I have an old kitchen, should I reface the cabinets or should I replace the whole kitchen?

Q:

I have an old kitchen, should I reface the cabinets or should I replace the whole kitchen?

A:
To answer this question there is certain things that you will have to decide on first. These decisions will help shape the best way for you to proceed.

What is your budget?

One of the biggest questions is your budget. If you are working on a tight budget then you should think about re-facing them. The re-facing of a kitchen only works on the cheap if you do a lot of the work yourself. You could remove all the cabinet doors and the drawer fronts, sand them down and then either repaint them yourself or have a professional repaint them. If your budget is a little bigger you could pay a professional to do this work for you.

What work do you want to do?

The basic facelift to a kitchen is usually repainting the kitchen cabinets, doors and drawers, changing the counter tops, sinks and appliances. You can change the flooring, repaint the walls and change the lighting.

Remember all that work and you still have an older style kitchen that looks newer; but it won’t be a new kitchen.

Removing the entire kitchen and starting again is by far the most expensive option, but it is also the option that allows you to have the kitchen that you really want. With a new kitchen you get everything you want and depending on the age of your old kitchen a new kitchen can function a lot better with a new layout and a lot of the new things that go into kitchens. Things like soft closing drawers, specialty in cabinet and under cabinet lighting, multiple sinks, multiple dishwashers, on demand hot water taps, spice drawers and newer corner cabinets that are hinged to waste little to no space. A new kitchen also gives you the maximum amount of life; you should easily get to 15 to 20 years of use out of your kitchen. A re-faced kitchen will require constant maintenance and updating as the years go by.

Remember that if you just face lift your kitchen you will be working on replacing the appliances in the existing holes, this can limit the size and shape of the appliances you can buy. Most older kitchens are poorly laid out, re-facing a kitchen doesn’t help the poor layout or the fact that a lot of older kitchens are cut off from the rest of the house, giving it that claustrophobic feel to it.

I would recommend if you have the budget to demolish the kitchen and start from scratch, redoing a kitchen is a big deal and a big hassle, do it right and you won’t have to worry about it for decades.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

The Impact of Change when renovating

The Impact of Change

Even small changes made after work begins can have surprising effects on the budget. Here’s why.
Minimizing change orders is one of the most effective things homeowners can do to control costs during a remodel. This is especially true when you have a fixed-price contract. The reason is that seemingly small changes can have cost impacts beyond the remodeler’s control—costs that ultimately are borne by the customer.

We’re not talking about unscrupulous contractors who write vague specifications to create low bids and then nickel-and-dime clients with change orders to increase profits. We mean honest remodelers who write detailed specs, price accurately, and manage their jobs in a professional manner.

Arriving at a contract price for a complex remodel that gives the clients value for their money and provides the remodeler with a fair profit takes a lot of time and experience. The remodeler must plan the job down to the last detail. Deviations from that plan after project kickoff tend to raise the budget.

The kickoff usually happens at the preconstruction meeting, where the remodeler and clients review and sign off on product and design choices. Purchase orders are then generated and sent to subcontractors and suppliers, setting firm prices for every part of the job. If clients request changes after this point, they are responsible for any extra cost.

How much cost? That depends not only on what is being changed, but also when. For example, suppose a major kitchen remodel includes a new door to a deck or patio. If the clients decide later that they want a sliding door rather than a standard door, it will cost less if they decide before or soon after demolition. If they wait until the standard door has been installed and the walls around it wired, insulated, and drywalled, the change is more costly.

Less obvious are seemingly minor changes that have a ripple effect. These can multiply the cost of an item to several times what it would have been as part of the original specs.

Suppose the kitchen remodel also includes a nearby powder room, and the homeowners decide they prefer a pedestal sink over the small vanity they had chosen. The remodeler’s staff has to cancel the order for the vanity and possibly for a granite top. If those items have already shipped, the supplier will likely charge a restocking fee. 
The pedestal must be ordered from the plumbing supplier, taking additional time. If the hot and cold water pipes are already in place, the plumber has to move them, and the plumbing inspector has to inspect the change. If the wall has already been finished, the drywaller must be called back. This minor change may throw off everyone’s schedule by a week or more.

Every change also requires time from the remodeler’s staff—time to complete and track orders, to reschedule workers and subcontractors, and to update the budget. That’s why change orders include an administrative fee.
This explanation is not given to discourage important changes. Clients are entitled to make their home their own, and most clients decide to make at least some changes during a project. But they should do so with a clear understanding of the costs those decisions will bring. It’s a reminder that making firm selections up front is in the clients’ best interest.

Warm Regards,

Doug Abbott
Village Builders


This is an excerpt from a newsletter that is distributed to all former, current and future clients of Village Builders Inc.  If you would like to receive this newsletter feel free to email me at www.robabbott@villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc