I'm renovating a house myself

[Mr. P]

Can anyone give me a general idea of how much to spend on cabinets for a kitchen that is approximately 10x10 feet? I ripped all the old stuff out, replaced the windows, tiled the floor and am now ripping the wall apart that separates the kitchen and the dining room to open up the space. I want to turn that area into a little countertop dining area, which should be easy enough. I know Home depot is doing a 10percent off sale with their cabinets, but I think you have to purchase a $100 "professional measurement" session to get the discount. Any advice?

Yep, be sure the wall you're removing is NOT a load bearing wall!!

[glockmail]

Can anyone give me a general idea of how much to spend on cabinets for a kitchen that is approximately 10x10 feet? I ripped all the old stuff out, replaced the windows, tiled the floor and am now ripping the wall apart that separates the kitchen and the dining room to open up the space. I want to turn that area into a little countertop dining area, which should be easy enough. I know Home depot is doing a 10percent off sale with their cabinets, but I think you have to purchase a $100 "professional measurement" session to get the discount. Any advice?

In short, no. Way too many variables.

Cabinets can be budgetted by the foot. Measure the total length of wall where they are going. Separate lengths for base and wall cabinets. Depot/ Lowes can then give a budget price for each cabinet line. To keep costs down, select a lower end line, and chose larger cabinets with shelves instead of drawers. Avoid wall cabinet crown and bottom trim.

These places always have stock cabinets at the back of the store. These are generally the low end cabinets with only a few lengths and minimal features. If you are satisfied with this cabinets, you can pick up a sheet of stock sizes and design your layout based on that. Draw up your layout on 1/4" scale using "quadrille" paper. You may also want to do elevations of each front.

Your next biggest cost is counter top- budget based on length, backsplash, and edge treatment. Granite is big now and prices have steadily declined. Your lowest cost will be formica in stock sizes. Again, if you can hold to what they have in stock, you will save money.

Lowes/ Depot have good buys in stock items. If you can go this route I suggest also shopping at "salvage" suppliers, as they generally have competing products at even better prices. These stores sometimes have something special that someone ordered and did not pick up. I've seen guys get great bargains this way, design their layout around the product, and end up with something very special.

If you have to go with ordered sizes, you should find out who the private dealers are that also sell the same cabinets. My last cabinet job I used KraftMaid cabinets, found all the dealers nearby through their web site, and took bids from local cabinet guys. I had a simple layout with clear plans and one guy gave me a discount of 68%, blowing Lowes out of the water.

[glockmail]

Yep, be sure the wall you're removing is NOT a load bearing wall!!

Sounds like he may have found out already.

Crash.

[Hagbard Celine]

Sounds like he may have found out already.

Crash.

Yes guys, I checked the basement to make sure it wasn't load-bearing before I tore it out.

[Hagbard Celine]

I need a second opinion. The drain pipe for my kitchen sink (not the undersink p-trap plumbing but the old iron pipe in the wall that leads into the main drainage pipe for the house) is corroded. It has a thin bottom and already has a couple of holes. It's not feasible for me to replace the whole pipe because it's in a wall behind cabinets. I was planning to use a rubber plumbing bracket to just cover up the existing hole, however I'm afraid that this is only a temporary fix. My question is: Can I feed a drain hose through the old pipe to empty into the main pipe and just hook that up to the new undersink p-trap plumbing? I included a diagram if there is confusion.

[Mr. P]

I need a second opinion. The drain pipe for my kitchen sink (not the undersink p-trap plumbing but the old iron pipe in the wall that leads into the main drainage pipe for the house) is corroded. It has a thin bottom and already has a couple of holes. It's not feasible for me to replace the whole pipe because it's in a wall behind cabinets. I was planning to use a rubber plumbing bracket to just cover up the existing hole, however I'm afraid that this is only a temporary fix. My question is: Can I feed a drain hose through the old pipe to empty into the main pipe and just hook that up to the new undersink p-trap plumbing? I included a diagram if there is confusion.

Does the line to the kitchen screw into the main line?

[glockmail]

I need a second opinion. .....

Look at specialty connectors here: http://www.fernco.com/specialty.asp

These things are all rubber and attach to the OD of the pipe with stainless steel bands.

Maybe a drain trap connector would work if the existing stub is in good shape.

You you have to use a tee you might be able to make a slice in the back of the "riser" side, remove the bands, wrap it around then put the bands back on.

Or look here: http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pipe-repair.html for a saddle tee. For this you need a good clean hole in the riser pipe. If you don't have a "saws-all" by now then get one, and use a narrow blade for cutting steel, and cut a clean circular hole as best you can. The de-bur the edges with a grinder attached to an electric drill. Clean the outside of the pipe with a wire brush and grinder. Then apply a fat bead of silicone gasket cement, stick the saddle on and secure it with stainless steel pipe bands.

I'm sure theres a good plumbing supply shop near you that has all that stuff. You know the place with the counter service and stools, and won't tell you what the prices are until you give them your name. Don't bother with Lowes of Home Depot.

[Pale Rider]

Yes guys, I checked the basement to make sure it wasn't load-bearing before I tore it out.

You really didn't need to worry about it unless it's a two story house anyway. Ceiling trusses should be able to support themselves and the sheet rock without anything holding them up their full span.

As far as cabinets, just go in and look at what you can buy on your budget. Buy what you can afford.

I think it's cool what your doing Hag. I've done a lot of this work myself. It's gratifying, not to mention all the sweat equity you're building for yourself.

How'd that robbery thing turn out?

[manu1959]

You really didn't need to worry about it unless it's a two story house anyway. Ceiling trusses should be able to support themselves and the sheet rock without anything holding them up their full span.

not quite true ..... some trusses are designed to have multiple support points .... and or the intermediate wall is also used to keep the truss from rotating ......

[Pale Rider]

not quite true ..... some trusses are designed to have multiple support points .... and or the intermediate wall is also used to keep the truss from rotating ......

Depends on the truss construction and span between the walls. If the wall Hag was tearing out was just a few feet long, I wouldn't have worried about it at all.

[manu1959]

Depends on the truss construction and span between the walls. If the wall Hag was tearing out was just a few feet long, I wouldn't have worried about it at all.

wood has a very good memory.....

[Pale Rider]

wood has a very good memory.....

True. That's why I like to work with metal. You can make all the mistakes you want and still fix it. With wood it's like, "damn... I cut it twice and it's still too short."

[Hagbard Celine]

You really didn't need to worry about it unless it's a two story house anyway. Ceiling trusses should be able to support themselves and the sheet rock without anything holding them up their full span.

As far as cabinets, just go in and look at what you can buy on your budget. Buy what you can afford.

I think it's cool what your doing Hag. I've done a lot of this work myself. It's gratifying, not to mention all the sweat equity you're building for yourself.

How'd that robbery thing turn out?

My homeowner's insurance covered me and I upgraded everything I had so I came out of it smelling like a rose. Here's what the kitchen used to look like:



Here's what it looks like now:

[glockmail]

Where's the strippers gyrating around those poles?

[Kathianne]

Nice cookin' area! I'd dig that!