The kitchen is often the most cherished part of the home, where delicious meals are prepared and people often gather for fun talks. It is really important that you love your kitchen, so if you have problems with it, you should consider kitchen remodeling to make it the place you need it to be.
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Kitchen remodeling can be a huge task and you should be doing as much research as you can before starting such an endeavor. There are some basic steps of a kitchen renovation that you should be aware of. The 8 basic steps of kitchen remodeling are planning, budgeting, hiring a contractor, design choices, cleaning, demolition, construction, and moving back in. In this article, we will go over the basics of each step so that you can know what to expect from your kitchen remodel.
Planning
Of course, your first step, and something perhaps you are already starting, is to plan your remodel. To get kitchen remodeling ideas you can start by thinking of everything that you do not like about your current kitchen. Maybe it is hard to cook and have a helper chopping more vegetables at the same time, or the dishwasher is too far from the main cabinets.
Identifying the things that you do not like about your current kitchen can help make sure that your kitchen remodels will be an improvement for you. But you can not stop with identifying the problems, you also must come up with kitchen ideas of how to fix them.
A great thing to do at this point is also to look at kitchens that you like and try to imagine how you could make those features work in your home. It is important to be writing down your thoughts during the planning process, saving photos, and looking everywhere for inspiration.
Having a good plan to start will help ensure that you get the kitchen you want. It is usually not possible to redo a remodel, so you want to make sure that it goes exactly how you want.
Budgeting
Now that you have a plan, you can start to understand what your kitchen remodeling ideas are going to cost. If you have an idea of the materials you want to include and what kind of changes you will make, you can make a rough estimate of what the kitchen remodel cost.
Some general rules for a kitchen remodel are that the cabinets will be about 30%, countertops about 20%, basics 15%, appliances 15%, plumbing 10%, and ductwork 10%. These can all shift depending on the kind of remodel you are planning.
You want to find out how much you can afford and decide if you want to only use cash or if you will need to come up with some financing. You want to make the kitchen all you are dreaming of, because you will be spending a lot of time there. It is important not to spend too little and ends up with a bad kitchen remodel.
Many contractors are able to offer financing, or a home equity loan could help you get the kitchen that you desire. It is important to get your budget in mind before meeting with a contractor, as you will know what your limit for spending is and can move forward with that in mind.
Hire a Contractor
A kitchen remodel is a really huge task and something that most people should leave to the pros. Finding a good remodeling contractor will make your kitchen remodel go much easier and without fear of success.
When looking for a contractor it is good to ask friends and neighbors if they have any recommendations. Next, you can search online to see which companies have the best reviews. If you know a kitchen that you really love, you can ask who built it and you could use the same contractor.
Contractors will meet with you and go over some of the basics that you are planning for your kitchen and will give you ideas that you may not have been thinking about. From this meeting, the contractor will make a bid on how much the project will cost. Most contractors will guarantee their bid so that if there are cost overruns that are not because you made changes to the plan, the contractor will cover them.
At this point, you can use your budget to see if you can afford the bids and it is possible to change some features of the project to get the price more where you want it to be. You may even be able to work out a deal where you can do some of the work to save some money.
You should find a contractor who you enjoy talking with and who feels easy to work with. They will be working with you for several months or longer, so you need to be comfortable with them being around you and your home.
Design Choices
The contractor you choose will have some options of what your design will look like. They will also have some helpful kitchen renovation tips to share. You will have the opportunity to choose materials, colors, hardware, and brands.
At this point, the total bid might be flexible and you may be able to make things cheaper or more expensive based on what choices you make. You will have all the numbers in front of you to make a well-informed decision.
At the end of this step, you will have a pretty good idea of your kitchen remodeling designs and you will know exactly what it will cost.
Cleaning
Before any work starts you need to move everything out of your kitchen. If you will be renting another house while the remodel is happening you can just take everything there. If not you will have to find a space to store everything while the remodel is ongoing.
You don’t have to do a spotless clean, as most of the fixtures will be removed and dirtied, but you do need to get anything that you want to keep out of the kitchen.
Demolition
During this stage, all of the old kitchen will be torn down to make room for the new one. Demolition is a fairly easy step and something that most homeowners can do themselves if they choose.
At the end of demolition, everything will be thrown into a dumpster and hauled away. Some items from the kitchen can be reused by you or someone else. Some used building material stores will even help with demolition or hauling if you have valuable furnishings to donate.
After demolition, the kitchen will no longer look like a kitchen, it will just be a blank space ready for work to begin.
Construction
Now the real work of making your new kitchen starts. It will commence with framing any new walls. Then plumbing work and electrical can start. Next, the cabinets and counters can be installed, which can be a slow process depending on what type of cabinets they are. At the same time, there may be some painting work that needs to happen.
Next, come tile and countertops. Then the sink can be installed and finally the flooring. Then there will be a round of inspections to make sure that all of the work has been done up to building code. One of the last steps will be to bring in appliances and hook everything up.
The construction can be a lengthy process, with different crews coming in to do different jobs needing to coordinate this into a workweek. It will probably seem like it is taking forever, and this is a normal feeling to have during a kitchen remodel.
Move Back In
You can now start to get all of your things back into your kitchen and you can start cooking again. There could be a little break-in period where you could see some problems arise, and the contractor should offer to fix any build-related problems without more cost. Common problems are leaks in plumbing, hinges on cabinets not working, or some flaw in the countertops.
Once all issues are solved, you can enjoy your new kitchen for decades to come.
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