Al’s Kitchen Renovation Project Part 2

A time lapse of a start (rip out) to finish kitchen remodeling. All in 60 seconds. Notice that the window/sink moves from the awkward corner position to the middle of the left wall.

Remodeling a kitchen, the before and after also sharing tricks and tips for the new carpenter:

Kitchen remodeling can bring new life into a home if done correctly. AsktheBuilder.com host Tim Carter shares some kitchen remodeling ideas and tips to help you get the kitchen of your dreams.

Here Tim shows off his old kitchen, the demolition of the old kitchen, his newly remodeled kitchen, and all the great new amenities.

Reduce Need for Second Mortgages, Personal Loans, and Credit
When funding your remodel, it’s nearly impossible to avoid a home equity line of credit or second mortgage if you’re tackling an addition. But you can avoid it for the smaller projects. Keep in mind that by rolling those french doors into a 15 year loan, you’ll be paying for those french doors for many years to come. Avoid personal loans and be careful of credit cards. Cash is always the cheapest choice.

Use Structural Elements as Finish Surfaces
Perhaps you have interior brick walls, ceiling beams, concrete floors, or wood floors that may be, um, decoratively aged. If so (and if this is your intended decorating style), refurbishing these surfaces will always be cheaper than building up new finish surfaces.

Build the Addition Up or In
It’s almost always more expensive to build your addition outward than upward. Foundation work (for building outward) is expensive. And it’s even cheaper to build inward than upward. Got any spare rooms you can repurpose for other uses? If function rather than space is what you’re looking for, seriously consider building inward.

Avoid Moving the Plumbing
After you get the estimate from the plumber, you may have second thoughts about moving the kitchen sink five feet to the left. Plumbing work is expensive on its own; moving the plumbing can double the cost, or more. Admittedly, easier said than done, since half the reason for remodeling is often to redesign the kitchen floor plan.

Use Existing Electrical Work As Much as Possible
Like plumbing, electrical work is expensive. Instead of completely abandoning and redoing your current wiring, explore the possibility of supplementing it.

Use the “Free” Home Remodeling Consultants
You’re seen them–the kitchen planners at The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and local home improvement stores. Even if you don’t plan on using them, you’ll walk away with a nice printed kitchen design layout. Get product samples of siding from siding companies. Get hardwood and laminate flooring chips from flooring companies. For a short time commitment, flooring installers will come to your house and give you a dead-on floor measurement. Sure, these services come with a cost: the sales pitch. But you’re not shelling out any bucks (though make certain that they’re not charging you for the estimate, as some companies have begun to do recently).

Is there simple, non-building work you can do yourself?
Things like site cleanup when they’re done. They have to pay someone to clean up the site, and they’ll charge a commission on top of that. Is the contractor going to spend all day in the permitting office and charge you for it? Who knows, maybe you’ve always longed to spend a vacation day in the permitting office.

More at How to Save Money on Your Kitchen Renovation

If the business you hire is not registered or not making its payments to WorkSafeBC, you could be liable for insurance premiums owing in connection with the work or service being performed on your behalf. That’s why you should always obtain a clearance letter before a business or contractor starts working for you and again before you make the final payment.

You can search for the clearance status of any firm registered for insurance coverage with WorkSafeBC and then print a clearance letter. The letter tells you whether the business, contractor, or subcontractor you plan to hire is registered with WorkSafeBC and paying its premiums as required.

If you’re thinking about renovating your kitchen, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has a variety of questions you may want to ask yourself first to make sure your renovation is a success, including:

• How much work and storage space do you need? Is an eating area in the kitchen important to you? What are the traffic patterns like? And does the kitchen meet the needs of everyone in the household, including anyone with special needs?
• Are there any existing structural problems in or around the kitchen? Will removing or installing any walls or windows require any special details?
• Do the existing fixtures and appliances have years of useful life left? Do you like their style and features, and are they energy efficient? Do you have adequate general and task lighting?
• Are your existing cabinets or countertops damaged? Do they no longer suit your needs?
• Do any of the finishes or surfaces have moisture damage, visible mould, water stains or blistered or peeled paint? Is any caulking or grout cracked or missing? Has there been condensation on the windows, walls or ceiling?
• Are there enough electrical outlets and circuits for current and future needs?
• Is your existing plumbing service and water pressure adequate? Do the drains flow quickly? Are there any leaks or evidence of water damage?
• Is the room comfortable and easy to heat? Do you have an exhaust fan ducted to the outside, which doesn’t lead to backdrafting of an oil or wood stove, furnace or water heater? Is the air fresh, clean and free of lingering musty smells?
• Do your current finishes need to be replaced because of wear or styling? Will your new materials and finishes be durable, low odour and low in chemical emissions?
• Finally, are any special skills required that should lead you to consider hiring a professional renovator or subcontractors?

For more information or a free copy of the “About Your House” fact sheet on Renovating Your Kitchen or other fact sheets on virtually every facet of owning, maintaining or renovating your home, visit www.cmhc.ca or call CMHC at 1-800-668-2642.

Source: North Shore News

Al’s Kitchen Renovation Project Part 2

Artisan Construction Inc.

Basil Restoration Ltd.

Blackfish Homes

Blue Ocean Construction Inc.

Castle Creek Contracting Ltd.

Domicile Custom Residential Construction

EJM Construction Management Inc.

Euro Canadian Construction Corp.

Fortif Construction Inc.

Golin Renovations

Intermind Design Inc.

Kerr Construction

Klondike Contracting Corporation

Maison d’etre design-build inc.

Miccaro Designs Interior Design Consulting

Mr. Build – Dunbar

My House Design / Build Team Ltd.

Reid Developments Ltd.

reVISION Custom Home Renovations Inc.

Right Hand Man

San remo Builders and Supply Ltd.

Tasa Construction Ltd.

Taurus Renovations Ltd.

Upward Construction & Renovation Ltd.

Not so long ago, most homes possessed a single, strictly functional bathroom and very little emphasis was placed on the decor. Well, those days are definitely gone! The bathroom has now been elevated to the same rank as any other room in the house. Some people will accept no less than a veritable spa that will erase all memories of that old cramped space, while for others, the simple goal of a bathroom renovation is to render this most frequented room more user-friendly.
Analyzing the current situation

Before heading to the store where our experts will give you solid advice regarding RONA products, take the time to analyze your installation and determine what results you wish to obtain. Evaluate all the possibilities that your home has to offer. If the bathroom is too small, can you use an adjacent room to enlarge it? Is the present room so badly laid out that you can’t even fully open a cupboard door without hitting the toilet? Perhaps you’ll decide to make but a few simple modifications to upgrade your bathroom.

To help you determine your bathroom’s dimensions and the pipe layout, use the Renovating the Bathroom guide offered in PDF format and draw your bathroom to scale.

A free-standing bathtub, a corner shower?

While planning your made-to-measure bathroom, you’ll also need to choose a decorating style: traditional, contemporary or rustic? The choice is important you know! It’ll influence your choice of faucets, light fixtures, etc. Ask yourself what you want to add to the bathroom: a separate shower and bath? More storage space under the sink? Isn’t disorder a chronic problem in this particular room? Discover inexpensive and efficient storage solutions. You may want to add a few more light sources. And why not improve the ventilation?
Doing it alone?

You can choose to do the job yourself or hire a contractor. Be sure to thoroughly evaluate the time and money aspects that will vary according to the decision you make. Of course any decision will have an impact on your wallet. Your renovations will be less expensive if you do the work yourself and if, for example, you don’t need to relocate the pipes and air vents. It’s up to you to make a plan! Don’t forget that most of the work involves plumbing.

Read more Bathroom Renovation Tips

From the cabinets to the appliances, find out how to ensure a successful kitchen renovation.

Renovating your kitchen will add ease to your lifestyle and value to your home. Here are some important things to consider when you’re updating your kitchen.

Use quality materials.

Quality drawer slides and hinges mean cabinet doors will stay closed and drawers won’t stick. Stay away from drawers that are stapled together or made of particleboard. For cabinet interiors, wood veneer is more durable than melamine, laminate, MDF or particleboard.

Determine cabinet heights.
If you have eight-foot ceilings, choose cabinets that go to the ceiling. They offer more storage, enabling you to use extra wall space for artwork or open shelves. If your ceilings are higher than eight feet, leave 15 to 18 inches above the cabinets.

Decide whether to paint or stain.
Though stained-wood cabinetry is forgiving, most finishes date quickly and aren’t easily altered. Brush-painted cabinets can lend a unique personality.

Select an elegant countertop.
White Carrara marble (honed or acid washed and sealed) and stained wood add elegance and warmth. We also like honed Kirkstone slate, soapstone and Wiarton limestone, and plastic laminate with a wood edge for a sophisticated look.

Install an island that works.
Beware of placing a bulky cube in the middle of the room. We like islands that have an open, airy look. Ideally, an island should be unencumbered by appliances, but if you want it to house a dishwasher-sink combo or a cooktop, try to maintain the light look of a leggy harvest table.

Don’t overdo the details.
Design accents such as pediments over stoves and plaster mouldings on cabinet fronts can represent decorative excess. Remember that the style of your kitchen should be compatible with the rest of your home.

Read more Kitchen Renovation Tips

Coro Strandberg has long used her Burnaby home as a tool for building a sustainable society. A respected sustainability consultant, Strandberg has helped build the capacity of B.C.’s sustainability sector by offering her home over the years as a venue for informal events and networking opportunities – creating connections, fueling conversations, and kick-starting careers.

So when her family decided to build a new home, it was a logical choice to build “green,” incorporating as many sustainability values as possible. They’re now happily living in a beautiful, efficient, environmentally friendly home. But the project came with challenges that Strandberg agreed to share with bchydro.com readers who may be considered building, renovating, or buying a “green home.”

Read Tips on Green Home Renovations and see how she made out.

As the deadline for the federal government’s popular home renovation tax credit looms, Nichols predicted an influx of last-minute reno requests.

“It’s busy. We knew it would happen, of course,” said Nichols, the owner of a Handyman Connection franchise in St. Catharines.

“That’s just human nature, right? We all wait until the last minute.”

The tax credit for home improvements was announced by the government a year ago to stimulate employment in the construction and home-building industry. Renovations between $1,000 and $10,000 completed by Jan. 31 are eligible to receive a non-refundable tax credit of 15%, to a maximum $1,350.

That means homeowners have three more weeks to pay a labourer for a reno or buy supplies for their do-it-yourself projects if they want to cash in on the savings.

“They call in a panic because they know they’re late. ‘Can you get it done? Can you get it done by the end of the month?’ ” Nichols said. “So far we’ve been able to handle everything that’s come in.”

Nichols said the tax incentive has been so popular, she had to hire a couple of extra craftsmen to keep up with demand.

See Tax credit for Home Renovations for the full story