I have to start out by saying that living through a remodel is not for the faint of heart! One of the projects I knew I wanted to tackle first when we moved into our new house was our kitchen. I knew from the pictures and videos that it was dated. But once I stepped foot in the kitchen myself for the first time it was worse than I imagined. Looking back we probably would not have done the kitchen had we known the true scope of what was happening with the house. But such is life hindsight is 20/20. So began our journey of our first complete DIY kitchen renovation.
It was beyond the white 1990s appliance and baby blue raised sink that put me off. It felt like it had layers of bad repairs and personal preferences caked upon each other. The disposal which was connected to this strange small upper portion of the sink sounded like it would take off. The sink it was, well there were no words. I’m sure that the combined shock didn’t help my dislike of the kitchen. But I couldn’t wait to take everything in it out.
I have never in my life set my eyes upon a baby blue sink. I probably would have never fathomed that someone would make such a sink let alone buy such a sink. Kevin joked that he was going to sell it on eBay after he tore it out. He swore it had to be a one-of-a-kind. I say joke because it went right in the huge dumpster stationed in our driveway with all the other questionable things found within the kitchen.
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Related: New Kitchen Appliances
When I opened the dishwasher one day I was hit with the overpowering smell of stagnant filth. That’s the best way I can describe the putrid smell. Come to find out the sink was backing up into the dishwasher and just sitting there. The house was rented and vacant for who knows how long before we bought it. There was no amount of cleaning supplies that would take that smell out of the dishwasher. Let alone my compounding disdain for the kitchen I was ready to start dismantling everything within at that very moment.
I like to gauge my reaction to what Kevin thinks because he says I am a bloodhound. He explained my gift to one of the multiple HVAC technicians that we had out to this house to see if they could pinpoint the odor emanating from the upstairs. In very Kevin fashion, he let the poor man know that I would know he had to fart before he ever farted. (This is standard practice in this household.) Well, his immediate gag reflex from smelling the dishwasher reiterated for me that my absolute disgust was justified. I will say that was the last time the dishwasher was opened until it was torn out.
I had to start our kitchen renovation project somewhere because not starting meant dealing with ole baby blue!
Our journey of demolishing our kitchen began by getting bids from multiple companies and contractors. I was amazed at the range in price that I encountered. Knowing that a kitchen is an expensive project I had an idea as to what we wanted to spend. As well as how much a project of sorts should cost.
Well, the first quote I got was $40,000, and was told that this was them giving me a deal. Mind you our kitchen is not that big. As this contractor went on and on about his master carpenters and master painters I could tell Kevin had already passed the “hell no” stage and had checked out.
The next bid I got was from a local kitchen and home design company. They told me that if I wanted the “Lexus or Mercedes” level kitchen I was looking at $125,000. But if I was okay with the “Toyota or Honda” version I would be more in the range of $75,000. In hindsight, it was probably a blessing that Kevin wasn’t in toe for this one. I think he would have soiled himself on the spot.
At this point, I felt like a rebuilt salvage was going to be our speed.
With these figures in mind, we decided to see what Lowe’s and Home Depot had to offer. One of our old neighbors had used Home Depot and seemed to have a good experience. Their numbers sat in the range in which we were more comfortable at about $20,000 depending upon the finishes we chose. Though they were both the least expensive of all the options we had acquired, we still weren’t sold, to say the least.
I contacted another contractor who was more of a handyman who more or less did the work and we ordered and acquired all of the supplies. His services cost $13,000 and then there was the expense of the supplies which would have evened out to all of the other quotes.
After giving it some thought and knowing that we wanted to start this project as soon as possible with the least amount of financial pain, we decided to do it ourselves. We have done lots of home renovation projects in the past. Just never a whole kitchen but I knew Kevin could do it. I know it felt like a bit of a daunting task for him especially since we just moved to a new state and he was just starting a new job.
Related: Basement Remodel Project – The Rebirth of the Man Cave
Time to gather some inspiration and ideas!
After deciding that we were going to renovate the kitchen ourselves I dove into hours on Pinterest looking for ideas and inspiration. I knew that reality and some of the images that I was seeing were probably a little different. But still, it was a great reason to dream.
With all of my ideas fresh in my mind, I scoured the internet and found a company in Texas that sold the white shaker cabinets I wanted! They were much cheaper than the ones we priced out at Lowe’s and Home Depot. However there was a catch, the discount in price came with the need to assemble all of the cabinets. Assembling them ourselves meant they were shipped in flat boxes which were way cheaper shipping-wise.
Kevin agreed that he was willing to build the cabinets to save some money. However, after about the fifth cabinet, I think he regretted that decision.
Laying out a plan of action to tackle this kitchen project.
It took us some time to measure out the cabinets and decide how we wanted the kitchen to be laid out. We knew that we wanted to make more counter space. But we wanted to get rid of the peninsula because it blocked the access to the back door.
I inundated Kevin with all of my pictures and ideas of what I wanted the kitchen to look like. After some brainstorming, me talking and Kevin “listening”, we decided to add uppers and lowers to the left side of the kitchen. Initially, this area had floor-to-ceiling cabinets.
So once the minute details were squared away, as much as we could plan for, we ordered our cabinets. I was excited and nervous at the same time. The fact that we hadn’t seen them in person and were putting faith in the purchase was a little scary! We have already been through the sight-unseen experience which led us to where we are now.
With the makeshift kitchen in place, we were ready to demo! This is as close to glamping as I go on a day-to-day basis.
With our new cabinets on order and prayers said that they would live up to our expectations we moved the fridge into the formal dining room. Along with the kitchen table and everything else that was in the kitchen. At least the things that were not on the chopping block.
There wasn’t a lot because I had yet to unpack my kitchen things.
After moving the fridge, the only appliance we kept, it was apparent that someone had torn off the wallpaper and never finished the wall behind it.
As we started to dismantle the dated disaster that was the kitchen we realized there were three types of counters. The original vinyl countertops, white tile with green leaves, and then the current beige tiles.
No one ever took off what was there before instead they just added on top as they went. I was amazed to see the kitchen through the generations as we tore off layer by layer. When I think of a kitchen renovation I think of tearing down to build back up. This showed me that this is not always the case as we peeled back the layers.
I was excited to get my hands on the sledgehammer for the demolition phase! It felt amazing to unload some energy breaking down what was there for the promise of what was to be. Though, I will say it was a lot harder work than I thought. At some point, the satisfaction of the teardown wore off and the sore muscles set in. Which in itself was a reminder that I am no longer as young as I once was! Or that I was just that out of shape. Either way, I was ready to get this project moving.
The white tile on the kitchen floor was up first. Literally & figuratively!
We taped off the kitchen and dining room area with a roll of plastic sheeting and tape. It was super weird living in a house where one-half was inaccessible. At first, it was exciting because it was the proof of progress but as the months went on it got old quickly. I have to say that keeping the rooms completely sealed was quite the challenge. With all the dust swirling and the in and out between the rooms it seemed like a losing battle.
Kevin loves any project that requires having to buy new tools to complete. So he had researched the most efficient ways to get all the white tile floor up. Off to harbor freight he went to buy a hammer drill. Watching Kevin unbox a new tool is like watching a kid with a new toy. He tested the drill out on the entryway and of course it came up like butter. I think it was super satisfying for him to go through and tear all of the tiles up quickly. Especially since that was the easy part of the flooring.
Dust Here, Dust There, Dust Pretty Much Everywhere!
The white tile came up quite easily but the underlayment was another story. The amount of effort it took Kevin to get the underlayment of this tile up was long, arduous, and messy to say the least. It left a fine line between being grateful that he was doing the kitchen and my annoyance at the amount of dust this was producing.
I have to say that at this point the white tile is a sore subject for both of us. Not only is it awful looking with its streaks of beige throughout making it always look dirty. But there, is also the dark grout that gives the constant illusion of filth. At some point, the rest of the white tile in this house will be torn out. However, we have agreed that when it is time to take up the rest of the white tile throughout the house we will pay someone to come in and take up the underlayment.
The Kitchen Cabinets Were Next
Once the tile was up it was time to dismantle the cabinets. It was amazing breaking all the cabinets down and taking them out the back door piece by piece. Every step was one step closer to a new kitchen. Moving the cabinets out meant there was room for the new ones to be placed. For this part, I ordered a dumpster to be dropped off.
We still joke that it would be nice to have a revolving dumpster out front to throw out all of our trash. It was very convenient and the raccoons were not a problem with it. I mean I’m sure they jumped in there to take a look but there was no trash strewn everywhere in the yard.
When it came time to move the dishwasher out I was nowhere to be found. I knew that it was best for both of us if I wasn’t there. When Kevin came to ask me to help him carry it out I could tell by the look on his face that I wasn’t going to be happy. Well, my intuition was spot on. He had spilled some of the stagnant stank water on the floor.
I informed him he would need to get some bleach or something out to clean that up before he laid our fresh new flooring upon it. I was met with the “you are nuts” reaction and the illusion that the smell would dissipate. As though this was a tomato, tomato issue.
Even the best-laid plans can have unseen bumps in the road!
We made great progress at the beginning of our kitchen remodel project. But then we hit a standstill when we found out that there was an undisclosed leak in our fireplace and we were dealing with a mold outbreak throughout the house. That is for a whole other post though. Let’s just say that there was a decent amount of time that we had to be out of the house and had people working on the living room which put a stall on our kitchen remodel. Let alone at that point we were just sieving money like Niagra Falls.
During all this chaos that was ensuing the cabinets were finally delivered and sat patiently in our garage waiting to be built! It was somewhat frustrating for me that the cabinets were there but we couldn’t put them in yet. It felt like they were laying there in their neatly stacked boxes taunting me every time I went out in the garage.
