The kitchen is the central core of your home where you cook meals for your loved ones, entertain your guests, spend some quality time with families, and watch TV. Every homeowner has a dream kitchen, but to make one is not an easy task.
If you have decided to remodel your kitchen but don’t have any idea from where to start? Then, here are the tips on different phases of your kitchen renovation.
Tips for Phase 1
Before remodelling
Set an actual budget
Before starting the renovation work, figure out your desired budget and how many rooms you have to remodel. Usually this comes in the form of savings but some folks find great credit card offers that prove quite useful during a renovation. Discuss your budget with the contractor so that you can get a quote that fits within your financial parameters.
If you have decided to remodel your kitchen but don’t have any idea where to start? Research is the first step. Look online to find inspiration for kitchen styles, then look into how much your desired renovations are going to cost. Consider everything from the price of new cabinets to replacement windows cost. Then, use these tips on different phases of your kitchen renovation.
Timeframe
Whether your renovation takes less time or more, make sure you are ok with it. Think about the time which you’re comfortable with, then tell your contractor about it. Always be prepared for the job to take longer than you planned.
Plumbing
Before you start renovating, talk to your contractor about the feasibility and costs of moving pipes and sinks. It is a necessary component to assist with the design and layout of your kitchen. For example, tell your contractor to place your dishwasher next to your sink.
Types of permit
For doing renovations, certain types of grants are required from city councils. It is especially essential when you are trying to renovate, as contractors will ensure that your remodels are according to standards of building codes and regulations.
Figure out the storage space
Ensure that you have enough storage space for your kitchen stuff like spatulas, giant crock-pot, and other appliances. If you don’t have a spot for it, you need to redesign the plan.
Venting requirements
To remove the cooking smell and smoke, you will require a vent. Discuss this with your contractor about how you’ll vent that unpleasant cooking or burning smells to the outside.
Tips for phase 2
Bring in the Professionals
After creating the checklist, now its time to hire a team of professionals who are going to help you in making your dream kitchen.
Hire a contractor
A contractor is a person who is going to renovate your kitchen, provide all materials, plan the timeframe, and hire the sub-contractor who will be working on the project. Mostly, contractors are the people who run the project smoothly and finish it on time.
Hiring a contractor can cost you, but they can give you the best deals on materials, and you can save your money. For hiring, you can look around you, talk to your friends and family, and read their reviews online.
Once you have done with your research, you can now narrow it down and finalise the contractor. But before hiring, clear your doubts regarding them and ask as many questions as you can relate to your projects. Here are some suggestions:
- Do you offer free quotes?
- Are you licensed and insured?
- Will you get the necessary permission?
- Will they communicate with you throughout the project?
By asking similar questions to your contractor can help both of you in closely working together throughout the kitchen renovation.
Hire a kitchen designer
Kitchen designing is not a contractor’s cup of tea. It is a work of an interior designer who will design and plan the layout and figure out the materials that you will need at the time of renovation.
If you are hiring an individual designer, it is an additional cost, but if you’re using a National Home Improvement Chain, then it will come free as an additional resource. Getting a designer from a chain won’t cost you anything. Only the problem is if they are affiliated with the chain, they have are limited to materials and supplies. Still, an individual can help you to source from different places like finding the right price and quality for you.
At the time of hiring, ensure that you read and research about the famous designers in your local area. Once you have narrow down your search, ask them specific questions, and clear your mind.
- Can you showcase your previous work?
- How can you maintain the communication flow?
- What are your payment conditions?
- Will you take final approval, before redesigning or changing anything?
Tips for phase 3
While preparing your kitchen for renovation
After you complete your research, hiring, budget, planning, and preparation, now it’s time to see the demo of your kitchen.
While working with a contractor, you don’t have to worry about preparing your kitchen for renovation. But if you have decided to demolish by yourself, then there are certain things which you needto do, like:
- Emptying cabinets
- Getting dumpster trucks ready
- Removing all electrical appliances
- Turning off water, gas, and electricity from the breaker box
Tips for Phase 4
Updating and Installing
Plumbing
Now, you can work on some internal elements like plumbing. Make sure you keep a towel and bucket if leaking starts while working on plumbing pipes. Some issues which you can solve at the time of renovation are clogged plumbing, low water pressure, a gas line addition, leaks from sinks, or dishwashers.
Electrical and lighting
People usually prefer professionals for doing electrical and lighting work. If you have hired a contractor, then they’ll have one, but if you’re doing it yourself, you can hire professionals to handle the situation.
Common kitchen renovation tasksare lighting, dimmer switches, garbage disposal, wiring, to add more holders on the countertop and other work related to electricity.
Drywall and painting
In compare to other renovation tasks, hanging drywall is easy. Measure from the one corner to other corner of the wall and draw line using a t-square tool on drywall sheet.
Use your knee or hand to break or crack it and secure it with the wall using screws. After it is attached, start painting that wall. Select the colours according to the trends or your likes.
Flooring
Let’s talk about flooring now. The efforts in changing the flooring depend on the material you choose. For example, if you are selecting tile flooring, it will take time in laying the tile and grouting, but with laminate flooring, you don’t require any grouting work.
Countertops
Next step is countertops. It is the timeline, as many designers first prefer measuring the countertops after they install cabinets. It is essential when you are demanding for the countertop like quartz as they are low in maintenance and perfect for busy kitchens.
Add electronic appliances
The last step to remodel your kitchen is installing back the appliances and connections of plumbing and lighting fixutres. Once the appliances like dishwasher and refrigerator get into the position, the plumbler can return and connect both for water supply and install and fix the sink and faucets.
Relish in your new kitchen
Renovations are a long process, but it gives you positive results at the end of the day. Whether you are getting it done to have your dream home or want to a get a nice deal while selling it, the above-mentioned tips will help you with whatever you wish to get from renovations.
UPLARN 
Conor Prendergas 
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