Before the sledgehammers start swinging to demolish your old kitchen, there are a few things that need to be taken care of. The most obvious is to pack away your pots, pans, dishes, and small appliances and put them in a safe area of your home that will not be in the way of construction crews. Your remodeling contractor will take care of the administrative task of obtaining the required permits in the weeks leading up to the start of your project. On day one, anything that will be salvaged (appliances or fixtures) will be removed and relocated. Where necessary, floor protection and dust protection will go up, and a designated area for staging demolition debris will be established. Ok, NOW the sledgehammers can start swinging! 

. . . Yes, a kitchen remodel can at times feel ‘rough,' but . . . in this case, rough is progress!  After demolition, the rough framing, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical work begins. When your kitchen requires the removal or construction of new walls, your carpenter will perform this work first. Depending on the complexity of the new design, it could be only a day, or a couple of weeks to complete the rough framing. Next, the plumber will arrive to reroute any of the drainage or water supply lines that will be covered up by drywall, followed by the mechanical and electrical trades. It is at this stage that you should do a detailed walk-through with your remodeling contractor to be clear on the location of every light fixture and switch BEFORE the drywall gets installed. It’s also not a bad idea to take lots of photos and record a video walkthrough that shows what’s going to be covered up.

Once all of the framing and trades have been approved by the building inspectors, the drywall gets hung and finished. After allowing about a week for all of the drywall mud to properly dry and get sanded smooth, it’s time for cabinet installation. Prior to setting the cabinets, your carpenter will use the plans to mark the walls and floors for cabinet placement. It is critical that the cabinets are installed square, plumb and level.  The challenge however is that a wood framed home is not going to be perfectly square and level, especially if it’s an older home. To compensate for these imperfections, an experienced carpenter will use laser levels and shims to get those cabinets perfect.   

Now that the cabinetry is in place, a countertop fabricator will arrive to make a template that will be used to cut the stone or quartz selected for the countertops. Since stone cutting is done off site, the template is critical to get an accurate size and shape that will fit the cabinetry and any sink or appliance cutouts. After a couple of weeks in fabrication, the countertops are delivered and installed directly on top of the base cabinetry. Immediately following the installation of the countertops, the backsplash, which is typically tile, can then be installed.

It is at this stage that your kitchen is finally beginning to look like everything you’ve dreamed about! With the countertops now in place, all of the appliances, faucets, and lighting can be installed. Next comes cabinet hardware, any final trim carpentry details, and a fresh coat of paint. Last but not least, the building inspector will make one final visit to make sure everything is safe and code compliant.