Kitchen Renos

[alltherage]

Anyone have some good experiences? We're looking at a house that likely needs some renos in the kitchen.

It's a U shaped kitchen, probably around 200 square feet (I havent measured).

We are thinking we have to do the cabinets, countertop and backsplash. We can't refinish the cabinets, they are pretty old and are bowing in some areas. We need new ones.

We are thinking Home Depot, Ikea, etc... I know Ikea is a little cheap but "I work hard for my money, and I'm looking for someone to treat me right."

Anyone feel like sharing an experience or two?

[algernon]

Cabinetry is usually estimated per lineal foot. There are two types; uppers (12" deep) and base cabinets (24" deep).
Granite, etc. is estimated per square foot.
Ikea or any big box will give you an accurate layout and estimate for free, provided your measurements are accurate.

Algernon.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

We got a consult through costco and the net was 13k installed for reasonable high end with bells and whistles. (probably a 300 or 400 sq ft with a really big island).

Nice Counters 6k

The thing that scared my wife off was 4-6 weeks without a kitchen.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Give Pieszak Custom Cabinets a call. 403-279-2255. Big burly french dood runs the place. VERY good at what he does. Cute little blonde assistant too.

[guzzy]

Trust me, for the price range you are looking at, Ikea is easily twice the quality of Home Depot etc.

I gutted a 97 year old house in Inglewood a few years ago and put it an Ikea kitchen. For the price and quality, you won't beat Ikea. I lived there for 3 years and never had any issues with quality or workmanship and it looked great.

I spent about $5000 in cupboards, sink, and faucet from Ikea. PLus I got back 10% in gift cards.

Appliances and counters were another $5000.

Only negative about Ikea is the faucets. Stay away unless you are a decent plumber. It is European connections and they are difficult to find here. Buy this stuff from a local hardware store.

PLus Ikea has 3d software that is easy to use and you can lay your kitchen out yourself and it prices things out as you go along.

[octothorp]

Ikea stuff is a fantastic quality for what you get. The one caveat I would say is double-check all their paperwork before they submit it, and check again when everything arrives; we did have some back-and-forth and delays before we got absolutely everything we ordered. I don't recall what our cabinetry cost, but we were at less than 8K for our 175 sqft kitchen including granite countertops, tile backsplash, and new floor. Everything except for the backsplash came from Ikea, although I've since heard that you can probably save a few hundred by skipping Ikea when it comes to the countertops.

edit: also, Ikea's software doesn't work on the Mac, and even in-store it's really buggy. We had our plans drawn out exactly, and it took one of their two experts about two hours to enter it all into the computer (including several crashes), and then entering everything from there into their ordering software.

[Pinner]

Get yourself a good camp stove and an electric griddle.

[Ramsayfarian]

When I did my kitchen at my previous house, I went with Ikea and had no complaints. Saved a pile of cash as well.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Give Pieszak Custom Cabinets a call. 403-279-2255. Big burly french dood runs the place. VERY good at what he does. Cute little blonde assistant too.

Or give me a shout by PM, I can give you the number for the guy that used to be the lead guy for Pieszak. He's a friend of mine and is doing work on his own now.

[alltherage]

I'm pleasantly surprised with all the ikea feedback... I mentioned this in a conversation with some people last night and they all thought I was better off to go with Home Depot...

I like a more classic look and I think ikea has gotten better- or at least now they have more variety than their super modern stuff.

Thanks again, I have lots to think about over the weekend.

Do you guys think $10,000 will do the trick if I want something fairly nice? (Granite not needed, we already have the sink and fixtures)

Also on another note.... YIKES 4-6 weeks? Seriously? Is that the going rate?

[guzzy]

Another thing about Ikea....in that price range you are actually getting wood doors on the cabs. The cabs are pressboard but unless you are spending over $20000 you probably aren't getting real wood cabs anywhere

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by alltherage

Also on another note.... YIKES 4-6 weeks? Seriously? Is that the going rate?

I think you'll have a hard time with that timeline, I mean, last time you couldn't even survive 30 days, let alone 6 weeks


edit for content: A few friends of mine went with ikea cabinets, but with real cabinet doors (from custom cabinet maker). Allows you to take advantage of ikeas stupid-cheap frames, but with decent doors.

Even Ikea's highest level cabinet doors (Espresso brown Liljestad) are flimsey and made out of 1/16" board. You can find some solid wood doors for the same price.

Ikea sells their kitchen base frames for cheap and then makes the bulk of profits on the doors.