Last Updated on March 8, 2022 by Showrooms Online
Planning a kitchen renovation is more complicated than most other home renovations, other than a deep retrofit. A kitchen renovation is also more disruptive since you do not have an alternate kitchen for making regular meals and cleaning up. Plus, there are important construction factors to consider when planning a new kitchen.
The aesthetics are the fun part.
The Scope of Work
Planning a kitchen renovation usually starts with looking at a lot of online images and home decor magazines. However, there is a better place to start which is to make a list of what you want to do first. This will save a lot of time and rethinking.
A kitchen is remodeled far more affordably if you maintain the same “footprint”. When you maintain the current location of the plumbing and electrical services, you save a lot of costs that will pay for the quality and great look you are dreaming about. Look at the existing access and pathways in the kitchen and the location of the windows. Staying with the same footprint will also avoid structural changes and the added cost of engineering.
You can find all sorts of software (in 3D too) to layout the kitchen but it is much easier (and faster) to do a rough sketch first by hand. Leave the detailed design drawings to the kitchen designer or the design-build contractor. Try to make your sketch roughly to scale or at least in proportion.
It doesn’t have to look professional. More than half the value is in drawing the sketch.
Planning a Kitchen Renovation requires making a lot of decisions in the beginning.
Decisions on replacing cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances, and the centre island must be made before going very far. Now is the right time to engage a kitchen designer or a design-build contractor.
Now is the time to look at all those great ideas that can be found everywhere online.
How to plan a kitchen – 10 steps to creating your dream space
Scheduling a Kitchen Renovation
Once you are ready to proceed, make sure all the things you need are on order and have delivery dates, at least promised. Cabinets, countertops, appliances, and lighting deliveries can take many weeks.
Open the boxes, when delivered, and check for damages.
The delivery times can be as long as the actual construction period so avoiding a delay is critical.
Your kitchen remodel will begin with tearing out the old cabinets. This is a point of no return. Your kitchen is now out of action until the project is completed. This is also not the time for any design changes! Take your time upfront even if it means delaying the start of the construction.
The demolition, the flooring, the new cabinets, and the countertops all happen in a sequence. This is not a lot of planning but it is the part that needs to go as planned.
Once again, draw yourself a flow diagram of how things will go together. Even if your contractor is planning and coordinating the project, this will be of good advantage and peace of mind having thought it through. Software scheduling programs are readily available but all have a bit of a steep learning curve and the software that includes all the features you will need is not the free version.
Cost control is easier to set up using Excel or Google sheets. Itemize everything you can think of and build an itemized budget. Add a column for actual costs and continue to update the spreadsheet as you get more information. Again, half the value is in making the budget and the other half is in monitoring and updating your costs as you go. Include a 15-20% contingency. This does not mean you intend to spend it. It assures that you don’t run out of money before you finish the project. There will be a few unavoidable surprises and changes along the way.
A flow sheet of activities is standard for professional builders. Just do a rough sketch and a bar chart based on what you learn.
Here is my example. Doesn’t have to look good. There is in fact a lot more value in this flowsheet than meets the eye. Combined with a cost control spreadsheet, you could project manage your kitchen remodel like a pro.
Here is a quick video that shows how the critical path method actually works. The above diagram is the same approach just minus the calculation. If you like the video, add the durations to the above flowsheet and do the calculation.
Choosing a Renovator a previous blog from Showrooms Online
