Kitchen Remodel

[just]

Explain like I'm 5?

We like our kitchen but it needs a little love. The cabinets are showing their wear (inside more than out - I think she replaced the doors since the install), we don't like the flooring, we don't like the worksurface.

We replaced all of our appliances over the last year out of necessity, and want to keep those - but they're standard sizes

It's pretty small and galley-shaped, so we don't have a lot of options for moving things around and I think the previous owner did a great job making those decisions. 

We would like to add a vented extractor fan and under floor heating. 

Where do we start? Our friends suggested an architect and then a contractor, another recommended a kitchen design firm who could do everything ... 

We're not interested in doing almost anything ourselves.

Any advice on how to start?

[libbygrl109]

We are not going to be making any structural changes, so we are going with a kitchen design firm to come up with a layout and help us with all of the design choices. They will also do the install. The other option was to go with a firm that does the design, along with sell us the cabinets and counters. We would have had to find our own contractor to do the work. DH was drawn to the all-in-one firm because it would cut down on the extra legwork we’d have to do to get everything set up.

We plan to demo everything except the floor (our flooring guy will do that). We have hated our kitchen for 15 years, and are looking forward to taking a sledge hammer to it.

[konapoppy]

I wouldn’t engage an architect for something so small if you aren’t changing the footprint at all. Just my two cents. I would go with a kitchen firm or a contractor directly. We aren’t changing our footprint but are doing a facelift - new floors, countertops, sink and cooktop, backsplash and painting our cabinets. The counter tops are subbed out, but our contractor is doing all of the other work. I just picked out the materials I wanted.

[just]

Apr 1, 2021 19:16:35 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

We are not going to be making any structural changes, so we are going with a kitchen design firm to come up with a layout and help us with all of the design choices. They will also do the install. The other option was to go with a firm that does the design, along with sell us the cabinets and counters. We would have had to find our own contractor to do the work. DH was drawn to the all-in-one firm because it would cut down on the extra legwork we’d have to do to get everything set up.

We plan to demo everything except the floor (our flooring guy will do that). We have hated our kitchen for 15 years, and are looking forward to taking a sledge hammer to it.

This is really helpful ... when is yours getting started? Did you have a long wait because of either COVID supply issues, or increased demand because of COVID?

Do you think a kitchen design team are the best to advise on underfloor heating and vented extractor fans? It feels that even though we're not changing the structure of the kitchen those two things could require significant structural changes to the house - or maybe a good design firm will just tell us that it's outside their scope if it is ...

[libbygrl109]

We haven’t started yet - hoping for this summer. When we originally started planning, there was about a 4-5 month backlog of projects for them (signing in August would have meant starting in January). I am glad we waited - it allowed me to do a bit more research, and now we’ll be able to run hardwoods into our main kitchen area.

As for the floors, they may recommend that you consult someone who specializes in that type of system. I know that for us, our kitchen designer flat out said that we would need to find our own hardwood person because that was something they definitely didn’t do.

[Susie]

Apr 1, 2021 19:21:38 GMT -5 just said:

Apr 1, 2021 19:16:35 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

We are not going to be making any structural changes, so we are going with a kitchen design firm to come up with a layout and help us with all of the design choices. They will also do the install. The other option was to go with a firm that does the design, along with sell us the cabinets and counters. We would have had to find our own contractor to do the work. DH was drawn to the all-in-one firm because it would cut down on the extra legwork we’d have to do to get everything set up.

We plan to demo everything except the floor (our flooring guy will do that). We have hated our kitchen for 15 years, and are looking forward to taking a sledge hammer to it.

This is really helpful ... when is yours getting started? Did you have a long wait because of either COVID supply issues, or increased demand because of COVID?

Do you think a kitchen design team are the best to advise on underfloor heating and vented extractor fans? It feels that even though we're not changing the structure of the kitchen those two things could require significant structural changes to the house - or maybe a good design firm will just tell us that it's outside their scope if it is ...

I would use a kitchen design firm like libbygrl109 said.  They usually do both kitchens and baths, my FIL used to do that professionally.  I don't think what you're talking about is outside their typical scope at all.  When we did our bath reno, we had to move forced air heat ducts to accommodate plumbing in a new layout configuration, and that was fully in their wheelhouse.  We also did radiant heat under the tile floor.

[aprilsails]

A full service kitchen design and contracting firm could do everything you need.

Alternately you could just find a contractor, get a price for labour, and then go to local custom cabinetry shops. They would help you develop your cabinet layout and verify it against the dimensions of your space and your appliances. You could then shop around for your countertops and tiles. This option would give you maximum flexibility in terms of sourcing your materials (could do IKEA cabinets or high end, etc) but will involve more legwork in terms of finding options and selecting finishes and price points yourself. If you have a very tight budget this is what I would do. This is basically how we did all renovations for our old house (ps- don’t get white IKEA cabinets, they sometimes yellow). This also lets you choose exactly what you want. At our new build we were limited by our kitchen designers supply contracts, which annoyed us because they didn’t have any tiles available in the style we wanted for the backsplash, and we also struggled with the available paint options for the cabinets. Their upgrade styles were mega additional $$$.

[penguingrrl]

Apr 1, 2021 19:21:38 GMT -5 just said:

Apr 1, 2021 19:16:35 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

We are not going to be making any structural changes, so we are going with a kitchen design firm to come up with a layout and help us with all of the design choices. They will also do the install. The other option was to go with a firm that does the design, along with sell us the cabinets and counters. We would have had to find our own contractor to do the work. DH was drawn to the all-in-one firm because it would cut down on the extra legwork we’d have to do to get everything set up.

We plan to demo everything except the floor (our flooring guy will do that). We have hated our kitchen for 15 years, and are looking forward to taking a sledge hammer to it.

This is really helpful ... when is yours getting started? Did you have a long wait because of either COVID supply issues, or increased demand because of COVID?

Do you think a kitchen design team are the best to advise on underfloor heating and vented extractor fans? It feels that even though we're not changing the structure of the kitchen those two things could require significant structural changes to the house - or maybe a good design firm will just tell us that it's outside their scope if it is ...

Either a kitchen design firm or an independent interior designer would be your best bet. My mother is an interior designer who began her career working in kitchen and bath firms and eventually moved into high end spacial planning (basically the interior layout and architecture) for mostly residential properties. She handles everything about the interior planning and only consults with an architect to sign off on load bearing structures (her degree is in architecture, but she never got her license, so a licensed architect needs to sign off on structural changes).

[mrsukyankee]

When we did a kitchen redesign without any need for structural change (aka our last kitchen remodel), we just hired a kitchen company to do it all. They dealt with the supplies needed as well as the guys to fit it and do electrical, gas and plumbing. It was super easy and went better than any other kitchen remodel we did before. If you are putting in flooring/underfloor heating, you can hire people who would work with the kitchen company in terms of timing. At the most, you might want to hire a contractor who pulls all these people together.