Fall Kitchen Remodel Means Holiday Dream Kitchen!
It’s time to start planning your Fall Kitchen Remodel! Big projects take time! Here are 8 things that require time in a kitchen remodel project!
Cabinet Delivery: Lead times for cabinets vary from none at all if you can work with the stock cabinetry at your local home improvement store, 4-6 weeks for semi-custom cabinetry from a cabinet dealer, or 6-8 weeks or longer if you work with a custom cabinet builder.
Demolition: If the kitchen is being completely remodeled, everything comes out! Demolition can be time consuming. Kitchen cabinetry is broken down if it’s not in good enough shape to be reused or donated. Flooring, especially tile, is labor intensive to take out. If you’re changing your lighting plan, either adding to it, or re-arranging, then drywall may need to be removed. You may decide to remove soffits, walls, or partitions to make the space larger and more efficient which also adds to the time needed for demolition.
Concealed Damage: The demolition phase of the kitchen remodel project is usually where any concealed damage is found and addressed which can prolong your project depending on the extend of the work that needs to be added. Undetected water leaks can cause damage to your subfloor, requiring removal of the plywood and replacement with new.
Carpentry / Drywall / Electrical Work: Changing your kitchen layout can require some specific trade work such as building new walls or half-walls, installing new drywall where soffits were removed or around a new lighting layout, or running new electrical for under / over-cabinet lighting. If you’re adding an island, code requires an electrical outlet be added to the island in many areas. All of these projects within the kitchen remodel project as a whole require multi-step processes and add time to the amount of time your kitchen is under construction.
Flooring Installation: Wood and tile flooring should be installed wall to wall before the cabinetry can be installed. This is to ensure that appliances fit correctly into the space allocated for them and that they can be removed without damage to the surrounding cabinetry, countertops or flooring should they need to be repaired or replaced.
Cabinet Installation: Installing cabinets correctly means making sure that they are level, plumb, and square without racking the cabinet boxes and destroying the
integrity of the cabinet and voiding your warranties. Shims are used to bring base cabinets level at the highest point of the floor and also to make sure cabinets are vertically straight. Houses settle and perfectly level floors and plumb, square walls are virtually non-existent in homes that have settled over time. Taking the time to correctly install the cabinets ensures that the moldings, countertops, and backsplash tiles can be installed correctly and efficiently.
Countertop Installation: Countertops can add several weeks to your kitchen remodel project, depending on what material you choose and where you purchase from. Laminate countertops can be purchased in stock from your local home improvement store, but colors and sizes are limited. If you need a “U-Shape” countertop or an island countertop, they’ll have to be special ordered and can take 1-4 weeks. Granite and quartz countertops must be field measured or templated by the fabricator before they can be cut, which requires that the base cabinets be installed prior to scheduling the measure. Stone countertops can usually be installed 1-4 weeks from the time of the template.
Backsplash Tile Installation and Appliance hook-up: Backsplash installation usually takes up the last few days of a kitchen remodel. The tile must be cut and adhered to the wall and allowed to set for a day before it can be grouted and cleaned. Once finished, finish items such as outlet covers can be installed and the faucet and appliances hooked up.
Check out our site for some great examples, then set up your free estimate! www.ddthometransformations.com/contact - or just phone 630-200-3945 to schedule!