I suppose that since you are visiting this page, you're here to see our kitchen project. This all started in the fall of 1999 when our electric range started to fail. Sherralyn had said that when it did, she wanted to switch to a gas range. We all know this story ... it starts with a simple request and snowballs!
So, we started a search for a new gas range. As it turned out, we found a nice one, but because we did not want to add an overhead vent system, the island was too small and needed expansion in order to accommodate the downdraft exhaust system we would need for the gas range. That was the start!
Right about that time, our dishwasher failed as well, so we bought a new stainless steel one. Sherralyn decided that she wanted to switch to stainless as the other pieces failed. The refrigerator has been on its last legs and we figured that it too would fail soon, so we decided to replace all of the appliances with this upgrade. As a result, we found and selected an appliance package. We also knew that the tile on the island would be destroyed as part of the upgrade, and we decided to replace it with granite.
We got some early quotes that put the appliance package and granite at around $20,000. Sherralyn was asking me about various design issues such as paint and granite colors and I suggested she go talk to a designer. That's when the fun really began.
We had a home equity line of credit of around $50,000 available to us. The appliances and granite were around $20,000 total, so we figured we had about $30,000 to work with for the balance of the kitchen remodel. We went to a local designed/remodeler (who shall remain nameless) and requested that they design a kitchen within that budget.
To make a long story short, the designer did what she wanted and not what we requested, and came up with a remodel that would've cost $97,000! After a battle, we ended up with the plans and based upon a recommendation of some close friends, we found another contractor that said that he should be able to implement the $97,000 plan within our budget.
We arrived home one Tuesday from work to find a message on our machine from our contractor. He said "I have a crew available and we'd like to come out tomorrow morning and begin the demolition! Uh oh, it was time to scramble! We didn't think we'd be beginning that quickly, so we hadn't moved the furniture and kitchenware out of the kitchen. We did that quickly and virtually dumped everything onto the living room floor, where it remained until the end of the remodel.
We've all heard stories about how contractors promise a quick schedule and one waits for a year to get things done. Well, our new contractor, Jim Schalich of Schalich Brothers Construction promised us a 6 week schedule. We thought to ourselves, "yeah, sure ... we'll see it when we see it." Demolition began as he said, and within a couple of days, the entire kitchen was down to the studs. That's when both Sherralyn and I thought, "Oh, God! What have we done!" I guess it was too late to back out then.
We did manage to discover something at that point (and I guess we're glad that we did). You see, behind one of the now exposed walls was some very badly designed ventilation for our dryer. That piping had become disconnected and the dryer has been venting lint into our walls for years. No wonder we've had breathing difficulties in this home! A little bid of sheet metal (and unexpected additional costs) later, we should have put an end to that problem.
We needed to meet with the custom cabinet maker and select our cabinets. We also needed to select the granite that we would put down on them. We managed to do both of those in the first week of the project. The cabinets are natural cherry wood and would be custom built. The granite slabs were selected, and they too needed to be fabricated into counter tops and back splashes. Again we thought, "there is no way this kitchen will be done within three months, let alone 6 weeks.
Within a couple more days, the new lighting and electrical work was done (thank heaven ... this kitchen has always been dark) and the sheetrock went up. Within another week, the custom cabinets were in. As of the 19th of March, the granite and almost all the appliances are in. The balance of the appliances have been delivered and we should be project complete by Friday!
Surprise, surprise! The six week estimate was almost dead on! It it weren't for external events such as backordered appliances, we would have made that schedule!
Within a couple more days, the new lighting and electrical work was done (thank heaven ... this kitchen has always been dark) and the sheetrock went up. Within another week, the custom cabinets were in. As of the 19th of March, the granite and almost all the appliances are in. The balance of the appliances have been delivered and we should be project complete by Friday!
Surprise, surprise! The six week estimate was almost dead on! It it weren't for external events such as backordered appliances, we would have made that schedule!