Daily Home Renovation Tips

Now that the new kitchen design has been locked down and contracts signed, what comes next?

For us it was the sequencing of all the tasks that needed to be completed BEFORE the new kitchen cabinets and counter tops were installed. These steps included the following:

• Demolish the old kitchen
  • removal of the counter tops
  • removal of the cabinets
  • removal of the flooring
  • removal of the single ceiling light
  • removal of the bulkheads (see previous post Home Renovation Tip - Remove Bulkheads for More Cupboard Space )
  • repairing the former bulkhead areas with drywall

• Preparation of the kitchen area
  • changing the plumbing in the basement ceiling for the relocated sink and dishwasher
  • significant electrical rewiring for new:
    • outlet in the new island
    • built-in microwave 
    • new exhaust fan above relocated stove
    • electrical switches for the new recessed, under-mount and pendant lighting
  • installing recessed ceiling lights and pendant lights
  • cleaning, twice, the ceiling with TSP solution (due to the nicotine from the prior owners who were very heavy smokers)
  • removing the wall paper and cleaning the walls, twice, again with TSP
  • painting primer on all the kitchen walls, including areas which would be covered by new cabinetry and back-splash
  • painting kitchen walls and ceiling
  • installation of hardwood floor (yes, before the cabinetry).

We wish we were able to find our digital camera during all of the above activity. Regrettably, we could not and therefore have no pictures.  

With the kitchen preparation tasks complete, we waited. And, waited some more. There can be anywhere between 6 weeks to 3 months lead time needed for new kitchen cabinets to be built, depending upon the capacity of the manufacturer and their workload.

We lived in the house for about 5 weeks with no kitchen. We don’t recommend it. However, we did not appreciate how long it took for all of the planning, design and manufacturing of the kitchen components. Hopefully you now do. For more on kitchen lead times please see this prior article: Home Renovation Tip - Lead Time for Kitchens.

Next, the day finally arrived for the kitchen installation to begin. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

To continue with our 12 part series of articles on our kitchen remodeling experiences, simply select this link to Part 5.