New Kitchens / Remodels

[spopepro]

Omg. Be there in two weeks. Send me an invite.

Just back from the cabinet / design meeting. Total man crush for the concept guy. He nailed the design and level of quality we need. This thing is a go.

Good / bad news is that my GC has a deal in place for Wolf so I need to relook at Wolf ranges or suck it up and pay full boat for Thermador. Anybody with some experience with their ranges of late chime in now!

I'd personally stay away from recent vintage wolf. Not first-hand, but second-hand frustrations and regrets reported.

[winmonster]

I over-researched kitchen appliances to the point that they were all considered crap with huge flaws no matter what the price tag was. We looked at Viking, Wolf, BlueStar, Capital, Miele and others. In the end, we went with Miele based on reputation, function and features. I really, really wanted open burners, but the Miele puts out a very respectable amount of heat for closed burners.

[Too Tall]

I over-researched kitchen appliances to the point that they were all considered crap with huge flaws no matter what the price tag was. We looked at Viking, Wolf, BlueStar, Capital, Miele and others. In the end, we went with Miele based on reputation, function and features. I really, really wanted open burners, but the Miele puts out a very respectable amount of heat for closed burners.

YOU ARE NO HELP ;) Yet, I'm agreeing with you ert Wolf. Might spec. an open fire pit and be done with it.

[Eric Siepmann]

You guys are way more up market than we are. We just got a package deal for the whole kitchen for all the appliances at a local place. We are renovating the upper unit in a two flat, so I kept telling the wife that when our son is school age, we might not stay in the city. So it will be a very nice rental for us if we keep the building. Took us forever to get a plumber to rough in the pipes in the kitchen and bath. Galv is now PVC and copper. I just want this to be over and move in.

EwS

[rwsaunders]

We just replaced a 16.5 yo KitchenAid dishwasher with another one. The soap dispenser died and the racks were starting to break and were corroded a bit. Replacement costs approached 70% of a new unit, so the old unit was sent to Construction Junction...somebody will use it as the stainless tub looked brand new and the motor worked well.

Wash report to follow, but Mrs. RW was so excited, that I received a text before the protective plastic was removed. It was a toss-up with a compatible Bosch unit but she favored some of the KitchenAid features and of course, there was a promotion going on. YMMV.

[winmonster]

You guys are way more up market than we are. We just got a package deal for the whole kitchen for all the appliances at a local place. We are renovating the upper unit in a two flat, so I kept telling the wife that when our son is school age, we might not stay in the city. So it will be a very nice rental for us if we keep the building. Took us forever to get a plumber to rough in the pipes in the kitchen and bath. Galv is now PVC and copper. I just want this to be over and move in.

EwS

I'm convinced that I will be sorely disappointed in the performance of Miele goods over the mid range LG appliances they are replacing. I hope I am wrong there! If nothing else, we save some space by having a microwave (speedoven) in the range. I'm more excited about the new plumbing, electrical and HVAC. I'm sensing a trend in residential construction: the plumbers! Damn them!

[rwsaunders]

^ remember, old plumbers never die...they just smell that way. Try that joke on for size with your plumber and see if he laughs. Wait...maybe not until he's done with your renovation.

[Eric Siepmann]

I'm convinced that I will be sorely disappointed in the performance of Miele goods over the mid range LG appliances they are replacing. I hope I am wrong there! If nothing else, we save some space by having a microwave (speedoven) in the range. I'm more excited about the new plumbing, electrical and HVAC. I'm sensing a trend in residential construction: the plumbers! Damn them!

I now understand how these projects get pricey. I could have spent so much money. Good to hear that plumbers everywhere are busy. Craftsman should be and get paid. Maybe a career change is in order. Probably make more and be happier...

[joosttx]

You got the one with the fancy handle!

We just replaced a 16.5 yo KitchenAid dishwasher with another one. The soap dispenser died and the racks were starting to break and were corroded a bit. Replacement costs approached 70% of a new unit, so the old unit was sent to Construction Junction...somebody will use it as the stainless tub looked brand new and the motor worked well.

Wash report to follow, but Mrs. RW was so excited, that I received a text before the protective plastic was removed. It was a toss-up with a compatible Bosch unit but she favored some of the KitchenAid features and of course, there was a promotion going on. YMMV.

[rwsaunders]

You got the one with the fancy handle!

Because my wife is so special.

[Too Tall]

Now we begin. Everything except the trades are PIF and demo starts in two weeks. We are fortunate that the addition has a full working kitchen so we won't skip a beat during the mayhem.

It is a fairly simple galley kitchen with a very large cooking/eating island and alot of storage. Dark granite countertops, kitchenaide range/fridge/dw, no microwave, Krauss (KHF200-30 farmhouse single bowl SS sink) and reuse a real nice Grohe single hole kitchen faucet that I rebuilt this year. Cabinets are from Canada, thanks Grant ;)

[Too Tall]

Fantastic design Monsterman. This beautifully fits the neighborhood and your trades are doing an amazing job. This is going to be a real home to enjoy.

Toots, I missed this (and the rest of the forum as well as actually riding my bike) with work and all. You need to check out C&D Home Improvement if you have not already committed. Here is my crappy little rambler as it stands now.
Attachment 85384
The kitchen is nothing but studs right now, but we just got the permit to start insulating and closing walls. If you are interested, you can come see what they are doing and make the introductions.

[TMB]

Well, the electrical is done. The gas is done. The plumbing is done.

Drywall is almost finished and the new appliances are sitting in the garage.

It is all rather exciting if I concentrate on not thinking about the cheques yet to be written.

[winmonster]

It is all rather exciting if I concentrate on not thinking about the cheques yet to be written.

Truer words have never been spoken.

[TMB]

Final pricing for the quartz came in today ..... $5,000 less than I had estimated.

Did someone say "new bike"?

[Matthew Strongin]

Final pricing for the quartz came in today ..... $5,000 less than I had estimated.

Did someone say "new bike"?

It would be irresponsible not to get a new bike after all those savings.

[roseyscot]

Now we begin. Everything except the trades are PIF and demo starts in two weeks. We are fortunate that the addition has a full working kitchen so we won't skip a beat during the mayhem.

It is a fairly simple galley kitchen with a very large cooking/eating island and alot of storage. Dark granite countertops, kitchenaide range/fridge/dw, no microwave, Krauss (KHF200-30 farmhouse single bowl SS sink) and reuse a real nice Grohe single hole kitchen faucet that I rebuilt this year. Cabinets are from Canada, thanks Grant ;)

TT, push that fridge to the right and add another cabinet width worth of counter top between the sink and the fridge. You can not have too much cabinet space there, I promise. My layout is similar with only dishwasher and single width cabinet between fridge and sink and I really wish I had pushed my fridge by another 24 inches. I had the space to do it, just like you.

[Too Tall]

K

TT, push that fridge to the right and add another cabinet width worth of counter top between the sink and the fridge. You can not have too much cabinet space there, I promise. My layout is similar with only dishwasher and single width cabinet between fridge and sink and I really wish I had pushed my fridge by another 24 inches. I had the space to do it, just like you.

Terrific suggestion R. What you can not see is that the remainder of the room is our living room. If we did move the fridge, visually, the space becomes confusing. As it is I will build overhead bulkheads aside the island hood to help define boundaries. The desk you see on far right is the one "kitchen" elment which ties into our current living room and will have a dark cherry finish different from the white kitchen cabinets. I will take a before picture and post it, you'll see.

[roseyscot]

K

Terrific suggestion R. What you can not see is that the remainder of the room is our living room. If we did move the fridge, visually, the space becomes confusing. As it is I will build overhead bulkheads aside the island hood to help define boundaries. The desk you see on far right is the one "kitchen" elment which ties into our current living room and will have a dark cherry finish different from the white kitchen cabinets. I will take a before picture and post it, you'll see.

Here's a picture of ours. I wish I shoved another 18 or 24 inch wide cabinet to the left of the sink so we would have had more counter space. You can see it would mean eating into the family room space (the wall to the left of the fridge is 14 feet I think), but if I did it over, I'd be ok with that. The family room wall is in the process of becoming built in book shelves with an electric fireplace insert under the tv

You could make that desk narrower, with drawers on one side only and still tie it in. Food for thought before it's too late. Oh, and every designer and contractor will tell you, the fridge is the worst appliance. Almost always a pain to locate it without disrupting something else

[winmonster]

Cabinets are going in, and we picked our countertops today. A little statement-ish. I hope it works.
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