8 things I learned from renovating kitchens
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I’ve renovated 3 kitchens and helped construction on another. I have learned a few things that I want to share to save you money and heartache.
1. Research your contractors
Researching your contractors is critical to the success of your project. You need to ensure they are licensed, bonded, and insured (more on that below), as well as reputable.
You should check at least 2-3 places for information on the contractor you're looking to hire. Places you can and should check include:
Facebook
Check out the local mom groups. A wealth of good advice and occasionally a really fun, bitchy comment about a contractor.
Check out their Facebook profile reviews
Google reviews - this is another great source for business reviews.
Your town or city’s local permitting office, such as inspectional services - ask the permitting official if they are aware of any complaints against the contractor you’re researching.
Your town, city, or regional consumer protection office - ask for any recent complaints against the business you’re considering.
Interview and ask for written quotes - this is a huge red flag if they refuse to provide a written quote that can be signed by both parties agreeing to the work.
We interviewed no less than six (6) electricians with a variety of quotes. We had two that refused to send written quotes (red flag). We had one that refused to touch the solar panel shutoff, which would have required us to pay the solar company to come out to turn it off and then turn it back on again. We had one suggest our ceiling has asbestos (it’s doesn’t) and wanted to work that cost into the quote. We had one that just wouldn’t commit to the timeframe (red flag). Finally, our actual choice sent us a written quote we would both sign, provided a timeframe, had great reviews across multiple platforms, was licensed, bonded and insured (see below), was known to my town’s permitting folks in a good way, and wasn’t making up crazy issues that didn’t exist to soak us on the contract. He was not the cheapest of the quotes we received, but I trusted him to get the work done properly, safely, and legally.
2. Make sure your contractors are licensed, bonded, and insured
No one wants someone to get hurt at their home, but with construction projects, it happens. What you also don’t want is having someone get hurt on your property and being liable to pay for their injuries for the rest of their life if they are not property licensed, bonded, and insured. Yes, their prices will likely be higher, but the alternative is not worth it. Also, by checking their license with whatever agency regulates businesses. In Massachusetts it is the Secretary of State.
As an example, we were sitting out in our front yard last year, and some gents stopped at the end of the driveway. They told us they just finished a driveway seal up the road, but had leftover materials and do we want ours done for $xx. “We’re good, but thanks” was our answer. My husband is a consumer information specialist who helps folks who have complaints against businesses like this. One woman he worked with pre-paid a few guys like this $x. They took her money and ran and unfortunately, this happens all the time. In other cases, they do the work, but it’s so bad, you wish they hadn’t. If they’re not licensed, bonded, or insured, you have little recourse and in many cases, these people disappear, never to be found after they’ve done shoddy work or just taken your money.
What does licensed mean?
It means that the contractor has met the bare minimum requirements for competency in that jurisdiction. Do not work with an unlicensed contractor and check the license is currently valid and hasn’t been suspended for a violation.
What does bonded mean?
This means that the contractor carries a reasonable and regulated amount of liability insurance which covers property owners in case the contractor fails to complete contracted work, fails to pay for the appropriate permit, or causes damage to your property during work. does shoddy work.
What does insured mean?
It means that they have insured themselves in case they or their employees are injured on the job. This is important because you don’t want to be on the hook paying medical bills if someone gets hurt on your property.
3. Make sure your electrical is up to date
When upgrading or renovating your kitchen, unless you are keeping the same lighting and appliances and no one is touching your electrical, you’ll likely need an upgrade.
We knew we were at 100 amp service for the house. We knew we might need a new electrical panel. What we didn’t know was how seriously expensive the upgrade would be. It was shocking - a-major-hit-to-our-kitchen-budget-level-shocking. The real reason to do it at that time is that we 1) knew we needed it for the kitchen renovation, 2) even if we didn’t do it now, any other renovations we’re tied to this upgrade, and 3) in Massachusetts, the code was changing again in a few months and the current panel would have to be relocated outside the house, spiraling the expense even higher. So in the end, we did it, but it delayed some of our kitchen renovation by months so we could recover from the financial hit.
4. Don’t get too attached
I have so many Pinterest board pins, Houzz idea boards, Wayfair favorites, etc. with all the stuff I wanted in my current kitchen. I was able to whittle down to some things that I loved and a few things I really wanted. After living for 3 years with vinyl on slab and tile on slab in the kitchen/mudroom, what we really wanted were wood or wood-look laminate floors. I settled on wood-look laminate for its durability (cat, kid, wheelchair, and future dog). Also wood-look laminate had already been placed in my son’s room during the emergency gut we did, and I wanted consistent floors throughout the house.
Unfortunately, the fates were not with us and the floor in his room had been discontinued and we had to choose another. This was a gut and wallet punch since we’d already invested $1,000 in buying additional flooring but in no way had enough to complete the whole house.
In total, we went through eight, yup EIGHT, different floor choices before finally landing on a beautiful Pergo Hickory Herschel, but not after a lot of searching and disappointment. Our floor choices included:
Large format tile mock-up
3 Pergo laminates -
#1 was discontinued
#s 2/3 were us choosing between colors and we landed on a new Pergo Wetprotect for a waterproof finish. Perfect for kids and mom’s wheelchair dragging in snow, kids dragging in mud and pool water, and the occasional unplanned utility or kitchen flood.
3 large format 12’ x 24” or larger tiles. I love the modern look of this but worried about the cold tile in the kitchen. As it turned out we couldn’t install this large sized tile because our floors are two unlevel in every direction. This turned out to be a blessing because in the end I got the floors I loved.
1 large format hexagon. Same problem as the other large format tile. Also my husband wasn’t loving the design.
Small format pattern. Since I couldn’t use large format tile, I tried a small format. I fell for a picket tile shape which was unfortunately so unusual, I couldn't find it anywhere. Back to the drawing board.
Sewer pipe coming out of wall to ceiling
And a partridge in pear tree. When one tile contractor suggested I use a version of the 12x12 tile I just removed from the kitchen floor, which I hated, I knew it was time to go back to the laminate.
Another thing I had to let go was a beautiful vent hood. When we removed the cabinet above the stove we found a fat sewer pipe from the wall to the ceiling. So I had to quickly shift to a cabinet to cover it and an under-cabinet vent hood. I love how it turned out though.
Lesson here: Have a design style in mind, but be at least somewhat flexible in your final materials.
5. It doesn’t have to be your dream kitchen
Unless this is really your dream kitchen and you’re dropping $100,000, you need to be willing to let some things go. In fact, even if it is your dream kitchen, don’t bankrupt yourself over it or kick your retirement or kid’s college education to the curb. I was adamant about not touching the pipes in the slab 100% I did not want to cut in the slab and start moving pipes around. That meant our original floor plan with the sink, dishwasher, stove, would stay where it was. I don’t love that layout. In fact I think it’s dumb to have everything on top of each other, but I didn’t want to drop $10K-15K to move everything either Which leads me to….
6. Some things can wait
Because of the added expense of the electrical panel upgrade, we had to stagger our upper cabinet install. So although we put in the wine glass cabinet, I waited to take out the over-the-range microwave and replace it with a new cabinet and vent hood. The kitchen was unfinished, but we didn’t go into debt either.
We are also waiting on installing a backsplash. I want one (I think) but because of the pandemic I can’t look at the tile in person and I want to do that. Plus, I was ok without dropping another wad of cash and finally, the idea of trying to hire another contractor, ugh, I’m too tired. The wall looks great the way it is and I may even stick with this look, who knows?
7. Some things require a specialist
We tried to do as much as we possibly could ourselves. Demolition including removing a wall, paneling, trim, baseboards, doors, and flooring, both ceramic and vinyl. When it came to the cinderblock wall between the new kitchen and the utility room, as well as the walls after tile was torn out, we called in a specialist. I call them specialists as opposed to contractors because they have a very specific skill that would take you years as a DIYer to master, if ever, and certainly more money on tools than you would want to own.
The first we hired was our electrician, which yes I mentioned above, but hush. Their licenses and apprenticeships take years. Based on the amount of detailed work I’ve seen ours do, he deserves to be called a specialist.
The second was a plasterer. Not only are their chemicals involved to get plaster to actually adhere to a service, there is some major skill in getting this stuff smooth. See the before and after pictures if you have any doubt.
Before plaster - kitteh view
After plaster - cabinet view
Before plaster - sink view
After plaster - sink view
Cinder block wall that needed plaster
Cinder block wall post plaster
The third was a cabinet guy. My dad and husband had already installed 11 cabinets and a pantry. They were toast. Plus the last section including the dishwasher and sink section. I didn’t want to be without a sink long and be doing dishes in the bathtub for more than a week. The final decision factor was we were putting in an apron front sink to make it easier for me to reach from my wheelchair. You need to build extra supports for that to hold the weight of the sink, full of dishes, full of water AND you have to cut the front of the cabinet out so the sink fits perfectly inside. Time for the expert. Luckily the gent we bought the cabinet from referred a guy. He did the cabinets plus the trim, plus put all our handles on - yay - It was done in less than a day. Dad came and helped Michael install the sink the day after. The countertop guys came the day after that. That afternoon we installed the faucet and reinstalled the dishwasher. Boom, done, bliss.
The fourth was a flooring installer. This was tricky because I knew my dad had laid floor in the past, but he was starting to struggle with all this getting up and down off the floor after helping us put in the majority of the cabinets. Plus we didn’t have all the tools we needed and would have to purchase them with no real use for them later. The thing that pushed us over the edge was time. We’d been trudging away on this kitchen for nearly a year. The floor where we’d ripped up the tile was a mess. We were exhausted and needed help. Alex and his crew came in and fixed the damaged floor and laid our new floor in two days. It was heavenly to have it done.
After renovation (missing toe kicks) with Pergo floors
8. Don’t forget the hardware
The counters are obviously a huge, beautiful piece of jewelry for your kitchen, but no one forgets counters. People always forget the hardware. Good hardware can really make your kitchen design shine, but even in a small kitchen, hardware is expensive. So you don’t want to forget it and suddenly realize that you have to buy for 16 cabinets and a pantry, times drawers, times doors, and have to buy 40 pieces of hardware for $4 to $15 a piece. It adds up to real money fast and at the end of your project, the last thing you want is a fat budget hit. Plus it’s nice to open the darn drawers! We used Build.com. They have a great selection of hardware in lots of styles and their shipping is literally overnight if it’s in stock.
Big shout out to:
Matthew’s Plastering 14 College Lane, Methuen, MA 01844 978-314-0816
Emerson Electric 16 Progress Ave., Nashua, NH 03063 978-866-7761
Grand Flooring Inc Woburn, MA 01810 857-928-9394
