kitchen remodel design

[mr&mrssunshine]

Originally Posted by RexLan

Certainly no rancor and or bad feelings intended; however, you do come across to me as pretty matter of fact and without a doubt leaving the impression that you're a builder. In fact as I recall you recently said regarding builders taking too much work:



I'm also not interested in debate. You have an opinion and you are certainly entitled to it.

All is well

yes I am a builder just not new homes - here -yet...... but other aspects yes and homes in the UK -many (far too many)

my comment re a.n.other was they are undergoing a rapid growth and -IMO- the standards (from what I have observed) are slipping, which can often happen as someone starts to lose day to day control

[HarborRat]

Originally Posted by krnfitz

My husband and I looked at real estate primarily in PGI and BSI this past Thanksgiving. I have a question about kitchen remodels on a floor plan that seemed used a lot. It is the split bedroom w/a great room and the kitchen is walled off from the great room -- kind of a galley style running front to back w/the eating area opening by patio doors onto the lanai. Several had a cut out pass through in the wall common to the kitchen and great room. Has anyone really opened up that area by taking the wall above the kitchen counter down? Maybe putting a nice curved eating bar there so that the kitchen looks out into the great room? Just wondering if that kind of a major re-do has been done, and if so, pros and cons and who did the construction/design. Thanks.

Back to the original question....

My house was exactly as you described. I removed that non-load bearing wall except for a few feet where the fridge backs up to, and left the base of the wall the rest of the way about 4 feet tall. Leaving the base of the wall in place saved me from having to do tile work, and after being capped with a ripped 2x6 allowed an easy mount for a long L-shaped granite breakfast bar.

I had to remove some electrical wiring for the light switch, the stove was on that wall so I removed the electric for that and the vent. I moved the stove to the outside wall.

It cost almost nothing and looks great, and what a difference! The hardest part was patching the textured ceiling to match.

Most "small" florida homes use the outside walls as support. My house has no load bearing walls inside. It is usually easy enough to check if the wall is load bearing or not.

Cost for my entire kitchen was $8-9000 doing everything myself. That is with thick granite, new stainless appliances and 22" tile. Cabinets are not custom, but look close enough. There is no need to spend $40,000 on a kitchen in a house only worth $150k....or even double that IMHO.

[Sea Ray Mark]

Back to the original question....

My house was exactly as you described. I removed that non-load bearing wall except for a few feet where the fridge backs up to, and left the base of the wall the rest of the way about 4 feet tall. Leaving the base of the wall in place saved me from having to do tile work, and after being capped with a ripped 2x6 allowed an easy mount for a long L-shaped granite breakfast bar.

I had to remove some electrical wiring for the light switch, the stove was on that wall so I removed the electric for that and the vent. I moved the stove to the outside wall.

It cost almost nothing and looks great, and what a difference! The hardest part was patching the textured ceiling to match. I'd love to learn how to do that. My house has that texture on every wall and ceiling so if you have any tips let me know.

Most "small" florida homes use the outside walls as support. My house has no load bearing walls inside. It is usually easy enough to check if the wall is load bearing or not.

Cost for my entire kitchen was $8-9000 doing everything myself. That is with thick granite, new stainless appliances and 22" tile. Cabinets are not custom, but look close enough. There is no need to spend $40,000 on a kitchen in a house only worth $150k....or even double that IMHO. I agree that a kitchen in a "small Florida house" might not need to be 40k but if you have to hire a professional to do all of the work it could easily be 20k - 30k to do it right. You're fortunate to be able to do it all yourself.

[HarborRat]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray Mark

... I'd love to learn how to do that. My house has that texture on every wall and ceiling so if you have any tips let me know.

You probably have "knockdown" finish. Buy a cheap whisk broom, no handle needed. Take some drywall mud and water it down to a little thicker than the consistency of pancake batter. Dip the broom in that. With your fingers bend the bristles back down the spine so they spring back in the other direction throwing splatter on the wall/ceiling. Then use a 6 or 8" drywall scraper to barely "knock down" the splatter. Repeat until it matches. Practice on scrap first. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it....and I HATE drywall work.

[Sea Ray Mark]

Thanks HR. Do you let the mud set up any before you knock it down or do you do it right away?

[HarborRat]

You can let it set up for a few minutes, sometimes it helps. Wetting the scraper with water also helps sometimes...it all depends. Different texture was applied in different ways and in different patterns by different contractors, so you'll have to play around to see what matches best. Practice and experiment.

[CheriC]

You can buy a can of the texture spray at Home Depot. It comes in different textures to match knock down, popcorn or orange peel and has an adjustment to go from light to heavy. If the job is bigger and a few cans won't cut it, you can rent a hopper from Home Depot as well and do it yourself. It's very easy.

[HarborRat]

Originally Posted by CheriC

You can buy a can of the texture spray at Home Depot. It comes in different textures to match knock down, popcorn or orange peel and has an adjustment to go from light to heavy. If the job is bigger and a few cans won't cut it, you can rent a hopper from Home Depot as well and do it yourself. It's very easy.

I haven't had much luck with those cans...and they cost $20+ for a 1 square foot coverage! They are OK for small jobs though.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by HarborRat

You probably have "knockdown" finish. Buy a cheap whisk broom, no handle needed. Take some drywall mud and water it down to a little thicker than the consistency of pancake batter. Dip the broom in that. With your fingers bend the bristles back down the spine so they spring back in the other direction throwing splatter on the wall/ceiling. Then use a 6 or 8" drywall scraper to barely "knock down" the splatter. Repeat until it matches. Practice on scrap first. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it....and I HATE drywall work.

Seen it done with a wallpaper brush for smaller areas.....and they made it look easy on TV.

I was going to ask you to show me how it's done....but then I remembered you thinking about me in a bathing suit...I guess I'll just figure it out on my own

Sea Ray Mark...when I read HarborRats post I knew you wouldn't be far behind.

Gary

[Sea Ray Mark]

Originally Posted by HarborRat

You can let it set up for a few minutes, sometimes it helps. Wetting the scraper with water also helps sometimes...it all depends. Different texture was applied in different ways and in different patterns by different contractors, so you'll have to play around to see what matches best. Practice and experiment.

I hear you on the practice and experiment advice. The biggest problem is that everyone probably used a little bit different technique so blending in to an existing surface looks like it could be challenging. I'm pretty comfortable with drywall finishing and i wish the house just had a standard finish because that wouldn't be a problem for me. I am impressed however by how uniform the finish is through out the house. Pretty nice work. I plan to do a search on you tube to see if I can find some info there also but I'll definitely get out a bucket of mud and a whisk broom and play around. It will help keep my mind off of the snow and ice.