Swimpy's Kitchen Remodel Thread

I can't think about it anymore. Contractor just called he wants to bring the electrician over this week sometime to have a look see. I'm going to bed for now. See y'all tomorrow.

We have 125 year old red fir floors in our gallery.
We sanded them five times, barely made a dent in the surface patina. We tried various finishes in a corner and they all turned it sort of orange, which didn't go well with the warm grey, pistachio, or white walls, so we left them. Even more wine, etc, has spilled on the floor since we got the place and have had 56 x 400 people in. The floor does tend to gain interest, even admiration, as it is quite warm and charming, from fans of old floors.

My business partner is the chief vacuumer, and she aims an attachment along the lines of the places where there are gaps between the boards, once a month. We sweep or vacuum the surface a bit more than that. Me, I don't care re encrustation in the gaps. Crud evolves..

I would guess you could even out such grooves with layers of urethane, or whatever is okay now, finish.

It would depend, to me, on how old and funky or newish and tidy your house is, what you're striving for.

(edit because I decided to spell it 'encrustation')

Yea, Osso, I haven't given up on the wood yet. There is no such thing as a perfect floor only one that is the best for a particular application. I'm not crazy about tile in a kitchen. It's such a cold surface. Wood is still my first choice. We lived with two kids and a dog on hardwood floors. They needed refinishing after about 15 years or so, but that's not bad. If I have too, I can get the kitchen floor refinished. I think I'll stay away from the pre-finished floor, though.

I agree on that, but I have a bias against a manufactured finished look.

It just looks too perfect, I think. I'm trying to create a new kitchen that looks like it could have been original to the house in 1950, but with modern amenities. Is that too much to ask?

I think the regularly finished wood is a better choice than pre-finished. It makes the house more valuable if you sell it... will last about 100 years, is thicker (if that works with your floor foundation... but if you can have tile, it should) and a floor that is finished in place will be sanded smooth, whereas each prefinished piece will be slightly up or down from the next. It has to be more authentic for a 1950's house. If you're concerned about a tie-in with the original wood floor, you can have a few boards (even a few boards of a contrasting color) run in a 90 degree direction from the original wood floor in the living room, and then switch back to going across the floor joists which is how they're usually laid.

I still haven't registered with Taunton's to find out what other people disliked about wood floors in the kitchen. Guess I'll go see to that.

--- I'm back. Lots of interesting discussions. I saw LesleyD's kitchen. Blue walls? Light composition flooring?

Yea, the blue walls were a little much for me. I like his maple cabinets though. The floor was vinyl, I think with that funky inlay. Not something I would o, but kinda cool.

I left a message for the guy that refinished our other hardwood floors. He also installs them. I think I'll go with unfinished wood.

The kitchen guy is coming over Monday evening to show me what they have come up with. he's also going to tell me the cost. I've got that sinking feeling. I'm afraid it's going to cost ALOT more than I want to spend. <Drumming fingers>

Rule #1
Swimpy, rule #1 for remodeling is that it always costs more and takes longer than anticipated.

BBB

but don't just jump in.

I speak as a reasonable person who has dealt not all so long ago with meth, coke, and alcohol folk, and another guy who apparently had a knife in his backpack... though not that I knew that stuff, and that particular guy was a big help the two days he worked for me...

Obviously, if you have any kind of reasonable bank account, you will ask for a licensed person to do the work. (People are always trying to sniggle cheaper). Licenses mean, at the least, if not astuteness, recourse through state boards or contracting associations, in case of mess ups. At least in California, licensing is very important.

Thanks, for the advice, BBB. I have included thinks in the wish list that can be pared if the budget gets out of hand. I'm also going for a mid-range, stock cabinet. I just did a rough count of the cabinets required and using an average cost of $800/cab (which I think is high) I come up with approximately 50% of my original budget for the cabinets. I won't have the full cost until the contractor sees the plans, though. I do realise that I should plan on cost overruns, so I am figuring 10-20% for that.

Osso, Good point. I also need to make sure all contractors and subs have insurance. Lien wavers when the job is done is also critical. I've known of people who hired a general contractor, paid him in full when the job was complete, but the general didn't pay the subs. The subs slapped liens on the property. Don't want that happening to me. Actually I think the bank requires it.

Something similar to what osso described recently happened in Chicago.

Here is the story.

Coke, meth, & knives in Iowa? Please, say it isn't so. That Chicago story sounds bad, too! How can you protect yourself from something like that? I'd say, if you can, go visit the actual places that have recently been done by the contractor unless you know him personally.

So, you've got the sink, cabinets, floor, lighting and appliances to buy, plus electrical, plumbing & carpentry. Is there anything else? Windows or doors? Wall repair or painting? 7% for art?

Maple cabinets are nice. What color for your walls?

Are you arranging for direct light over the sink, cook-top & counters? I have ceiling lights plus fluorescent under the counters & spotlights over the sink, and the cooktop has a fan/light combination. I wish I had an extra circuits coming into the kitchen for the microwave.

Iowa's got a real meth problem, but I'm confident about my contractor. My brother, who is a plumbing & heating contractor recommended him. He also built my brother's house, which is gorgeous.

RE: lighting, the electrician came on Monday to take a look at the room. I asked for recessed lights in the ceiling and task lighting over the sink and counter tops. I'm also going to have a hanging fixture over the eating area. I need to upgrade the electrical in the kitchen to code, so I expect lots of outlets.

I'm going to be putting in Tech Lighting in my kitchen when I get my tax return. They have a lot of different options available and the variety of pendants is unbelievable.

The kitchen idea is making progress Swimpy, and reading
from your post, you think of everything (contractor liens).
The Contractor Licensing Board is always a good source
to check out contractors. Frankly, I would set up a weekly
payment plan and every week, the contractor and his
subs need to sign off on the lien waiver. Usually the subs
are paid weekly, and it's a good system to keep track of
them, i.e. that they show up every week


They're indeed nice lights sublime, but more so in a modern kitchen, I think. My friends have the cable lights installed in their modern kitchen and it looks beautiful. The only draw back is, they emit a lot of heat.

Cool lights, sublime. Post pictures of your lights when you get them in.

CJ, I've been trough this remodelling thing before. I think the practice around these parts is 1/3 down, 1/3 halfway through and 1/3 on completion. I don't think any contractor will give you a lien waiver if the job's not done.

Just made the rounds of the flooring stores. I was surprised to be told by two that they don't even sell unfinished hardwood flooring. I found a guy, who specializes though. He'll be over Monday night after the cabinet guy.

Now I'm thinking about countertops, tile and paint. What colors? I saw some really cool tile that looks like slate but is ceramic. It had green, brown and grey tones. Really pretty. I've been leaning toward green for awhile. Don't know why. I guess I'm in my green period. I think a nice mossy or sagey green would look great against the natural cherry. Very Earth Mothery.

Well, the flooring guy was just here. He said there is a good chance there is a wood floor under all of the layers of vinyl and linoleum in the kitchen. He based that on the height of teh existing floor and how it compares to the existing wood floor in the adjacent room. When we bought the house every room on the lower level had wood floors except the kitchen...even the bathroom. Flooring man said if it was in the bathroom, chances are it was in the kitchen, too. That never even occurred to me. We'll see when the tear-out begins. How fun! If it's there might be in bad shape, but ya never know.

Still waiting for cabinet man. He's 2 hours late. He called to say he'd be here whenever...maybe not tonight.

There's a wood floor under mine...
Probably it would need sanding, but .. so what?

I hope so, Osso. I'm pretty excited to think there might be old wood under there. The only worry is that the people who put the floors on over it punched a bunch of nasty nails into it. Pulling them out might really do a number on it. We'll see. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.