New Kitchens / Remodels

[Matthew Strongin]

NYC is a nightmare when it comes to installation and removal. There are so many people with so little knowledge of how things are supposed to work or be installed and they have so much money that installers get used to doing a crap job and walking out of the apartment without any sort of scrutiny. Finding a good installer, even if you are willing to pay triple just for quality, is very very difficult. And when you do find a good one, they are hard to get because they are so busy. A good building with relatively high maintenance costs that includes a top notch facilities supervisor and staff is golden. The first year we lived in NYC, we rented in a building where the deliveries of appliances etc. were taken by the supervisor, and he and his guys brought it up to the apartment and did the installation. Immaculate work. They were totally invested in the building, and they didn't want any surprises - leaks, fires, burst pipes, electrical shorts, etc. - because they recognized cheap ass work now meant headaches later.

Miami is very similar. Finding someone who will show up, let alone do a good job, is a chore. It took me 4 companies, with deposits and refunds each time, to find a company that would replace our front door. The ones that finally did it did such a bad job that our painter/handyman had to basically redo the installation.

[davids]

I think this can be said for the entire NYC metro area.

We needed to gut renovate our master bath in NJ (typical 1940s center hall colonial with plaster walls and mud set tiles which means 3" of concrete under all tile work) so we chose a craftsperson who was booked out 6 months and had impeccable references. This was in 2007 when most other contractors had no work and many were going out of business.

Did he cost a great deal more? Yes.
Did he make the bathroom look like it could have been from the 40s? Yes.
Was it worth every penny and more? Yes.
Did we use him for other work? Yes
Did we ever use anyone else? No.

Beautiful.

We're cultivating JP contractors now. We know we will be queuing up a lot of work over the next few years, and want reliable, high-quality contractors and craftspeople.

[Too Tall]

Too Tall's List.com

[NYCfixie]

Home Depot kitchen installed by previous owners:

Ceramic floor tile was installed over the linoleum which was over another layer of linoleum which was over the original slat wood floor - Can you say cracked tiles that also squeak?

Cabinets with white mylar crap over press-board - Can you say white finish peels off and cabinets fall apart when a drop of water touches them? How about that none of the line up so none of the drawers or doors work properly and the only way to fix it would to rip them all out and install correctly

How about romex electrical lines that run behind the sink, in front of the wall, and over drawers on the right (not seen in picture) rather than installed behind the walls before the cabinets were installed?

Where does the stove exhaust vent you ask? To the outside? How silly of you to think that. Of course it would vent into the cabinet above the microwave so it gets filled with crap and smells.

Was the original plaster/wallboard removed and cement board installed first and then the back-splash tiles installed over it? Of course not, why do that when you can add a second layer of regular wallboard and use the wrong mastic so the tiles will only stay on for a few years.

How about the electrical outlets? Are the electrical boxes properly secured to studs when they were updated? Of course not. When you double up wall board you should get an electrical box extender to meet code but it is so much cheaper and easier to just secure the cover plate to the tile with tile grout that cracks over time so the boxes fall out.

All Home Depot contracted services. (aka lipstick on a pig, peel back the cover and you always see the terrible/unsafe/shoddy/crappy work)


If we stayed in the house a few more years we would have gut renovated the kitchen. We just fixed and made legal/safe the really bad stuff as a temporary fix.

[NYCfixie]

Beautiful.

We're cultivating JP contractors now. We know we will be queuing up a lot of work over the next few years, and want reliable, high-quality contractors and craftspeople.

When working with older homes IMHO it is important to be respectful of their age and the deign themes that are period correct.

Subway tile that is hand cut that gives more depth and originality (less than 5% extra)

Black and white floor tiles with medium grey grout that keeps it period correct (no extra cost)

Taking six months to find the inset ceramic toilet paper holder that nobody makes anymore, is a pain to install even for an experienced craftsperson, and does not fit current million sheet toilet paper rolls that are all stores stock these days but you know is correct for the space. (no cost but can really delay a job).


Good luck with all the work and enjoy the new JP home.

[dgaddis]

Got our stove installed yesterday. The blower under the old stove did in fact go through the floor to some ductwork, so I covered the hole, and had to shim up for the supports for the new stove. The old one was a drop in unit and the tile was put in around it. Lastly, I had to trim 1/4" off the countertop (which is a laminate thankfully). The wife was pretty stoked about the extra fine layer of sawdust covering the entire kitchen.

Bit it's in!





Now I just need to borrow the neighbors hand trucks and we'll get the refrigerator in today, hopefully.

[Too Tall]

After report!

The kitchen is outtasight. We have been enjoying it. The massive island was a good call.

Wanted to say something positive about the KitchenAid dual fuel range we decided on. Get it. If you are at all torn or swayed by some of the other "PRO" ranges your worries are over. This thing rocks. Easy to clean and super easy to operate.

Here are the particulars:
Kitchenaid 6-Inch 6-Burner Dual Fuel Freestanding Range, Commercial-Style

(KDRS467VSS Stainless Steel)

[Mabouya]

I hope I'm not the only one on this forum who's such a Philistine:

1) I can't even remember the last time I cooked something using my stove-top. I'd say it's been at least five years.

2) In the twelve or so years I've owned my house the oven has probably been used half a dozen times, and most of those were when my sister was visiting.

3) Microwaves RULE !!!

[Too Tall]

It's not your fault....

I hope I'm not the only one on this forum who's such a Philistine:

1) I can't even remember the last time I cooked something using my stove-top. I'd say it's been at least five years.

2) In the twelve or so years I've owned my house the oven has probably been used half a dozen times, and most of those were when my sister was visiting.

3) Microwaves RULE !!!

[caleb]

I ran across this little story about Julia Child's kitchen, and I thought some of you might enjoy it: This is Julia Child’s kitchen. See why it’s perfect. - Vox

Spoiler: It's all business.

[benkiel]

The polaroids of where everything goes are awesome.

[xjoex]

Why for the love of god do the granite places not have prices on the slabs? Talk about a time waster.

-Joe

[Too Tall]

It is a hustle. You pick the slab and your installer decides what it's worth. Truly.
Why would you want anything other than absolute black ;) ?

Why for the love of god do the granite places not have prices on the slabs? Talk about a time waster.

-Joe

[winmonster]

Yep, a hustle. For our counters, we went through our cabinet guy which cut out much of the BS. Any time we dealt with someone who wasn't aware of us and what we were doing, it was painful. Same with tile. They are accustomed to hiding behind the person quoting a job and fear exposing their margins.

[roseyscot]

Yep, a hustle. For our counters, we went through our cabinet guy which cut out much of the BS. Any time we dealt with someone who wasn't aware of us and what we were doing, it was painful. Same with tile. They are accustomed to hiding behind the person quoting a job and fear exposing their margins.

Keep in mind with granite/marble at least, you're fabricator is buying the whole slab even if you're only using 2/3 of it and the granite places very likely have different pricing depending on who the buyer/fabricator is. If you knew it cost the fabricator $2k while you're paying $5k for the installed product, that's not very helpful or satisfying, is it? We did honed jet mist granite on the sides and a carrera marble island. When we were shopping around the various granite warehouses, our fabricator agreed to set a price and let us find the slabs that met our aesthetic needs. He may or may not have sacrificed some margin as a result, but we were happy and he's received a bunch of referrals as a result.

[TMB]

I hope I'm not the only one on this forum who's such a Philistine:

1) I can't even remember the last time I cooked something using my stove-top. I'd say it's been at least five years.

2) In the twelve or so years I've owned my house the oven has probably been used half a dozen times, and most of those were when my sister was visiting.

3) Microwaves RULE !!!

The new kitchen in Casa MrsTMB does not have a microwave. Perfect.

[Too Tall]

Microwave shaming. Hmmm.

[Mabouya]

Not using microwave technology reminds of the father of a college buddy of mine who in the early 1980's, after I explained to him the power of computer networks, said that they didn't provide him with anything he couldn't get with a phone call or two.

Julia Child on cooking tools:

In The Way to Cook, Child wrote, “I wouldn’t be without my microwave oven, but I rarely use it for real cooking. I like having complete control over my food — I want to turn it, smell it, poke it, stir it about and hover over its every state. …” Child used her microwave for defrosting and melting chocolate and butter and even baking potatoes (she loved baked potatoes with lots of butter).

Julia Child Loved Science but Would Hate Today’s Food | Smart News | Smithsonian

(I'll be the first to admit that I don't do "real" cooking, but much of what I eat is fresh or frozen veggies, which don't require cooking anyway.)

[TMB]

Microwave shaming. Hmmm.

No,

Just that when we came to re-do the kitchen and actually started looking at what we do it became apparent that neither one of us ever really used the microwave unless it was to steam some veggies at the last minute sort of thing.

Based on how much room it takes up and how much we do not use it, we just made the decision that it wouldn't affect either of our lives if we didn't have one. So we don't.

[Too Tall]

You know I'm teasing?

No,

Just that when we came to re-do the kitchen and actually started looking at what we do it became apparent that neither one of us ever really used the microwave unless it was to steam some veggies at the last minute sort of thing.

Based on how much room it takes up and how much we do not use it, we just made the decision that it wouldn't affect either of our lives if we didn't have one. So we don't.