And so it grows

I know that the costs for these types of projects usually go beyond the initial budget. But ours increased by over 25%. In one day. Before the work has begun. Before the materials have even been ordered.

Here’s how it happened. We’ve been losing some sleep over all the little details that our initial budget didn’t take into consideration – building a wall to support the oven which will be installed at an angle, designing and building a support for the table top at the end of the island, patching the ceiling where the soffit is removed, etc. We’re also beginning to wonder how realistic it is to think that two working parents will be able to coordinate the sub contractors to make sure that the work flows smoothly and is done on time. It would be really nice to put all of this responsibility in the hands of a general contractor. So we got a bid from the company that is going to install the cabinets and now are leaning in that direction.

We had a plumber come out the other day to give us an estimate on extending a gas line from the pool heater about 12 feet to the kitchen. We always thought we were so lucky to have a gas line so close to the kitchen (we’re on a concrete slab, so to extend it from the water heater we’d have to go up through the walls and ceiling rather than under the floor). But it’s going to be much more costly than we thought – $2,800 which is more than twice the cost of the cook top. We wanted to see if someone else would bid it lower than the general contractor. The estimate was essentially the same. And the guy even told us that unless one of us was a stay-at-home parent, we would be crazy to try to do the whole project without a general contractor. Even then, he thought, it would still be best to hire a general contractor.

Can we demo?

For those familiar with the catch phrase from Bob the Builder, the answer is "Yes we can!." We think. But maybe without the exclamation mark. It's possible, of course, but harder than it looks. We finished off the bricks around the fireplace and took one L-shaped cabinet out (see pictures below). My drill doesn't have the torque to unscrew the cabinets, but my father-in-law suggested buying a drill bit that bores a large hole (like those used to make holes for door knobs, only smaller). It worked. We drilled around the screws. And the beauty is that the cabinet still hangs (precariously) on the plug of wood rather than crashing down when the last screw is removed. This makes the process seem safer.

Kitchen Appliances -- are we Sub-Zero people?

It’s the little things…

Building the wall for the angled stove
Removing the soffit and repairing the drywall,
Demolition/removal,
Replacing the window over the sink,
Designing/building some sort of support for the table top attached to the island

The careful observer will notice that these (and countless other details that will likely arise during the actual demolition and renovation) are not included in the budget. We’re starting to realize why people have a difficult time staying within budget.

Hail Caesar [Stone]

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:09 AM
To: Grant
Subject: FW: Estimate from Formline Solid Surfacing, Inc

FYI. Cesarstone for $4600.

From: Grant
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:11 AM
To: Kim
Subject: RE: Estimate from Formline Solid Surfacing, Inc

Ouch! Not much of a savings over granite.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:12 AM
To: Grant
Subject: RE: Estimate from Formline Solid Surfacing, Inc

But well within our budget.

From: Grant
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:13 AM
To: Kim
Subject: RE: Estimate from Formline Solid Surfacing, Inc

Yes. I didn't mean to imply we couldn't have it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:16 AM
To: Grant
Subject: RE: Estimate from Formline Solid Surfacing, Inc

If we did caesarstone for $4600, butcherblock for $1000, that would leave almost $5000 for the backsplash, which we'll never spend. With that scenario, then countertops/backsplash is an area we can actually be under budget. By the way, Steve called...the plans are done, and the printer will deliver them to my office today. Once I get them, I'm going to call Bob and see if I can meet with him sometime this weekend to go over the plans.

Wait a minute, that's not the kitchen!

July 10, 2005

Tearing down the fireplace so that our designer will let us have the basket weave slate tiles on the backsplash over the cooktop,
originally uploaded by Grant13.

It’s probably not possible to confine a remodeling project to a single room. This is particularly true in an open space like ours where the kitchen, breakfast area, and family room essentially combine to make one large room anchored by the stove on one end, and the fireplace on the other.

On a whim, we took the hammer to the brick around the fireplace today and discovered drywall. Shouldn’t be that hard to tear down the rest of the brick and have a new tile surround built. Our four year-old asked us, “are you supposed to be doing that?” as we hammered away. My own guess at his reaction is that he worried about what negative consequences would be visited on Mom and Dad for committing such a willful act of destruction. Maybe he secretly harbored a certain degree of respect for our ability to act out the primal urge for destruction that all preschoolers have but that he, like most, have learned to suppress?

We’re thinking of adding a simple wood mantle, paint on the wall above, and some type of slate surround (and a new gas insert – the firebox is already plumbed for gas). Now Steve, our designer, will let us have the slate basket weave tile design that we want to install over the cook top in the kitchen. Originally he told us that he wouldn’t “be happy with that” unless we had a “reason” for the slate to be there – unless it was balanced by slate somewhere else in the house. Maybe we’ll also add the same pattern to the floor when we re-tile the front entryway (see…just keeps growing).

And because the kitchen window has to go, we have to consider replacing all the windows in the family room. All are black metal and not in the greatest shape. Just won’t fit with the new look. Fortunately, we already replaced the sliding glass door that leads outside from the breakfast area with a slider from Anderson Windows shortly after we moved in. We had a salesperson from Halls Windows in Sacramento (they carry Anderson and Anderson Renewal – Anderson’s line of vinyl/fibrex replacement windows)come out to give us an estimate for everything this weekend. The kitchen window is doable. Now it’s a question of whether we do the others at the same time. We’ll probably replace them sooner rather than later. Now that we’re committed to doing something with the fireplace, we might as well update the windows as well.

[note: decided not to move the wall that separates kitchen from dining room to create more space. It’s probably a structural wall. Even if not, it’d be a big job because that walls rises almost to the peak of the vaulted ceiling.]

Mr. [contractor], tear down this wall!

July 8,
Last night I noticed a voicemail as I was getting ready to leave work. It was Kim. "A contractor is going to call tonight about coming out and estimating what it would take to tear out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Just wanted to let you know since I might not be home from work by the time he calls."

What?! In the early stages of dreaming, I had been interested in cutting a pass-through in that wall, but Kim vetoed that. She wanted to keep costs down by avoiding any major structural work. I saw the logic and signed on. But now we're talking about moving the whole wall to add a couple of feet to the space (not, as I thought at first, to open up the kitchen to the dining room)? Steve, our designer has gotten into our heads a bit I think, because by the end of the night I was agreeing with Kim that we should definitely get an estimate now. Moving the wall is not something we would do several years down the road (see the section on cabinets for a different version of the same rationalization for excess).