The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: matimeo on December 09, 2014, 09:45:15 PM
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I'm decently handy with tools and such, but no real experience doing a complete kitchen demotion and reboot. Our original cabinets from 1969 started falling apart and various parts of the kitchen were giving way. So instead of pay someone to do it, I tackled the project myself. Included tearing out a half wall and soffits, so as to change the kitchen layout and make it more family friendly. The soffits ended up being the biggest hassle since the electrician who wired the house decided to not only pass every wire in the house through a soffit instead of over it, they also routed the main supply cable through it.
Anyways, we battled through all the surprises, learning how to deal with electrical surprises, plumbing surprises and carpentry surprises. The countertops go in this Friday and the floor hopefully by then if not shortly after. It has taken every Saturday since Halloween and six vacation days, but the end is in sight. We ended up doing the whole shebang, including granite counters and new cabinets for under $10,000. And a little advance planning and credit card churning earned us some awesome rewards.
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Pictures? :)
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I'll put some pictures up after I get the countertops in. I took lots of before pictures, and there's quite a contrast.
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Not quite finished, but this gives you an idea of the change:
Before:
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FPyhQe1Jcto/VIiiRv7WFPI/AAAAAAAAmvc/kgg8w7xowho/w960-h720-no/541555_10152405303481437_1854724241961095671_n.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D87iW6pUcAs/VIiiRafw4EI/AAAAAAAAmvU/8XFH2gV1Ij0/w960-h720-no/10169222_10152405303476437_6926022274227171934_n.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/c2JwPExXiygKB5SOvu7G_BWwJooMCnphneTFNPseFh0k=w155-h207-p-no)
During:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10431464_10152405320701437_5780493507535935981_n.jpg?oh=a7cf2d1053a00c436f4eec08ae696f67&oe=5513A278&__gda__=1425693550_51b3a4964c03ac18f85aae49ff00d721)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/604117_10152405320721437_2080013519670815620_n.jpg?oh=e43a0ea2d4eba8bb0cce2656c44a5207&oe=55144290&__gda__=1426029337_532c91bde3af90d7b22b3ff9548b3b08)
Almost done:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FGcKac3Z9yQ/VHponfUs87I/AAAAAAAAmiQ/dJZE-M3Lsnc/w1113-h835-no/20141129_164427.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YHV5jE-uviI/VHpomquDvaI/AAAAAAAAmiE/JN8IeR6oh5I/w626-h835-no/20141129_164416.jpg)
You'll notice the new layout and lack of soffits gives a lot more cabinet space without really sacrificing any counter space. It also completely opens the room. Before if the refrigerator was open you couldn't get into the kitchen. With five kids running around that becomes a hazard zone.
I'll post a few more pictures after countertops, floors and trim are in.
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Nice work! There is a resemblance (in the "before" pictures) to our current kitchen - nice to see what can be done (particularly with soffit removal).
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Yes, the soffit removal can be done, but it can also be a ton of work and stress. If I had poked some holes in them to see what was inside before tearing them out, I might have changed my mind. Luckily it was all electrical and no plumbing or anything. I don't think I slept much that night after removing them.
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This looks great! I want to spruce up my kitchen by myself - change the backsplash and counters. I would be interested in seeing yours!
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This looks great. Good job!!
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This should totally be in the DIY forum too-fabulous remodel by the way!
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Wow! Looks much nicer!