a rep for good work and completion of the job. 8. Prepare for demolition
This is the part we all hate but it’s show time! It’s usually about four to eight weeks after the permits are submitted. The work begins and it’s messy and inconvenient but necessary. Clean out the cabinets and store what you don’t absolutely need. Set up a temporary kitchen and be prepared to live on take-out and order-in a lot. Some homeowners arrange to stay somewhere else but most grit their teeth and bare it. 9. Handle the punch list When construction is about over there’s usually a list of things that are wrong, forgotten, or missing. These might be a wrong paint color, a missing switch plate, a faulty exhaust system, dings, bangs, scratches — anything that isn’t right. Don’t wait until the contractor has packed up and left because you may not get him back. You and your family have been living with dust and noise for weeks, you’re ramen-noodled to death and you’re ready for this remodel to be over like last week. But these things happen, it’s Murphy’s Law, and try to stay calm. Do not resign yourselves to live with a switch that’s a ticket to nowhere or hidden behind the refrigerator, a dishwasher that can’t open without hitting a cabinet door, or a pull-out pantry that won’t pull out. Go through the entire kitchen trying everything out and write down anything that is not as it should be. Stay calm, stay cool but insist that these things are corrected before the job is considered over and the contractor moves on. Kitchen remodels can be scary. They can be taxing, inconvenient and nerve wracking. But in the end, worth it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives |