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So I've lived in my current house for just over a year now. I love almost everything about it except the kitchen, which I seem to hate more every day. I think the problem is that I had remodeled the kitchen at my former house back in 2009, and it was GREAT ... very functional and beautiful too.
My last kitchen was 13' by 13'6" and did not have any doors or paths through it so the entire space was functional -- when I remodeled I was able to fit a peninsula with bar area in the space, which was wonderful when I had friends over. My current kitchen is ostensibly 12'6" x 11'6", which doesn't sound THAT much smaller, but 3' of the 11'6" has to be reserved as a path through to the junk/TV room, so it's really 12'6" by 8'6" -- MUCH smaller than my previous kitchen.
I've been thinking about how to remodel my current kitchen to be very similar to my old one. One option is to make my current junk/TV room (which is about 11'6" by 17'6") into the kitchen, but then I'd likely have to add a room so I don't have to have the TV in my living room (trying to keep that a more formal room for reading, listening to music, playing the piano, etc.). Big addition = big bucks, so I'm not too big on that option.
The other option, which I've been reading about online, is to bump out the current kitchen by about 5' so its usable space would now be 12'6" by 13'6" -- very very close to my former kitchen. If I could do this, I could design the space to almost match the former kitchen, which would be amazing. HOWEVER, from my reading it sounds like bump-outs can be almost as expensive as full additions (and of course much more expensive on a per-square-foot basis). If that is the case, it would probably make more sense for me to just do an addition. (Note, in all cases, the actual kitchen remodel, i.e. new cabinets, extending plumbing lines, etc., is separate, as I'll have to pay for those things regardless of where I place the remodeled kitchen -- I am more asking about the construction costs/other details involved in bumping out space.)
Anyone done a bump-out for a kitchen (or other room for that matter)? If so, approximately how big was it, how complicated a process was it, and how much did it cost?
LOL. You sound like my wife. She did a huge kitchen remodel at our old house - knocked down the wall that separated the dining room from the kitchen and made it a huge eat-in kitchen. She also added an island, added an appliance counter with top and bottom cabinets on the other wall in addition to the standard L-shaped countertop... New stone countertops, all new cabinets, all new appliances, etc, etc, etc. The finished product of combining the two rooms was easily an 18' x 25' space. The whole project cost about $50k.
Now we have a galley-style kitchen that is about 15' x 11' and serves as a conduit between the living room -dining room area and the family room. She was trying to talk me into knocking walls down to make it bigger. The problem is there's really nowhere to go. The one wall separates the kitchen from the living room and our entertainment center with big screen TV is up against it. The other wall separates the kitchen from a hallway and the laundry room/garage area. I got a few estimates to try and open it up different ways and the sticker-shock put a stop to that idea. Once my wife saw how much it would cost she suddenly decided she can make the best of the smaller kitchen as long as we remodel it someday because she absolutely hates the countertop and doesn't care too much for the cabinets.
I'd imagine that turning your "junk" room into the kitchen would be big bucks on it's own because in addition to the obvious construction work - all of the plumbing, electrical and gas (if you have it) would need to be routed over from the existing kitchen.
I did a kitchen bump-out with a garden window - and it was beautiful and inexpensive. It was a while back so I don't recall how much. But I loved it. Big dual paned picture window in the front, then two functional dual pane windows on the sides. Gorgeous. One problem: You had to jump up on the counter to open the windows since it was a bump-out and the counterspace was thus very deep!
Last edited by imcurious; 07-04-2013 at 06:12 PM..
I'd imagine that turning your "junk" room into the kitchen would be big bucks on it's own because in addition to the obvious construction work - all of the plumbing, electrical and gas (if you have it) would need to be routed over from the existing kitchen.
Well, I already have a good idea of the kitchen remodel part from what I had done back in '09. My colleague/contractor doesn't think it would cost TOO much (relatively speaking) to extend the propane, electrical, and plumbing lines into the junk room as it is right next to the current kitchen AND there's relatively easy access to the existing lines. I had such great contractors for my last remodel that the entire cost was something like $25-30k INCLUDING adding built-in's in the hall and 2 bedrooms PLUS remodeling both bathrooms PLUS the entire kitchen. Probably half the cost was for all the new cabinets, the other half for the labor. At my current house, it would be somewhat less because it's just the kitchen ... but this is mostly because I have great contractors who don't charge much (it's a 2nd job for them).
Thanks so much for posting!
Quote:
Originally Posted by imcurious
I did a kitchen bump-out with a garden window - and it was beautiful and inexpensive. It was a while back so I don't recall how much. But I loved it. Garden window in the front, then two functional dual pane windows on the sides. Gorgeous. One problem: You had to jump up on the counter to open the windows since it was a bump-out and the counterspace was thus very deep!
Imcurious, I can't tell if you mean you just bumped out the window area? That is very different from what I want to do. (It sounds beautiful -- do you have some photos you could share?)
In my current home I added a relative modest amount of sq ft to the kitchen by means of an addition. I decided to add full foundation under the addition that is used as "wine cellar space" accessible from my regular basement. Need a good excavation contractor, contractor skilled in using steel girder to carry the span of the exterior wall removed and transfer that load to the foundation, roofing / framing contractor to make the place sound & weather tight, insulation contractor, flooring pro to match new height to existing. The rest of the skills are "norma" kitchen remodeler... Total sq ft of my addition was under 100 and cost per sq ft OF JUST THE FOUNDATION & SHELL was under $100 (break out for the just added space was around $6k) -- since I had high end cabinets, counter tops, fixtures, appliance this was less than 10% of the total cost of the project...
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012
Well, I already have a good idea of the kitchen remodel part from what I had done back in '09. My colleague/contractor doesn't think it would cost TOO much (relatively speaking) to extend the propane, electrical, and plumbing lines into the junk room as it is right next to the current kitchen AND there's relatively easy access to the existing lines. I had such great contractors for my last remodel that the entire cost was something like $25-30k INCLUDING adding built-in's in the hall and 2 bedrooms PLUS remodeling both bathrooms PLUS the entire kitchen. Probably half the cost was for all the new cabinets, the other half for the labor. At my current house, it would be somewhat less because it's just the kitchen ... but this is mostly because I have great contractors who don't charge much (it's a 2nd job for them).
Thanks so much for posting!
Imcurious, I can't tell if you mean you just bumped out the window area? That is very different from what I want to do. (It sounds beautiful -- do you have some photos you could share?)
Last edited by chet everett; 07-04-2013 at 08:48 PM..
No - Not just the window - bumped out the wall around 4 or 5 feet (can't recall now - don't own the house anymore) . . . it was a great innovation and added a lot of value for not much money.
In my current home I added a relative modest amount of sq ft to the kitchen by means of an addition. I decided to add full foundation under the addition that is used as "wine cellar space" accessible from my regular basement. Need a good excavation contractor, contractor skilled in using steel girder to carry the span of the exterior wall removed and transfer that load to the foundation, roofing / framing contractor to make the place sound & weather tight, insulation contractor, flooring pro to match new height to existing. The rest of the skills are "norma" kitchen remodeler... Total sq ft of my addition was under 100 and cost per sq ft OF JUST THE FOUNDATION & SHELL was around $6k -- since I had high end cabinets, counter tops, fixtures, appliance this was less than 10% of the total cost of the project...
Chet, sorry, can you please clarify, you write "the cost per square foot ... was around $6k," but I think you meant the cost of just the foundation and shell was $6k? That actually sounds reasonable as that is the "hard" part -- i.e., the structural part. I would need to use a foundation contractor for that part -- not my usual contractor/colleague.
If I were to go with the bump-out, it would be about 5' deep by 12.5' wide so about 62.5 square feet total, so not quite 2/3 the size of yours.
Hmmm ... maybe this won't be as horrendous as I feared ...
Like you I have some pretty good contacts -- I have owned rental properties and remolded other homes. My siding was cedar I am not counting landscaping costs, my excavation contractor was able to get access to my property with his "big digger" and minimal time was needed. I did not factor in the cost of new windows into this project, but there were four in total that altogether cost around $3k, I also am not counting the cost of permits / inspections / bonds. It is doable for a fair price...
The entire point of a bump-out is that you don't need to extend the foundation - you bump out over the foundation and support it with wood (I wish I knew the technical terms or how to describe it, but I'm sure you can find some pics and plans online).
The entire point of a bump-out is that you don't need to extend the foundation - you bump out over the foundation and support it with wood (I wish I knew the technical terms or how to describe it, but I'm sure you can find some pics and plans online).
I do understand that this is often the case, but given where my bump-out would be, I think I might WANT to extend the foundation as well -- at least a crawl space. Right underneath my existing kitchen are the bulkhead stairs (would have to be moved -- I got an estimate on that from when I was buying the house), the electrical panel, etc.
I think next week I will go by my town's code office just to get an idea of what is/isn't allowed.
Thanks again for the replies, and anyone else who'd like to contribute, please do!
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I think the problem is that I had remodeled the kitchen at my former house back in 2009, and it was GREAT ... very functional and beautiful too.
With enough money you can do anything...
