Author Topic: Kitchen Addition/Remodel  (Read 24057 times)

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« on: July 18, 2019, 09:33:57 AM »
I've been keeping busy this year doing a small addition to our house with a full remodel of the kitchen. The addition is only about 180 sqft of interior space with a large covered porch area. Because it is our kitchen and we have a family of five for most of the year, we compromised and hired part of it done by a contractor with me doing the rest of the work, mostly interior and outside finishing work. We are hoping to limit ourselves to not having a functioning kitchen for a few months versus maybe an entire year of me doing everything myself. Fortunately we have a gas cook top so I'm hoping to plumb that in our basement temporarily plus move the over the range microwave to the dining room so we can do some cooking even if things are scattered out around the house.

I've been too busy to take the time to post some pictures but have a break to try and catch up. The bottom picture is of the front of our current house taken a few years back when I was residing it. The top one is an artist rendering of the new look we are shooting for and the middle picture is a floor plan showing old walls (dashed) and new addition with walls. We ended up getting an architect to help design the layout and to hopefully get more realistic quotes.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 03:00:41 PM by lthenderson »

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2019, 09:41:32 AM »
We poured the concrete slab which is the exterior portions of this addition. The two formed "pockets" are where two bumpouts will be. The closest one is going to be a pantry but plumbed up to be an upstairs laundry room at a future date. The far bumpout is an expanded entryway mostly to keep it symmetrical in nature. We will add joists later to allow for plumbing, electrical and HVAC to connect into the bumpouts. The slab is going to be level with the house floor so there are only two steps to get onto the porch from the sidewalk and the rest will all be on the same level inside and out.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2019, 09:46:06 AM »
Here is a picture with the trusses up and tied into the house along with all but what will be the new kitchen outside wall.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2019, 09:51:07 AM »
They say every project ends up being more expensive than what is planned for and I guess this one was no exception. We budgeted a lot more for the contractor work and supplies by a factor of two and also got detailed plans to help limit change orders. But when tying the structure into the roof, we hit our first change order. The roof was originally sheathed with 1/2" plywood instead of today's normal 3/4" and 50 years have taken its toll on it. It was quite soft and spongy in places. We had been planning on only shingling the front side of the roof but ended up tearing up all the shingles, putting down an additional 1/2" of plywood on top of the old and shingling everything. The roof is quite solid now and it allowed me to flash the chimney correctly which the last roofer before we bought the place didn't do. With a new roof, I hope it will be the last time I have to deal with it in my lifetime.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2019, 09:56:37 AM »
This post more or less bring the project thus far up-to-date. We have the new kitchen exterior wall built and everything temporarily sheathed in and wrapped. After we get the new windows and a temporary door, they will be installed, all except the center double window which will be left out until the kitchen is gutted and all the debris hauled outside. Since the gutting of the kitchen will commence shortly, I have stripped the kitchen down of everything of value and moved it to various points throughout our house. We spent quite a bit of time on weekends making meals and freezing extras, plus have the cooktop in the basement, the grill outside, microwave in the dining room, food and kitchen paraphernalia stored in the living room upstairs and family room downstairs. Last night's dinner was like an exercise session going up and down the stairs all the time. Hopefully as we settle into life without a functioning kitchen, things will organize themselves to where we need them most.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2019, 09:59:21 AM »
It thought I would throw up one more post showing an artistic rendering of what we are shooting for the inside to look like when finished. A number of small things have changed but the end result will follow this rendering fairly close.

mrsnamemustache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 99
  • Location: FL
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2019, 10:18:30 AM »
As someone planning a kitchen remodel, this post is making my day. Can you tell us some things about your kitchen finishes selections (cabinets, floor, countertops) and reasons for making selections?

Did your architect do the the kitchen rendering?

Care to share details on costs?

Roots&Wings

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1555
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2019, 10:49:52 AM »
+1 for more details if you're willing to share, and awesome job so far! It's looking great!!

I'm going to be building a backyard cottage (hiring a GC for the exterior shell/rough carpentry/plumbing/electric) and doing the finishing myself. This is great inspiration!

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2019, 12:12:52 PM »
Although the architect made renderings of the interior, these particular renderings are from the cabinet showplace where we are ordering our cabinets. I highly recommend having them design it as the design changed quite dramatically, for the better I hope, between the architect and cabinet showplace.  The cabinet showplace was much more in tune with the flow of a kitchen and what sort of things we were interested in. As soon as the gut is complete and the interior walls are in their final places, the cabinet showplace will come out for a final measurement and then it will be six weeks for delivery of the cabinets.

We remain undecided about the floor other than it will be solid hardwood flooring. For budgeting reasons, we aren't doing this right away. I will most likely do it this winter or early spring of next year along with the rest of the first floor living areas in our house which are currently carpet. Before I do the floors, I still have to go through room by room and scrape down the popcorn ceilings, repair and paint them.

The countertops are quartz that we picked out at a local manufacturer. We didn't want something that has to be sealed which is why we went man made but it is has faux marble veining look.

Our whole plan is to pay cash for the project from what we have saved over several years.  We've put 50% down for purchase of materials and have the other 50% sitting in our checking account to make payments as milestones are reached with the contractor part. Because this reduced our savings account which we use as our emergency fund/big ticket item purchasing fund to a lower level than we normally try to maintain, we did apply for a home equity loan last fall but we have no plans to tap it. All the finish work inside and outside we will cashflow as money comes in over the next year and hopefully build up our savings account back to minimum amounts.

While the contractors are doing their thing to gut the kitchen and get the interior walls moved (requires some beams that requires more than just me to install), I am working on painting the exterior which I have been working on this year. A extremely wet spring followed by a scorching summer thus far is making that job take much longer than I thought it would.

mrsnamemustache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 99
  • Location: FL
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2019, 12:28:37 PM »
Thanks for the details. Looking forward to hearing more.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #10 on: July 23, 2019, 06:50:13 AM »
Well the kitchen is gutted and after doing some rejiggering to get the load bearing wall moved out four feet, we have finally got the old exterior wall removed to the addition so we can see the true size of the new space. The old boxed in areas above the old cabinets still are hanging on but will be removed and the entire ceiling will be flat with can lights. Still have to build the little stub wall for what will be the enclosed pantry in the right bumpout and move the far wall in a foot to allow the entryway hall to be a foot wider and line up with the far bumpout.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2019, 09:22:16 AM »
We paid to have someone professionally design the addition to our house. That person did a good job but was not a kitchen designer. He just roughly threw some cabinets into his design (see post above) to give us some idea of space and floor plan. It looked really great on paper.

Yesterday, the new hallway wall on the far side of the kitchen was framed in per the floor plan above with the entryway into the kitchen, lining up with an existing hallway wall. As soon as it was up, I knew it was too narrow. When I measured our china hutch (also shown in the plan), it was far larger than drawn in and further reduced the effective width between the cabinet corner and it. I knew we were going to have to probably give up some cabinets on that side of the room to make it work.

This past winter after making our down payment on this project officially making it a go, we headed to the city and went to a cabinetry showroom that also makes their own cabinetry. We gave her the rough dimensions of the new kitchen layout given to us by the architect and she professionally laid it out. But before ordering cabinets, she said she would wait until the stud walls were in place and then go down and make final measurements before placing the order. She came this morning.

The good news was that the wall length causing the pinch point above was 17 inches longer than what she had in her original design. This means our choke point immediately grew roughly 15 inches wider. We decided to lop off an additional 9" lower cabinet on that side and shrink the uppers to gain another 9 inches so that we will end up with a four feet wide passage between our lower cabinets and china hutch and not the 24 inches we would have had if we had just ordered cabinets and built things per the architects rough dimensions.

Measure twice, cut once.

So the cabinetry designer will work on it the rest of this week and send us computer generated plans and images to approve the first of next week and we can get them on order. It takes roughly six weeks for delivery. Between now and then, there is a lot of electrical, plumbing, HVAC and drywall that needs to be done on the inside along with plenty of work to do on the outside. Due to state laws, I legally cannot do anything on that list but the drywall since this is new construction. I hate drywall work and so the contractor is taking care of that entire punch list. I still need to side the addition, box in the beams for the gable end detail and put the tongue and groove boards on the porch ceiling. The contractor is going to farm out the new gutters to be install around the entire house plus the addition, install the soffit on the addition, and put in a concrete stair step. I'm painting the interior and exterior surfaces, building all the storage shelves/cabinetry for the pantry, and flooring. Plus I am repainting some 100 year old antique globe sconces that I bought a few years back at an auction that will be our porch lights. There is no shortage of work to be done.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2019, 08:19:15 AM »
Four or five years ago at an architectural salvage auction, I picked up two antique globe sconce lights, one of which is pictured here. I had no plans for them at the time but they were beautiful and I won the bid, so I took them home and stuck them on a shelf. With the addition/kitchen remodel project, I thought they would be perfect for lighting our new front porch so I drug them out and am in the middle of rehabbing them. It took several days and trying various things but I eventually got them taken apart into individual pieces. Every single screw holding them together was seized (100 years and different material types will do that) so I had to drill every single one of them out. Some parts were aluminum which made that even more difficult. I ended up doing some damage by drilling into materials that I didn't want to but I patched all those holes with JB Weld and sanded it back flush. I am not in the process of painting everything white to match our house trim. Next week I hope to put them back together, drilling new holes and putting in new fasteners, and rewire them so they are ready when I get the siding on.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2019, 03:59:53 PM »
Got it reassembled after paint and I think it turned out nice. I ordered some tubular LED lights to put in them because the LED light that is in there now only shines upwards though it is hard to see that in the photo. Spent the rest of the weekend ordering plumbing fixtures and figuring out where all the lights, switches, outlets, etc. are going in preparation for perhaps a plumber or electrician showing up. I'm anxious for the drywall to go up so I go start going to town doing the rest.

mrsnamemustache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 99
  • Location: FL
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2019, 09:23:38 PM »
Very cool light. Impressive work!

soccerluvof4

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7161
  • Location: Artic Midwest
  • Retired at 50
    • My Journal
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #15 on: August 02, 2019, 03:10:52 AM »
Looking very very nice and I like the plan. I know you said you went over because of the roof but if you dont mind sharing what was your overall budget and how are you doing on that so far? I have a 70's ranch with a walkout I have remodeled over the last 5 years about 90% of it and the last 10% seems to never end.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #16 on: August 02, 2019, 08:07:19 AM »
Because our state has laws preventing anyone without a license to do electrical, plumbing or HVAC work on new construction which are addition is considered, our project has been on a holding pattern. I am working on painting the outside of the house during this time. The contractor did subcontract out the gutters which were replaced  yesterday. We had the old K-style gutters that were held on by six inch nails and spacers and they had seen their better days. I spent quite a bit of time hammering in those nails every spring to keep them from just falling off. To make matters worse, our house is bracketed by a huge maple tree on one side and a huge oak tree on the other. That meant that in the spring our roof gets covered with maple seed whirly gigs that end up in the gutters plugging it and turning into saplings. All winter long, the oak leaves gradually fall onto the snow on the roof getting soggy and sliding down in the gutters plugging the downspouts. I was ready for that to end.

So now we have six inch gutters with leaf guard screens to prevent those seeds and leaves from entering into the gutters. We also have the larger downspouts to handle the increased water load, not because it will be raining more but hopefully our gutters will be catching more rain than the old ones did.

I thought I would add a word about our budget since it has been asked a couple of times. I think our budget number would be useless to anyone else out there for a couple reasons. One, I live in very rural America in a LCL place. Anyone who lives in a larger city, would pay a lot more for material and labor than I would. Two, because I live in a rural area, I have less of a selection when it comes to hiring a contractor which probably would drive my price up due to lack of competition compared to someone who lives in a larger city. Also, stating the obvious, I am going quite a bit of labor which is essentially "free" so if you were hiring someone to do all the things on my list, that would drive the price even higher. So with that quantification, we are paying our contractor $90k for the work. We have budgeted roughly $120k for project overruns plus all the materials that I will buy to complete my end of the remodeling in the year to come after the contractor is paid and gone.  We are roughly adding 180 sqft of living space which comes out to $670 per sqft which is a very high number. But it doesn't take into account the roughly 300 sqft of exterior space we are adding plus general house improvements we are lumping into this project like the new roof, gutter, upstairs hardwood flooring, etc.

LostGirl

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 298
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #17 on: August 02, 2019, 11:31:19 AM »
Great progress. Are you itching to get it done, you seem very zen with the overall process.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #18 on: August 03, 2019, 12:11:34 PM »
Great progress. Are you itching to get it done, you seem very zen with the overall process.

I'm itching to get the contractor/sub-contractors parts done so I can be in control again. It is hard having to rely on someone else's schedule. Right now I'm battling with the kitchen designer to get the cabinets ordered. Once the kitchen was gutted and walls moved, I had to wait the better part of a week for her to come down for final measurements. Then I had to wait another week for her to finalize the design and our schedules to align so we could drive the 120 miles to her office to finalize everything. We did that yesterday evening but she wanted to put the order on hold until the electrician had been there because there was concern that there wouldn't be enough room between a cabinet and a door jam for a light switch. I put my foot down and shortened a broom closet cabinet by three inches and told her to order it, I wasn't waiting anymore. She is supposed to get the order in the first of next week but I'm going to keep calling to make sure. Just her part has delayed this project two and a half weeks longer and I just want it going again. Once they are ordered, it is a six week wait but at least there is a firm timeline.

So no I'm not zen like I may come off. I have my sleepless nights.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #19 on: August 06, 2019, 02:51:47 PM »
We finally got a final 3D color rendering of our cabinets as ordered. We also set a date for appliances to be delivered in six weeks so hopefully that gets the ball rolling to get the electrical, plumbing, HVAC and drywall completed before them.

Although we are doing well and have probably only ate out a handful of times since this began, it is getting old fast. It really sucks having to go between three rooms and two floors multiple times to prepare a meal, of which an oven can't be a part. We compensate by cooking enough to be eaten for several days in a row. I have a feeling we might gradually increase our eating out as the weeks progress.

« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 02:59:09 PM by lthenderson »

AMandM

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1673
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #20 on: August 07, 2019, 07:03:25 AM »
I am very impressed, and I love the sconces.

One question, out of curiosity: why doesn't the concrete foundation go under the bumpouts? I am sure there is a reason, but to me (ignorant of construction) it seems like more work to pour the foundation with pockets and more work to build the bumpouts without the foundation.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2019, 11:31:49 AM »
I am very impressed, and I love the sconces.

One question, out of curiosity: why doesn't the concrete foundation go under the bumpouts?

The bumpout on the right is being designed to be an upstairs laundry some day in the future and so will need plumbing and HVAC. The "holes" in the concrete is to allow those to be tied into the existing house system underneath the floor. We did the expanded entryway bumpout the same way to allow for an additional HVAC vent there as well. The plan is that stuff will go underneath the floor of the bumpout but on top of the old stoop concrete surface and through the old rim joist.

kenmoremmm

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 717
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #22 on: August 07, 2019, 03:58:27 PM »
i've never seen 3/4" roof sheathing. what part of the country are you in that requires this?

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #23 on: August 08, 2019, 02:09:26 PM »
i've never seen 3/4" roof sheathing. what part of the country are you in that requires this?

Sorry about that but I misspoke. The sheathing standard for 24" O.C. in the Midwest where snow accumulation on roofs is common is 5/8", not 3/4" as I stated. I had only 50 year old 1/2" sheathing over 24" O.C. spans that definitely wasn't supporting my weight anymore and adding an 1/8" wasn't an option.  Adding another 1/2" sheathing on top of the 50 year old sheathing was cheaper than replacing the existing with 5/8" sheathing. I can't remember if I wrote this on here or not but while they were adding the extra sheathing on top, I walked up on the roof to take some photos one evening and just about fell through in one spot that still had just 1/2" sheathing.

coffeefueled

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 188
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #24 on: August 08, 2019, 02:21:52 PM »
I really like the two tone cabinets.

I hear you on the multi-room shuffle to cook meals. We bought a hot plate, but for the most part we're doing grilled meals and salads. We're hoping to finish by the first week of September, so hopefully we can keep the eating out down if it's only another month or so.

economista

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1035
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #25 on: August 08, 2019, 03:13:32 PM »
I really like the kitchen design. I hope your contractor stays on top of the schedule and everything turns out on time. We closed on a new construction house in December and it was supposed to be done in October. We kept being told the subcontractors were not showing up or doing things on schedule. Hopefully with just one room it all gets done a lot quicker.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #26 on: August 09, 2019, 08:31:43 AM »
Well the kitchen cabinets are on order now and set to be delivered Sep 2 and the appliances the week after on Sep 9. Later this morning I meet with the electrician to review where everything should go. We are on vacation all next week so other than the electrician, I doubt any progress happens next week. Still waiting on plumbing and HVAC before the drywall starts.

I'm still painting the outside of our house and have one more coat to go on the last section and then I am caught up with construction. After the electrician is done, I can side the addition and paint it. I am also using this opportunity since our old door isn't being used (entrance is still boarded up) to repaint it. We decided to paint it the same color as our lower cabinets to tie the hallway to the kitchen. I have one side painted and the other side primed. I will have to paint it when we get back from vacation.

affordablehousing

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 778
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #27 on: August 09, 2019, 12:43:49 PM »
I'm really encouraged by this and think your design looks great, super sensible and I love the integration of your own architectural finds along with more available materials. I hope to do something similar at my house and have 7 months to plan while I await zoning approval for a 120 SF kitchen expansion.

My question, how did you find a contractor who would let you take over some of the scope and how did you define what is his/her responsibility and what is yours? Assuming I'm up for most interior tasks, have you found any best practices for how to keep finger pointing to a minimum? For instance is the right hand off after all the utilities are in the walls and the GC gets sign off, then you put the rock on and mud and paint it? How do you deal with something picked up in the final inspection if it were related to his work that yours covered over?

Looks like a great project.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #28 on: August 19, 2019, 08:46:12 AM »
Unfortunately, we really had no choice when it came to finding a contractor. I live in a rural area and gave prints to about eight contractors within a 100 mile radius that all said they were interested in quoting our project and only two of those eight actually quoted the project. One gave just a single line and a price that was extremely high. The other gave line items but was extremely cheap, way too cheap by my estimates. We ended up working with the cheap contractor to narrow down the scope and design with lots of specifics which just about doubled his initial quote but was still significantly cheaper than the other one.

In the interest of our busy lives and schedules, we opted to have a general contractor do much of the work to a point where it could be signed off and he could leave. We decided not to pick and choose jobs where the contractor would have to stop and wait for us to say, finish the drywall, before he could install cabinets, etc. So the agreed upon method was that the contractor would come in and build the addition and get the kitchen to a functioning point before I take over and finish up everything else. I will be doing the flooring, the painting, building out the pantry, building cabinet extras like a spice rack, doing exterior work like siding, painting, landscaping, putting up porch railings, etc. I am hoping this eliminates any finger pointing since the contractor will be done and gone before I start. This also allowed me to focus on other aspects of the project like painting the entire exterior of the house while the contractor is doing their part.

I would have liked to do the entire project myself but my wife wasn't willing to live without a kitchen for that long so this was the best compromise. If I had been doing it myself, I would have just subcontracted out all the jobs that I couldn't do myself due to laws or ability and wouldn't have hired a general contractor.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #29 on: August 20, 2019, 04:51:56 PM »
Nothing much happened while we were on vacation and the cabinets are coming in two weeks so I was relieved to see some trucks pull into our driveway this morning. The contractor's crew showed up to frame up the walk-in pantry wall where three different light switches and an outlet need to go. They still have to do the wall with the pocket door but since there aren't any utilities in it, they are leaving it out until they are ready to drywall for ease of access. They were also drilling various holes for the HVAC, plumbing and electrical crews. Best of all, they temporarily put my repainted front door in its new home so I can at least exit the house that way without having to go through the garage and walk clear around the house. I painted the front door the color of our lower kitchen cabinets.

At the same time they were doing their thing, the HVAC crew showed up to figure out what needed to be done. The plan is they will show up tomorrow and do some of their work. The remainder will have to wait until the cabinets are installed so that positioning can be where they are needed but out of the way. Also at the same time the electrical crew was doing their thing. Because my office is underneath the kitchen, this meant removing my ceiling panels (think false ceiling but attached directly to the bottom of the floor joists) to access various stud bays to remove and string wire. Now my office is a wreck but a sacrifice that must be made in order to get things done. Still missing are the plumbers but I was assured they would also be here today and they weren't so perhaps tomorrow. I'm hoping that in a few weeks, I can start doing my end of this project in a productive way. Up to now, I have mostly been doing odd things and acting as a general contractor to the general contractor to make sure every thing is where I wanted them.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #30 on: August 22, 2019, 07:46:54 AM »
I thought I would attach another interior picture now that the electricians have some temporary lights in place that I can turn on. This shows our expanded and reconfigured front entryway/hallway so that we will be able to greet guests at the door and let them into our house without having to suck in a gut and squeeze by or walk backward in front of them telling them to shut the front door on their way in. Our front door used to be in the same orientation as the window on the left but ten feet closer. Now it is turned 90 degrees and just out of sight around the corner in the bumpout that we did on that side giving us a greeting place. We also moved the hallway wall in towards the kitchen a foot so it is wider and two adults can now pass walking normally.

The HVAC person is supposed to show up today and finish up moving the duct into the two bumpouts. The remainder of their work will be done once the cabinets are in place so we can get the registers exactly where they need to go. Still waiting on the plumber.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #31 on: August 26, 2019, 07:34:49 AM »
The most frustrating thing about hiring contractors to do a portion of a addition and remodel is that you have no ability to speed things up. Our contractor told us this was a two month project once dirt was turned for the addition, three months on the high side. It has been three and a half months and I'm still waiting on the plumber and HVAC people to arrive before sheet rock can go on. Our custom built cabinets, which we were supposed to be waiting for due to their six week lead time are due to arrive next week! They will now be waiting on the contractor. I called the contractor this morning to express my displeasure and after many apologies, he assured me that they would be hustling this week to still have things ready for the cabinets. I can't wait for them to get them installed with the countertops so they can leave and then I can start doing things by myself at a much faster pace than they have been going.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2019, 11:26:55 AM by lthenderson »

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #32 on: August 27, 2019, 08:48:24 AM »
A phone call seems to have done the trick. It has been non stop action these last two days as different trades rotate in and out. It has been so busy, I haven't been able to finish the last of my exterior painting project because I've been to busy answering questions and selecting finishings. We went to a big box store to look at solid bamboo flooring and found one that we liked. I stopped in at a locally owned flooring store to look at their stuff fully expecting it to be much more expensive for the same thing. To my surprise, it was nearly a dollar per sqft cheaper for the exact same thing. Once I get this contractor out of my life, I will place my order and have a project to work on this winter. Right now, the contractor is outside getting ready to put the porch roof ceiling tongue and groove on so I can get the last of the siding, box in the decorative gable roof element and dress the porch beams up before installing a railing. Still hope to get all that done before snow flies and I'm pretty much given up on landscaping until next spring.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #33 on: August 29, 2019, 06:51:13 AM »
Finally the electrical is complete and passed inspection. The plumber promised to be here today with an army to finish the plumbing. The HVAC if part way done, at least the part needed to get the cabinets installed. The rest will be finished up after the cabinets are installed. The contractors got 95% of the tongue and groove porch ceiling installed so the boxing of the beams has started. They will eventually be painted white to match the trim and provide some contrast.

I priced out renting a cherry picker or lift to paint my chimney, the last little bit besides the unsided addition to paint on my house. It was going to cost me twice as much as just buying a 32 feet fiberglass extension ladder so I went with the latter. They were going to charge me $80 to deliver it three miles across town so I bought some five dollar ratchet straps out of a bargain bin, strapped it down to my mini van floor using the middle seat clamping spots to attach my straps too and drove it home myself with a good chunk of it hanging out the back end. I love having a minivan when it comes to DIY projects. Although I hate heights, I pulled up my britches and climbed up their anyway. I have it primed and one coat of top paint. When the sun comes out I hope to get the final coat on today while the army of plumbers is doing their thing.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #34 on: September 03, 2019, 07:28:36 AM »
Battled through a terrible cold going around this Labor Day weekend so didn't get as much done as I hoped. But we passed all the mechanical inspections late Friday afternoon so sheetrock can begin today which is a good thing since our custom cabinets should also arrive today. I'm hoping things will go together quickly from this point, especially since I have a trailer full of insulation and drywall parked out in front of my house.

With the porch ceiling in place, the decorative beam work was mostly completed. Ran short of some screws so  it will have to wait to get finished when more can be obtained. Before the contractor took away his rolling scaffolding, we opted to make use of it and stain the porch ceiling before the last of the trim and siding go up so we don't splatter it with the stain. I'm so looking forward to sitting on my porch watching a storm roll by.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #35 on: September 04, 2019, 08:10:04 AM »
Finally drywall started going up yesterday. More is going up right now along with insulation. Although the inspection passed, the plumber had a loose end to tie up once the construction crew got the flooring back down so he is here as well. The HVAC guy is supposedly on his way to reinstall a duct run that had to be uninstalled to get a drain pipe through an area where the duct was passing through. The HVAC guy is going to switch to an oval duct to slip under the drain pipe instead of the round duct he had before. Met with the contractor and ran through list of things needing to be done so feel good that he is still committed to getting this project done. He initially promised 2 months with 3 months being the outside limit and we are now six days from three months being complete. He won't make it but he sounds committed to not making it any longer than he has too. The cabinets that were supposed to arrive yesterday didn't. I suspect it was due to the holiday weekend and they forgot about Monday so I'm looking for them to arrive today sometime.

To pass the time, I climbed my 32 feet extension ladder to put the final coat of paint on the upper recesses of my chimney. I was glad to have that project done until I got my feet on the ground and realized that I was holding a tinted primer can and not my finish coat can. Now I am waiting for paint to dry, literally, so I can go back up and correct my mistake before it gets to hot today.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #36 on: September 05, 2019, 07:13:52 AM »
Things are moving fast now for a change. Nearly all the drywall is up except for around where our walk-in pantry/future upstairs laundry room is going to be. The plumber made an audible to protect pipes from possibly freezing which meant that HVAC, electrical and construction all had to come back in and do some more work. The construction framed up a stub wall, the plumber came back up and finished but still waiting on HVAC and electrical to move their stuff so that the drywall and wall containing the pocket door can be put in.

I love the new entryway hall which we made a foot wider. Now two humans can pass by normally instead of each one putting a back to a wall and sucking in guts to pass by each other.  Well worth the effort of moving the wall over a foot.

Best of all, our custom cabinets were delivered yesterday. What a pile of boxes and hard to believe right now that they all go in our kitchen which will be just about the size of the square area they are taking up in my garage right now. Lots of packaging material. Best guess is that they can start going up sometime next week, assuming the HVAC and electrical guys can get back out here to finish their work.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #37 on: September 06, 2019, 07:04:50 AM »
HVAC guys showed up and got the duct rerouted underneath the drain line using a round to oval to round boot. We got the floor on which allowed us to get most of the remaining sheetrock on and a coat of mud applied to everything. Still waiting on the electrician and the pockethole door before they can button up the pantry but at least we can progress with the rest of the kitchen so that cabinets can start being installed.

I spent my day supervising and priming the decorative gable end to our new front porch and researching column wraps for the front porch. Has anyone used any of those faux stone wraps made of polyurethane in such an application? They look fantastic and are priced well but I just wonder about fading/weather checking over time. I may still go semi-old school and use actual stone veneers but that is really expensive, more than I want to stretch our budget anymore. The other option is to just find some rock and do it old school. Either of those two ways will probably mean I have to wait until spring.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #38 on: September 09, 2019, 07:26:59 AM »
No pictures today because nothing is really different except two layers of drywall mud which isn't terrible exciting to see. The third and final layer goes on today. Tomorrow will be final sanding and texturing the ceiling. Wednesday will be priming and painting so that cabinets can start going in Thursday. Can't wait. Sherwin Williams is having a 30% off sale through today so I am going to get the paints needed to get us through the cabinet install portion. I'll wait to buy the rest when they have their less frequent 40% off sale.

Regarding the last post, I just went ahead and moved the electrical boxes in the pantry that we were waiting on the electrician to move. There was enough wire to move them to the proper spot and it was getting ridiculous waiting just for that. The contractor came and got that area mudded so it is caught up with the rest and the third coat can be applied there. Still no word on the pocket door situation. The contractor is supposed to let me know today. I'm going to be a little pissed if a stupid pocket door that we've known about for over three months now holds up an entire wall of cabinets because it hasn't arrived yet.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #39 on: September 10, 2019, 09:00:00 AM »
I was excited when the pocket door showed up this morning until I turned the box over and saw it was a 36" door. The opening to our pantry will only accommodate a 32" pocket door. The crew has a call in to my contractor to get it remedied today. If not, I am going to the big box store across town and buy it myself just so we don't have to wait "weeks" to order the correct one.

I attached two pictures of the progress from last night. You can see the bare 2x4's where the pocket door wall will go for our pantry, eventually. The hallway to the bedrooms had popcorn ceilings and last night as the construction crew was leaving, we discussed how to make the transition. Since I want to remove the popcorn eventually, we decided that we would scrape the popcorn far enough back to tape and mud the seam and I would do the rest later.

While laying in bed I had second thoughts. I want to put down hardwood flooring just as soon as the kitchen is in and will need to run it down the length of the hall anyway to match up with the kitchen. So rather than make a mess knocking wetted popcorn ceiling material on my newly installed floor, I got up early and removed it myself along with the carpet and baseboard trim before the construction crew arrived. Since they are subcontracted out by my contractor, I offered to throw some money their way if they just texture that ceiling while doing the kitchen and he agreed. Now I won't have to try and match it later.

I'm taking a break to write this update and then I'm off to get some tongue and groove plywood to put over the subfloor to match up with the plywood in the kitchen so that everything is all nice and level for the hardwood flooring.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #40 on: September 11, 2019, 07:07:43 AM »
As you can see, we were able to at long last obtain a pocket door for our pantry from a competitor of our contractor and got it installed, drywall hung and a coat of mud applied. At long last, there is nothing preventing us from hanging cabinets except smooth walls and a textured ceiling both of which are in the hands of the contractor and primed and painted surfaces which are in my hands. I've already told them that I will paint all night after the texture is dry so that it will be ready for them to work the next day just so they don't take a day off on another site.

charis

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3162
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #41 on: September 11, 2019, 08:47:03 AM »
Posting to follow!

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #42 on: September 12, 2019, 10:27:01 AM »
Texture went up yesterday. House is at 70% humidity still a day later. Not very pleasant for sure. The cheapo engineered flooring on my basement floor (that a previous occupant installed without any vapor barrier) is all warped accordingly but it has been on my replacement list for some time. While waiting on the texture to dry out, crew is outside putting on the siding and then their part of the outside work will be done other than pouring a concrete step. The plan is to do touch up work today on the inside texture, prime it tomorrow, paint it this weekend top to bottom and start installing cabinets on Monday.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #43 on: September 16, 2019, 08:35:51 AM »
Went through about a dozen gallons of paint this weekend painting the ceiling and all the walls so that the cabinets could be hung perhaps starting today. The plan is to start casing windows and doors first while it is fairly nice outside and then transition to cabinets later when it gets hot. My shoulders ache and my hands are sore from all the painting so I'm taking the day off to clean out the garage. Whenever working on a project like this, clutter of tools and supplies no longer needed piles up on every horizontal surface so when a horizontal surface is needed for something useful, it isn't available. So my plan is to clean up and organize so I'm ready to go as soon as the cabinets are hung.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #44 on: September 17, 2019, 02:08:25 PM »
Frustrations would be my new title of this thread after today.

After busting my hump putting up all that paint over the weekend for cabinets to be installed on Monday, the construction crew showed up without 1/2" plywood necessary to set the lower cabinets on the same plane as the flooring I will be installing after they get done. After three hours of waiting for the plywood which never came, rather than move onto anything else, like installing the upper cabinets, they left and I never saw them again until this morning.

They showed up late this morning with the plywood and started setting cabinets but ran into two problems. On the left wall in the photo, the gas pipe for the cooktop comes up through the floor. The problem is the cabinet that holds the gas cooktop has two full depth drawers so the gas pipe needs to be put within the wall cavity and come through the back of the cabinet above the top drawer. A pretty simple task but for liability reasons, the contractor has to have the plumber do the work and last time, the plumber showed up two weeks after he said he would arrive. So we are stalled out on that run of lower cabinets.

So we started working our way down the wall with the windows and were doing great until we got to the last cabinet which sits 24" away from the adjacent cabinet to allow for a standard sized dishwasher to fit between them. It was supposed to have plenty of room and came with a filler strip to take up any extra room. However, with the cabinet all the way to the wall, the dishwasher cavity is exactly an inch too narrow. I think the cabinet people forgot to take into account a 1/2" of drywall on both walls when they took their measurements. 

So right now the contractor (who promises to make it right) and myself are waiting for a return call from the cabinet people to hash out options. Having done this myself, I think I know what my options will be, either make it work or they will reorder the last cabinet an inch narrower and we wait however long for it arrive, delaying this project by that much time. It took six weeks originally to get the cabinets and the project is right now, a week past the completion date and we still have to do countertops, backsplash and appliances after the cabinets are installed.

To make it work, we can cut a cabinet sized hole in the drywall to gain a half inch and with the use of a planer, gain the other half inch by removing material from the face frames. It will mean the reveal of the face frame around the last cabinet won't be the same as all the others, but perhaps won't be all that noticeable unless you are down there with a tape measure. But that is a solution we could implement tomorrow and not have to wait for a cabinet to be reordered.

So right now I'm waiting and trying to sooth over my frustrations while waiting for a return call from the cabinet company, contractor or both.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2019, 02:11:05 PM by lthenderson »

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #45 on: September 18, 2019, 07:07:02 AM »
After thinking it over and talking with the cabinet people, we ordered a new cabinet that will be one inch smaller. We want it done but we want it done right. Also it helped that they will expedite a single cabinet so we might get it within two weeks. Until that time I hope the rest of the cabinets can be installed and the countertops measured for, ordered and made so that when the replacement cabinet arrives, it can be quickly installed followed by the countertop. Also, there are a few details left for the contractor to tie up outside before it can be turned over to me to finish. Perhaps they can get that done while waiting so I can start doing my things outside so when the interior is done per the contractor, I can finish building the pantry cabinets and installing the floors.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #46 on: September 19, 2019, 07:15:01 AM »
Another progress report, this time with me helping the crew just to drive them a bit harder and make sure things get done the way I want them. We started installing the uppers and found them extremely finicky to set with inset doors. Any slight imperfection in the walls would translate into the door gaps  being all over the place. So we had to spend a lot of time, screwing, unscrewing, shimming, retightening the screws, etc with every single cabinet to get them fastened with door gaps that looked even all the way around.  It probably takes four times longer than traditional overlay doors in my experience.

We got about halfway done with the full wall cabinets that will house the refrigerator, oven and microwave before we ran into a problem. The electrical outlets for the oven and microwave fall just outside the cabinet and need to be moved four inches. So tomorrow we will pop off the drywall in that section, do some framing so we can move the outlets and then put the drywall back up and proceed. I'm hoping to get that finished and get the island mocked up so that we can get the HVAC guy in here to put in a supply in the toe kick before we fasten it down permanently.

Still waiting on the plumber to move the gas line so we can finish the row of cooktop cabinets.

Still going way to slow but at least it is progressing.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #47 on: September 22, 2019, 01:47:41 AM »
Cabinets have been installed, at least all but the one that had to be reordered. With the too wide one in place, they will be measuring for countertops tomorrow so perhaps by the time the new cabinet gets here in a couple weeks, the countertop should be ready to be installed. Since I took this picture, the toekick and top trim around the cabinets has been put up but I haven't been able to grab a picture of it yet. The contractor should be back the first of the week to install the pocket door and finish up a couple things outside (finish the porch ceiling, pouring the concrete step and repairing the concrete sidewalk that got damages) and then should be out of my hair completely. I am so happy to have them gone so I can work at my pace and not theirs. They will of course come back to pop in the last cabinet and the subcontracted out trades (HVAC, electrical and plumbing) will all be back but for short visits that won't interfere with things I will be working on.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #48 on: September 24, 2019, 11:24:55 AM »
Well here is the updated picture with the shims cut off, cabinet trim and hardware installed. The countertops were measured and I was told that they now have a backlog and they can't install them until Oct 10. For the last four months, they always said less than a week since they are quartz and in stock all the time. So... since I have three weeks to play with, I think I am going ahead and ordering my flooring so just as soon as the electrical and HVAC guy finish their ends, I can go ahead and install flooring while waiting for the countertop and appliances.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Kitchen Addition/Remodel
« Reply #49 on: September 25, 2019, 06:49:08 AM »
Thought I would throw up a photo of the outside progress. Got the porch step poured and the sidewalk reattached to the front of the house again. The rest of the carsiding came in and was installed as well as most of the siding. Ended up about three boards short. I finally decided that instead of stone veneer, I am just going to sheath the lower porch posts in a shaker design and paint white so I can do that weather permitting. I'm hoping by spring of next year, I will have the porch swing installed so I can sit out there and enjoy the lemonade for a change.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!