Overwhelmed by the thoughtof a kitchen renovation? You’re not alone. It is a large financial andemotional investment. If you take the time to do your homework, you’ll be moreconfident in your decisions. There are three phases of groundwork that happen beforethe kitchen remodel begins: planning, purchasing and preparing.

Planning
Planning begins right at home by standing in your currentkitchen and assessing what you want to change and what you want to keep. Nowhead to your computer to scroll through the thousands of idea-provokingpictures on websites like houzz.com or pinterest.com. Make ideabooks, pinboards and/or virtual folders to collect photos of things that appeal to you -colors, layouts, storage, flooring, etc. This can help you and your designer nail down your particularstyle.

Now, about that designer, it’s time to start visiting retaillocations to educate yourself. Your first trip to the store is to learn about cabinetconstruction, flooring options, pros and cons of different countertopmaterials, etc. Since Attleboro Kitchen & Bath offers all of the surfaces you'llneed in your kitchen, we can educate you on all of this in one visit. This will help you to make decisions based on what is a goodvalue rather than just picking the first white cabinet you fall in love with.

This also goes for appliances. Do you need a 36” cooktop?What are the advantages of a side-by-side fridge? What the heck is a microwavedrawer? The design of your kitchen will need to accommodate yourappliance choices so go to school on what is the best for the way you cook.

Purchasing
Once you feel good about being able to make educated choices,now talk about style, color and conveniences. During this purchasing phase, you will visit some retaillocations that just draw up layouts. If you work with this type of store, you’ll need to spendtime getting separate labor quotes from contractors. Attleboro Kitchen and Bathis capable of working with your contractor as well as contracting the projectstart to finish. We are licensed andinsured to do the work.

An important part of this phase is the contract that clearlyspells out the products and/or services included in the contract price, apayment schedule and an option for arbitration. A contract protects you just asmuch as it protects the contractor.

Preparing
You have chosen all your finishes, ordered your cabinets andsigned a contract with a professional. Is it time to begin? Well, it may be a few weeks before yourjobs starts but that’s okay - you have other things to take care of before then.

The downtime between signing the contract and actuallystarting the job can be useful. Take the time to go through everything in your kitchen. Purge items you don’t need or barely use and throw awaywhat’s broken or chipped. During this time, you will also need to finalize anyother purchases - appliances, lighting, faucets, curtains, cushions, etc.

Finally, your start day is here! This is the easy part! You get to relax - most of the decisions are made and you cansit back and see it come together over the next five to seven weeks. Here is a typicaltimeline for a kitchen renovation:

1. Demolition (1 to 3 days) - this is the noisiest and dustiestpart of the project. Do yourself a favor and plan a few days away for thefamily during this time if possible.

2. Rough mechanicals (2 to 4 days) - rough plumbing,wiring andHVAC go in now and are then inspected

3. Board and plaster (1 to 2 days) - repairs to walls and/orceilings if necessary

4. Cabinet installation (3 to 5 days) and Countertop Template (1day) - the installer will set most of the cabinetry so a detailed template ofthe new countertops can be performed either by specialized laser measuringdevices or by a series of old-school physical templates

5. Finalizing cabinet installation and Countertopfabrication(10-14 days) - moldings and hardware will go on while thecountertops are being made

6. Flooring (2 to 5 days) - this can either happen before orafter the countertops are installed and is usually based on the material beingused

7. Countertop Installation (1 day) - Countertops are installed

8. Tile backsplash installed (2 to 3 days) - Tile is installedon day one and two and then grouted

9. Final mechanicals (2 to 3 days) - Plumbing connections aremade, lighting fixtures are hung and wired appliances installed

10. Punch list and final touch ups (2 to 3 days) -Always expect afew items to need tweaking at the end of a project - a door needs to bealigned, a finish nail set in, a drawer is sticky. Make a list of any itemsthat need attention to call the project finished. Your contractor wants you todo this so everyone is happy with the end product.

11. Enjoy for years to come!

Cindy Woyton 9/12/18
AttleboroKitchen & Bath