Kitchen remodels
Posted on Jan 14th, 2010 by Doug Marsh VP, CR, CAPS, GBP | 0 Comments
Kitchen remodeling is certainly big in alot of peoples minds these days. We are getting alot of leads for this kind of project. It has been shown over and over that this kind of project has the largest payback for the remodeling dollar. There are alot of different types of kitchen remodels: minor facelift type where you keep the cabinets but reface or paint and replace the counters and the sink and faucet; remove the cabinets and counters but keep the same footprint so you don't have to change the flooring that may be newer; tear out all the cabinets, counters, floors, lights etc and redesign the layout; complete tear out including some walls and windows and possibly bumping out to add some space. The scope of the project certainly drives the budget as in all remodeling. Tearing a kitchen out of a home is certainly a dusty inconvenience and it is something you want to get right the first time. Budget and planning are key and, for today's families and lifestyles, kitchen remodels often involve removing some walls to open up the space into the adjacent dining area. The design and layout of the cabinets and appliances might need to be completely resdesigned using national standards for egress, amount of cabinets, multi level counters, distance between the sink, fridge, and range, and counter sizes next to appliances and the sink(s). At this time we are doing a decently large kitchen remodel where we are taking out two walls and putting in flush beams which take the current galley kitchen from being a 6' wide by 18' space to a 21' x 22' open room with a large island that has seating. The longest beam span is 22' and supports the roof and two long ceiling loads. The other load is only a ceiling load and both of these loads are being handled by using LVL engineered beam material built up as per Engineers' spec. New windows are going in as shorter units to allow additional counter space to go under those locations. We give our design to our local cabinet shop that provides computerized drawings so we can accurately check everything before we go into production. The custom design allows us full control of the product and enables the Client to get exactly what they want where they want it instead of being limited to a modular boxed unit. All the cabinets are plywood boxes and can be built in a face frame, semi face frame, or completely Euro style according to the Clients wishes. Soft close or Blue motion closing guides and door hinges are also an option. The materials availabe range from paint grade maple all the way to prefinished exotic woods.
We give the client a detailed timeline at the beginning of the project so they can have their selections picked in a timely manner to allow the project to move on schedule. Included in the timeline are milestones for ordering meetings and for product selections. We usually have to strip the space down to frame to allow for the new wiring to code as well as gas and plumbing, and framing changes. Combined with the required inspections-plumbing, mechanical, electrical, framing, insulation, drywall these changes require a realistic time frame.
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