Our kitchen remodelling project


This was a huge project that we did without a real General Contractor in the usual sense of the word. I guess I was it, and ended up coordinating all the various vendors. What it also means is that, without having done it before, you end up with gaps of "who does what" and usually end up either doing it yourself, or doing change orders to your existing vendors to get the work done.

We learnt several lessons:

  • Think how long it might take, and then double it for a more realistic estimate.
  • Don't make the mistake of paying out anything like all the money you owe a particular vendor, until they've really done every last thing for you.
  • Ask to see previous examples of designs done where you have stuff at 45o. This shouldn't be that hard, but ended up being a headache - think drawers opening and hitting things...
  • Fluent Spanish (which Eve has) and any other language requirement is definetly an advantage. We could have used Romanian.
  • Just because you're on a slab doesn't mean it's flat!
  • If you smell alcohol on someone's breath the first time you meet them, politely tell them they don't have the job.

    A few positives:

  • If upgrading your electrical service as we did, plan to have no meter while the need for air conditioning is greatest! LA DWP was in no hurry to replace our meter which meant we ran on "free" juice for about 6 months (they in fact estimate your consumption based on prior year's usage).
  • Feed all your friends while you still have a kitchen, then they'll invite you back while yours is being remodelled.
  • Eve, who is was in charge of anything that required an aesthetic decision, persisted with her one choice of granite despite the fact that the only crate of the stuff in the whole of LA was in several pieces. Her persistence was rewarded when the granite guys were able to use the broken pieces just fine.

    Permits: we did this job fully permitted. This means that full plans have to be submitted and we get inspections from the City of LA. The good thing is that this keeps the construction contractors in line, knowing that their work is being inspected and their reputation is more on the line. The bad news is that it costs more, and our property taxes will go up as the value of the house is enhanced. I found the City Inspectors to be prompt, professional and reasonable. They have a reservation system for arranging inspections that really seems to work.

    On this page is a list of vendors that did decent work for us and that we would recommend to others. William, husband of Ameryllis, our cleaning lady also did lots of work. His number is (323) 663 6898. The only really dodgy contractor was the original plumber. I ended up finishing off his work. I also spent a fun couple of hours in the attic with the blowtorch fixing his error that caused hot water to run to our guest bathroom's toilet. The plumber listed on this page did the extractor flue which scared me! Not listed here, was the crack Rumanian team of stucco guys. We found all of these people through reliable word of mouth, many through Eve's friend Petite. If these people pass Petite's muster, they must already be pretty special, so we knew we were in good hands.

    The sequence was roughly:

  • We attended an open evening at California Kitchens in Burbank and meet a kitchen designer who we end up hiring to design our kitchen.
  • We hold a 4th July party, get guests to grafitti all over old cabinets
  • We ordered all new appliances from Steve at California Kitchens.
  • We realized that we could rearrange the closet by my office to accommodate the washer and dryer. Once we'd figured we could do this, we were able to make the kitchen much bigger. It also makes much more sense to have the washer/dryer nearer the bedrooms. A Washer/Dryer is needy on infrastructure: 1)dedicated power circuit 2) Hot/Cold water 3)drain 4)gas 5)vent. I did pretty much all this myself. William did the studs, drywall, floor tiles and painting and figured out the vent which drove me nuts. We did the demolition work together.
  • We go through many iterations of the kitchen design with our designer. When the design is 98% there, we get Julian the cabinet guy turned on.
  • Eve and I jointly destroyed all the old cabinets and we removed all the old appliances, and gave them to Salvation Army. We kept the existing fridge for our temporary kitchen setup.
  • I tried to get permits myself, but realized I didn't know how the system worked. Ended up hiring a structural engineer to do drawings: Mark Ficinski. So Mark got the permits.
  • William stripped all the internal walls and ceiling. We got through many many dumpsters at $75 each from 1-877-TRASHBIN.
  • Vasile and Florin, doing framing and electrical work respectively, started work. Vasile ripped the side of the house off, replaced all the studs, installed the new window, and added structural members to allow for the larger span to the dining area. Vasile puts plywood on the outside so we have some walls.
  • The unmentionable plumber did his rough in work.
  • I had to strip the old floor tiles off. This was a horrible job.
  • First inspection: framing and rough in. The inspector sees all the stuff that's going to get covered up. We passed no problem.
  • The old floor tiles under the carpet in the dining room test positive for asbestos. When the time comes, we'll need to hire a company to remove these properly.
  • William installs tons and tons of drywall. He even picks up a helper at Home Depot!
  • Vasile gets his Romanian friend Ion to do the stucco. We never really saw very much of them, but they left a big mess in the driveway for days. The final job they did was excellent and the color match was perfect. It's a 3 step process with at least a week between each coat.
  • Another inspection to check the drywall before being mudded. This checks that there are enough screws to hold up the ceiling etc. We passed again!
  • I order 59 bauhaus knobs from Myknobs.com.
  • We get the appliances delivered and they sit around the pool for a few weeks, so at least we have them here for checking measurements.
  • Once the walls are in, mudded and primed we are ready for cabinets. Julian and his boys do an awful lot of installing in just one day.
  • A bit of frustration as a good month goes by and no progress on the worktops. Eve needed to see the whole kitchen before she could possibly select granite (that's my story!)
  • Eventually she picks a vendor, and they come and measure up. Caesar at Herrara Marble is able to e-mail me AutoCAD drawings. 3 more weeks before they start installing granite.
  • The sinks have been removed by Herrara for fitting in the shop, so we're still no closer to having running water in our kitchen, and it's starting to get a little chilly doing the washing up outside!
  • We get the Subzero refridgerator installed. The top section cover doesn't fit - we have to order the special reduced height version and Subzero won't take the old one back.
  • As soon as the granite and sinks are in, I decide to finish off the plumbing myself. This was a most satifactory Saturday in early November. Finally we have running water.
  • We get Eddie Egan the flooring people going. Randy, the first installer brings his cute dog to work every day. He lays the wood floor in the kitchen only. Has to rip one section up again as it wouldn't stick to our uneven floor.
  • Much to Eve's disapproval William and I sneak the Viking stove into place, over the newly laid floor. We immediately see a 45o problem. Julian agrees to fix. Julian also does the wood panel for the fridge door.
  • We get Cecil and his boys in for painting fo a day.
  • We get the Calligan reverse osmosis purifier installed.
  • We have 23 people for Thanksgiving - the floor in the kitchen is in but not finished. So we cover it with thick paper.
  • Eve and I roll back the carpet we had installed in the dining room. We deliberately chose cheaper carpet here, as we knew we'd be doing wood in this room.
  • We've hired CCSI in Van Nuys for asbestos removal: Jimmie Johnson (818) 779 4880. They're done in 1 day.
  • Eddie E finishes the floor in the dining room. They have to take the stove out again and finish off both kitchen and dining room with sanding, coats of stain and varnish. We go to Starbucks for coffee for a week as we can't get in the kitchen.
  • We call for final inspection by the city which passes. I call LADWP for a new electric meter.
  • After the floor treatments, finally we can use our kitchen for real as the stove is reinstalled.

    As of today (2/1/2001) we just await getting some bar stools that match our 42 1/2" high bar (Eve dearest: how long have we known we'd need these??!)

    That's about it. See photos below. (Click for bigger images)

    Old kitchen Old kitchen, cabinets being removed Vasile starting to pick off the old stucco Vasile about to remove the old windows A scary day - most of the walls are missing!
    Internal framing before the drywall goes on The outside, with plywood The outside now with stuco wire added Interior, with walls primed and ready for cabinets Cabinets installed
    Granite partially in place, refridgerator in, but no finish panel Ready to install faucets in the sink Refridgerator with finish panel, stove in place Walls now painted Wood floor finally finished

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