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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWell, looks like it has happened again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the last time we spoke, I got sucked into building my 17th(?) kitchen, and I have finally emerged from its messy yet addictive grasp as I stand here at the new breakfast bar, typing this report to you.<\/p>\n
Why am I so hooked on this strange pastime? And more importantly, why am I so excited to tell you <\/em>about it, when most MMM readers probably don\u2019t have house building at the top of their list of life priorities?\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably because the concept of home <\/em>is such a core part of life for me: a place that allows us to take care of our families and ourselves, host friends and build our lives outwards from there. And to me the most important part of a home is the place where you prepare and stash your food supply, which also happens to become the spot where our kids spread out their homework, we have our deep talks, and the natural gathering point for just about every party.<\/p>\n There is of course a money<\/strong> side to all of this too: housing is the most expensive thing in most of our lives (including my own), and this cost has exploded upwards in recent years due to a crazy imbalance of supply and demand.<\/p>\n People want <\/em>\u00a0homes with beautiful, highly functional amenities like kitchens and bathrooms, which means those houses get bid up to higher prices by those willing to wildly overpay, which leaves the more investment-minded among us swearing at the irrational market conditions, or buying ugly fixer-uppers as a compromise.<\/p>\n This leads to a second shortage: a shortage of tradespeople like myself, because there are a lot of flimsy little sinks, leaky plastic-handled faucets and fake woodgrain oak cabinets out there, but not a lot of people with the experience to rescue that 1982-style kitchen and bring it into our glorious modern present. <\/p>\n Which means that if you can even find <\/em>someone willing to build you a new kitchen, you\u2019ll often see quotes from $25,000 to north of $75,000 for the prestigious but not-all-that-difficult job.<\/p>\n As you\u2019ll see below, this translates to an incredibly <\/em>expensive labor rate of between $100 and $300 per hour, which is money you get to claim for yourself if you are willing to do some of the work. And the rewards can be even higher than that, because when you upgrade a kitchen in an expensive housing market, you typically create even more than $25-75k of additional value. This will flow back to you in the form of more cash when you eventually re-sell, or higher rental income every single month if you are fixing up a rental property.\u00a0<\/p>\n And one more real estate secret: a kitchen is effectively just a really big fancy version of a bathroom, so if you learn the skills you can do either one. Imagine the God-like power of being able to point your finger and call into existence kitchens and bathrooms where none existed before!\u00a0<\/p>\n So in this article, I\u2019m going to whisk you through a high-speed tour of the main steps of rebuilding a kitchen, focusing on the things that make the biggest difference in function, cost, and difficulty \u2013 in other words, the things I wish I knew 23 years ago when I started working on my first <\/em>kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have space here to cover every detail of every step, but as with any important endeavor, it\u2019s best to start with the big picture anyway. And from there, I hope to leave you with a much more empowered starting point to do one of three things:<\/p>\n So let\u2019s get into it! The 11-ish main steps to designing and building the most joyful room in your house.<\/p>\n Step Zero: Do You Need a Permit?<\/strong><\/p>\n In most areas, this is a \u201cYes\u201d if you are messing with plumbing and electricity inside the walls, otherwise it\u2019s \u201cmaybe\u201d. But rules vary widely around the world \u2013 I\u2019ve worked in some places where the inspectors will come knocking if they see so much as a scrap of drywall poking out of your trash can, and others where people build a whole barn without raising the eyebrow of the authorities. But whether you get a permit or not, the most important part is to do the job right <\/em>\u2013 this means tidy, professional work that meets the local building code and would pass an inspection even if nobody will see it. It will allow you to sleep well and <\/em>avoid troubles down the road.<\/p>\n 1: Figure out the Cost<\/strong><\/p>\n This one is obviously all over the map depending on your tastes, but we can start with the following overly simplified table:<\/p>\n The dollar figures are just for the materials including appliances, and the labor hours are what I\u2019d budget for myself or another professional \u2013 you can adjust as needed based on your own skill level. I\u2019ll also link a slightly more detailed version of this spreadsheet here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Super Duper Shopping Pro Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to cost-efficient renovations, material sourcing is everything. Here are a few of my own favorite tricks:<\/p>\n But sometimes you have different goals, like faster speed or or the higher-end finishes that are only possible with brand new materials. In this case, you move down the list.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n 2: Layout (and knocking down walls!)<\/strong><\/p>\n The basic principle I like to follow in kitchen design, at least for the smaller and older houses that those of us in the fixer-upper crowd tends to purchase, is MORE:<\/p>\n Most houses from past eras have the kitchen walled off into a tiny booth. And the good news is that you can usually <\/em>just chop down the unnecessary walls between that booth and the living room, replace one of them with a nice spacious island, and transform your house for the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bonus! How to figure out if a wall is load bearing:<\/strong><\/p>\n My safe answer here is, \u201cAsk a structural engineer or at least a house builder\u201d, but since I\u2019ve done a lot of both activities, here is a shortcut:<\/p>\n Basic Layout Principles<\/strong><\/p>\n As a quick example, let\u2019s use a case study of one of my own rebuilds to point out both things I think did <\/em>work, and other places I made some mistakes and would do things differently next time. (This was in my own house, so you\u2019ll have to forgive my taste for somewhat wild colors!)<\/p>\n Whoo! Okay there\u2019s a lot of info in there, but it\u2019s worth reading through because it captures many of the things I like to cover in a new kitchen. The biggest principle to follow is just to give everything enough space \u2013 especially the chefs themselves. This sometimes requires clever space-saving tricks, but it\u2019s also why I end up moving or removing walls so often. Small spaces in your own house suck!<\/em><\/p>\n Design Shortcut: The IKEA Kitchen Planner<\/strong><\/p>\n To figure out how everything will fit (and look), you need at least some scale diagrams, but even better is a 3-D model that you can look around. There are lots of options here ranging from old-fashioned graph paper to sophisticated but sometimes clunky design programs like Sketchup. But one interesting trick is just using the free tool on the IKEA website, which can be useful whether you plan on buying their cabinets or not. https:\/\/kitchen.planner.ikea.com\/us\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n For example, take a look at the \u201cbefore\u201d picture of my old kitchen above. Before building the new kitchen, I spent about 15 minutes on the IKEA kitchen planner website and I already had a pretty close visualization of how my finished kitchen would look and feel.<\/p>\n 3: Building new walls<\/strong><\/p>\n In most cases, you\u2019ll be removing <\/em>more walls than you build, but sometimes you\u2019ll need to add some as well. The most common situations for me are:<\/p>\n General principles:<\/p>\n 4: Plumbing (and venting)<\/strong><\/p>\n In many kitchen remodels, you end up leaving the plumbing fixtures (sink, dishwasher and fridge water line) in roughly the same place, and if so this part of the job is minimal.<\/p>\n \u00a0But I also want to open your mind to the possibility that these things can <\/em>be moved without too much trouble, and you can even create brand new ones whenever you need \u2018em. While the finer points of code-compliant plumbing are best learned from the book or video of your choice, here are my favorite basic principles and useful shortcuts:<\/p>\n We\u2019ll cover the sink, dishwasher and fridge plumbing separately below.<\/p>\n Related MMM Article from way back in 2012 (but recently updated):\u00a0<\/p>\n How to Become a Kickass Plumber \u2013 with PEX<\/a><\/p>\n 5: Electrical<\/strong><\/p>\n Like plumbing, electricity is a whole trade in itself which is not comfortable for everyone. And you can indeed kill yourself if you touch live wires in the wrong way. So if in doubt, hire an electrician.\u00a0<\/p>\n But since I happen to enjoy this trade myself, I made a point of learning the national electric code (currently called the 2020 NEC<\/a>) enough to wire a few full houses from scratch and pass several final inspections: everything from digging the trench and running new buried service lines in conduit to the meter box, to subpanels and solar inverters down to the last light switch.\u00a0<\/p>\n But I\u2019m still not a professional electrician, and codes vary by region \u2013 so be sure to double check any ideas you get from me and do not assume anything you read is totally correct.<\/p>\n With all those disclaimers aside, here are the most common situations that come up when renovating a kitchen:<\/p>\n Unwanted electrical lines in a wall you are removing: <\/strong>\u00a0I label these carefully, turn off the power, then pull everything out until I reach the nearest junction that\u2019s in a wall I am keeping (or sometimes this will be in the ceiling or attic). Once the new walls\u00a0 are in place, you can run fresh wires to the new boxes and fixtures.<\/p>\n Adding new outlets to serve new countertop areas:<\/strong><\/p>\n The basic requirement is a minimum of two 20 amp circuits, protected by GFCI outlets, with outlets at least every 4 feet along your work space. Plus, ideally the fridge, dishwasher, disposal and microwave are on their own separate circuits which is required in brand new builds. So, your project may <\/em>be able to tie into the existing circuits or you may need to pull some new ones.<\/p>\n Adding entirely new circuits to your home:<\/strong><\/p>\n Although this may sound like a black art to non-electricians, it\u2019s actually quite straightforward once you learn how to do it. The hardest part is usually running the wire all the way back to your circuit panel, unless your kitchen is directly over an unfinished basement or crawlspace. So if you find an agreeable electrician willing to give you a discount in exchange for you doing the dirty work of properly routing the wire while they only do the final hookup in the panel, this can be a nice hybrid approach.<\/p>\n If you want to see the details of what\u2019s involved in adding a whole new circuit and breaker to your panel, there are lots of walkthroughs on YouTube including this one I made myself on how to install your own electric car charger<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other stuff to remember at this stage:<\/strong><\/p>\n 6: Drywall and details<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019re finally ready to cover everything up! This part is relatively easy, but if you\u2019ve never done drywall before, a few things I find helpful to get started:<\/p>\n This is the point \u2013 after drywall and at least a coat of primer or base white paint \u2013 where you would install your flooring if you are changing that out as part of the remodel. These days I\u2019m a big fan of engineered wood or LVP flooring which is easy, tough and attractive. But for ultimate durability in a busy dogs-n-kids-n-giant parties household, floor tiles are still the gold standard.<\/p>\n 7: Cabinets<\/strong><\/p>\n Although this step is the most exciting part, it\u2019s also one of the easiest. You\u2019re just trying to put in a line of giant boxes as strong, straight and square as possible. For conventional cabinets, this means that a level and studfinder and shims are your best friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n With IKEA cabinets, it\u2019s even easier to get it right, because all of the cabinets (both upper and lower) just hang on their proprietary metal rail system. So if you get the rails right, the cabinets follow naturally. Another huge bonus: it\u2019s easy to slide the cabinets back and forth and make adjustments before locking them into their final positions.<\/p>\n 8: Countertops<\/strong><\/p>\n If your budget will allow the higher cost, a stone countertop (quartz or granite or similar) is usually worth the cost. That cost is currently about $60-120 per square foot which can add up to a few grand for a large kitchen, but in exchange you get something that looks great, lasts forever and cleans up more easily than the other options.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, that high cost (and my dislike of dealing with appointments and outside contractors) has meant that I have experimented with the other alternatives of solid wood and various types of tiles on some projects. They still look nice and function pretty well, but I have always regretted the choice in the long run and wished I had done the quartz. Possibly because of the human psychology factor: a small daily annoyance of worrying about scratching your wood countertop is with you forever. Whereas a one-time expense for the stone countertops quickly recedes into history and you forget about it. And like the rest of a kitchen upgrade, it tends to come back to you in the form of increased resale or rental value anyway.<\/p>\n 9: Sink and Faucet<\/strong><\/p>\n Thankfully, this part is the opposite of the countertops: surprisingly cheap and full of beautiful options depending on your taste.\u00a0<\/p>\n Way back in 2001, I remember paying $600 for a sink and $300 for a faucet, just to get something substantial and modern that didn\u2019t look like it was from a 1980s Atlanta Georgia suburb (an aesthetic that runs strong in Home Depot products because of the company\u2019s origins in that time and place).<\/p>\n \u00a0But now, thanks to Amazon we live in a whole different world. You can have your choice of massive, modern sinks in the 200s<\/a>, and even beautiful faucets are under $100<\/a>. The prices are sometimes so low that I am nervous about the quality, but so far everything has been a pleasant surprise on the upside. TBD sink drain pic above.<\/p>\n Bonus: How to build a nice new sink drain:<\/strong><\/p>\n Your old kitchen probably has an ugly nest of pipes under the kitchen sink, and you\u2019ll at least <\/em>need to rework this part because the new sink will be bigger and in a slightly different place. So we might as well cover this right here:<\/p>\n Starting with the fancy new sink (which comes right after countertops), you<\/p>\n 10: Appliances<\/strong><\/p>\n This is yet another area where we\u2019ve seen deflation <\/em>over the years rather than inflation: the quality and features of appliances seems to keep going up, while prices come down. And the used market is even better: appliances have a very low resale value, which means if you shop carefully you can get new-ish units for about 75% less than brand-new ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, a note of caution: Don\u2019t buy used stuff unless you trust the seller and\/or get a chance to test it. I\u2019ve been fooled twice <\/em>buying used seemingly high-end dishwashers that seemed great \u2026 but in retrospect the person was selling them because they didn\u2019t work properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Me:<\/strong> \u201cWow, this is a really nice $1500 dishwasher \u2013 why are you selling it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Seller:<\/strong> \u201cOh\u2026 I was upgrading my kitchen and this one just doesn\u2019t match the new appliances.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Me:<\/strong> (naively overlooking some other red flags about the seller\u2019s living situation): \u201cOkay here\u2019s my $200 in cash.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n On a third occasion, a friend and I almost made the same mistake when buying an exotic under-counter European fridge, but thankfully noticed that the seller had it sitting in his garage unplugged when we came to pick it up. When I asked to see it running, he pretended to have a shortage of extension cords so I pulled one out of my van. Sure enough, when we plugged it in, the damned thing wasn\u2019t even working. Shady!<\/p>\n Other tips:<\/strong> fridges, microwaves and especially ovens\/ranges are a safer bet to buy used because they tend to just work for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also, if you live in a climate with sub-freezing winters, don\u2019t buy a fridge, dishwasher or washing machine that someone has moved into their shed or garage during the cold season. Because the water in the tubes and valves will probably have frozen and burst without their knowledge, giving you a messy and complex repair job the first time you fire it up.<\/p>\n Because of all this, I have had many success stories with used appliances in the past, but I still tend to buy all new appliances these days now that time has become more scarce than money for me. If you\u2019re younger and still trying to optimize for dollars, you should still check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace regularly.<\/p>\n 11: Finish work!<\/strong><\/p>\n At last, we\u2019re in the home stretch. You can add as many custom flourishes to your kitchen as you like, but just to share a few of my favorites:<\/p>\n Wow, that was a Lot!<\/strong><\/p>\n This may be the longest MMM article in history, and yet we still only skimmed through it. But I hope this summary gives you at least a peek at the countless fun, useful and profitable skills that you can learn to make your life as a homeowner (or as an occasional contractor) more joyful and satisfying. <\/p>\n If you have more questions about specifics, drop them into the comments section below and everyone can help share some answers. And of course, this article will surely be full of errors and omissions when I first publish it \u2013 please feel free to point those out and I\u2019ll make updates as well.<\/p>\n Happy cooking!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, looks like it has happened again.\u00a0 Since the last time we spoke, I got sucked into building my 17th(?) kitchen, and I have finally emerged from its messy yet addictive grasp as I stand here at the new breakfast bar, typing this report to you. Why am I so hooked on this strange pastime? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[5293,1114],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-46029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-build","tag-kitchen"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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