KawRider
Expert Class
Posts: 329
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posted January 19, 2004 09:12 AM
Way O/T- Kitchen remodeling advise?
I know there are some Home Improvement GURUs here. I just bought a new (Old) house, and I am looking at gutting the entire kitchen and installing new (in order):
1. Flooring (will be contracted out)
2. Cabinets/sinks/appliances (I will do)
3. Countertops (will be contracted out)
I will also be installing new vanitys and toilets/fixtures in the bathrooms.
My post is just to seek advise/info on some good sources to learn how to mount cabinets.
Thanks,
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Tim
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Otis
Needs a job
Captain Kickstand
Posts: 3028
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posted January 19, 2004 12:31 PM
Mounting kitchen cabinets is easy Tim, don't make it seem more difficult than it is. For lower cabinets you need to find the HIGHEST point on the floor running along the wall. From that point you want measure up to where the top of your cabinets/counter top will be and use a level and draw a pencil line on the whole length of the wall. This is the line that you will secure the lower cabets to the wall, shimming the low spots of cabinets that won't sit on the floor level with the line. Just pop some square head (to avoid stripping) screws into the studs (you did mark the studs with a stud finder first right?) two at the top and two at the bottom of each cabinet. Please make sure you leve the front and back of the cabinets too with shims before attaching. Now for the top cabinets determine the distance you want from the counter top to the bottom of the top cabinets and again use the level and draw a line. USe this line to arrange the bottom of the top cabets and zip in somje screws into the stubds. Piece of cake.
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Otis
Needs a job
Captain Kickstand
Posts: 3028
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posted January 19, 2004 12:33 PM
Oh, and don't forget you may have to scrib the side face frame pieces if your walls aren't perfectly verticle, not that that is a big deal though.
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It's a free country brother
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TurboBlew
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posted January 19, 2004 02:49 PM
You didnt say if the how much money you have to spend...lol.
Stay away from Home Depot or Lowes... they are a ripoff.
What kinda flooring?
Old houses can suck when you start tearing stuff out. Plan on spending 20% more than alotted... as you'll run into 50 other jobs that need to be done.
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted January 19, 2004 02:53 PM
yeah, here's some advise: just tear the whole house down now and save urself some time!
just about every reno i'v ever seen has started out similar to what u'r proposing and ended up in a completely new house, with the _possible_ exception of part of teh foundation being reused (with additions). wonder if there has ever been a reno in history that came in on budget? 
TB, don't know about down there, but here the Home Depot's are pretty good. unless u'r in teh biz and know exactly who to ask, u generally wont find much better prices.
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KawRider
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posted January 19, 2004 06:10 PM
Thanks for the replies-
The house is actually in pretty good shape. It is only 25 years old, and needs a new kitchen and flooring. Ive turned a lot of wrenches on cars and motorcycles... it's just that this is my first house, and Ive never had the opportunity to work on a home before. Ive found some web sites with directions and I have family members with experiance to gather advice from also (too bad none of them live near me). I have enough money to buy all the cabinets, and install them myself, and enough to contract out the countertops and flooring. We will have tile flooring put in (SoCal).
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Tim
Black ZX-14
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your car is slow
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posted January 19, 2004 08:48 PM
I just finished mine 
Fun project...just never ends!
I would however like to know if there is a product that would cover over an existing countertop without having to replace it. The existing stuff is old green/white flake linoleum...and im not really keen on rippin it out and replacing it. What about some sort of bedliner kinda stuff? how about an epoxy of some sort that would "paint" on to cover it?
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TurboBlew
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posted January 20, 2004 03:30 AM
frEEK, not exactly "in" the business... but my company does 10-20 remodels a year. Believe me... we've shopped everywhere for cabinets. Even with the 10% off Lowes or HD offer occasionally... there are better deals. Im talking complete cabinets/countertops.
We priced some this year.. and for low grade cabinets at HD it was $40 linear ft.(uninstalled) A cabinet specialty shop charged us $28 with install for mid level cabinets.
Its amusing to phone in a $9,000 order for materials to HD or Lowe's and show up with my 10% off coupon...hehe.
quote:
...
TB, don't know about down there, but here the Home Depot's are pretty good. unless u'r in teh biz and know exactly who to ask, u generally wont find much better prices.
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bigju
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posted January 20, 2004 02:11 PM
When I did my kitchen floor I took all the old tile out to see the sub floor and not to have to many layers. hen I got to the sub floor I found part of it was rotten from a drain problem the previous owners didn't fix. So I was able to replace the section that needed replacing. Like turbo said expect the unexpected when dealing with an old house. Your about to learn a whole lot so sit back and enjoy "Perfect excuse to buy more tools"
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted January 20, 2004 03:15 PM
actually that makes sense TB. there just seems to be a better atmosphere of competition down there than there is in canada, so here they're usually hard to beat IME. but there are defintiely better deals to be found if u look enough. i'll never understand why things in teh US are almsot always cheaper. makes no sense to me.
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fish_antlers
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The Truth is Out There
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posted January 20, 2004 03:48 PM
my advise would be, unless you are in a huge panic to fix the place.. to wait a year.... during that year do some research.. travel a bit.. buy some mags from overseas... you'll be amazed at how many little things you'll notice in other kitchens, hotels, lobbies etc.... dont confine yourself to buying into generic countertops, floors etc... you can make your own if you think about it enough... we did ours countertops out of concrete... they look great... you could do stainless... wood... stone... glass... anyways... the point is that the solutions that Lowes or Home Depot will try to sell you arent always the only answer... waiting and thinking about what yer gonna do is my biggest piece of advise...
oh yeah... and you can try masking tape on the ground to mark out new countertop shapes, islands etc.. a good simulation of what your new space will be like..... see if the traffic patterns werk fer ya... I'm 1/2 way through my sencond kitchen .
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KawRider
Expert Class
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posted January 21, 2004 06:13 PM
Fish-
Thanks for the advise. I was going to try to get it done soon.... but I may just put it on hold for a bit. If I wait I can probably get my Dad to come out to cali and help (he is a builder). Would you mind sending me a few pics of the concrete countertops? How did you make them?
Thanks!
my email is timmy_larsen@yahoo.com
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Tim
Black ZX-14
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faukker
Parking Attendant
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posted January 21, 2004 06:38 PM
Just got mine finished last year. Did all of it myself except for the granite counter top. I went ahead and added a new breaker box and some new circuits for the wall oven and cabinet depth refrigerator. If you purchase the cabinets finished and are going to mount them yourself, make sure you mark all of the studs, take the doors off and do the top cabinets first. There is a multitude of books on this subject and it is all about how square you get them. I did ceramic tile (500') through the kitchen and down the hall and into the entry. Ceramics are fairly easy it's just heavy work. It took me 3 months to get the kitchen done, oh and one other thing, I hope you have a strong marriage and a deep pocketbook.
Plan plan plan...cheers, Todd
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TurboBlew
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posted January 23, 2004 03:57 AM
Therein lies the problems with DIY'ers. The long wait.
In 1 week, we'd be finished.
Im continually amazed at how quick my company can turn a project around. Once we have a signed contract.. completion is within 12 days. Did a final change order for a customer yesterday... A $25,000 contract... ended up costing him $43k.
Of course when you do a "tear out".. you find all kinds of problems, even in newer places. This guy wanted an eat in kitchen with "lots of light". Well his skylights were leaking, roof needed to be replaced, sheeting redone, new drywall on 18' ceilings, double knock down, new tile, sliding glass doors converted to french doors, new high hats, paint, cabinets, reverse osmosis water system, etc.
quote:
.... It took me 3 months to get the kitchen done, oh and one other thing, I hope you have a strong marriage and a deep pocketbook.
Plan plan plan...cheers, Todd
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kitesurfer
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posted January 26, 2004 07:21 AM
people "in the business' will advise against home depot and lowes, but they have the connections to distributors that you and i don't--AND...their not spending their own money! MY OPINION is based on what i have personally done. Home depot has it all and can answer most of your questions. As for the counter tops resurfacing question...take off the old covering and lay on ceramic tile is one way. Another is to strip off the existing counter top and cover with new formica-- Installs with contact cement. you can rough cut it with a razor knife and straight edge and finish the edges and corners with a file.
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TurboBlew
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posted January 26, 2004 03:22 PM
kite... if someone local to me wanted a "hookup" Id be more than glad to give em the # of our subs and craftsman. Lowes and HD are a consumer tourist trap for cabinets, appliances, and countertops. They can dazzle you with expensive displays, but at $40 linear ft... the #s dont lie. An educated consumer will see the difference immediately.
There are some things the pay really well for DIY'ers. Some things don't.
I can lay tile.. but I use a guy that lays tile all day long for $1.50 sq ft with thinset included. Its not worth my time to lay it when my sub does it for so cheap.
It comes down to how much your time is worth.
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kitesurfer
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posted February 03, 2004 11:24 AM
agreed. unfortunately, i'm just an avg. homeowner with no money and lots of time  so i'm at the mercy of diy'ers disease. you at the beach? does Jerry Hoy make any cabinets for you?
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slug
Pro
Out in search of my mind...
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posted February 03, 2004 02:16 PM
appliances: propane/gas cooking rules electric
oven if you can get a convection style gas-fired, best baking (uniform temp everywhere in oven, no hotspots)
25yrs old take good HARD look at electric. it can burn you down faster than most anything else. grounded outlets, PROPERLY. etc etc
plumbing another good thing to look really closely at
take your time & plan ;p
 
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TurboBlew
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posted February 03, 2004 04:20 PM
Ah.... no we've never used him. Yes Im in Atlantic Beach. (Semi facist)
quote:
agreed. unfortunately, i'm just an avg. homeowner with no money and lots of time so i'm at the mercy of diy'ers disease. you at the beach? does Jerry Hoy make any cabinets for you?
____________
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