Discuss timeline for my kitchen remodel on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. timeline for my kitchen remodel - Need help with planning your remodel? Want a kitchen planner to review your ideas? This is the happenin' spot!.
(Not sure which forum to post in, so feel free to move, mods.)
My husband and I need to decide asap if we are going to take the plunge and do this kitchen remodel over Christmas. It basically comes down to how long each piece of the process will take, and since I'm not sure how the process goes, I come to you for help!
Basically, DH is a working PhD student so very, very busy. He will be off from roughly 12/8/07 to 1/8/08 (though probably still have some school things to do at the start of that break). So, this seems like an ideal time to do our kitchen, as I also get several days off (I may take off the whole week of Christmas, so I'll have an 11 day span off). But, the question is: can we get our order in and delivered in time to make this possible? We're in NC, four hours or more from the closest IKEA, so that's why I'm really nervous.
Is something like the following timeframe realistic? (Kitchen is small, see gallery, so not a huge amount of cabs to take out or put in.)
12/7-12/8: Visit Woodbridge, VA, store with plan in hand. Verify that the plan is what we want to do; make minor adjustments as needed. Have IKEAn make draft order?
12/9-12/10: Back at home, review draft order carefully. Talk to IKEAn over phone with any questions or changes?
12/11: Either fax in order to go through Terminal and pick up in Woodbridge, OR fax/call in order to IKEA Direct. Not sure which to do!
12/15: Demo? (Or wait until we're sure order is coming/can be picked up?)
12/17-12/18: Electrical work (just installing some outlets for undercab lighting and one for telephone, possibly moving dishwasher and may or may not need electrical help there)
12/20-12/21: Paint
12/22: Either pick up order in Woodbridge (realistic to be in by now?) or get order delivered around this time (realistic?)
12/26-12/27: Assemble cabinets?
12/28-12/29: Install cabinets?
12/31: Install countertops? (probably doing butcherblock, hope we can do the cutting ourselves)
1/1: Install sink (shouldn't need plumber as it won't be moving far at all)
1/2: Install dishwasher? (don't know if we will need help if we do decide to move it)
1/3-1/5: Anything that's left -- undercab lighting, toekicks, open shelving, etc.? (not horrible if these get pushed back into the start of the semester, as they should be easy to do on weekends)
It might be better to verify your plan online here. Depends on the IKEAN you get in the store, how helpful they are/aren't. I got better advice here than in the shop.
If you're going into the store, it'd be better to pick up those cabinet frames then and there if you can. It's easier to return mistakes, otherwise you might be held up waiting for a replacement to come.
Don't assume because your Draft Order is correct, the sales? order will be. This baffled me, as there are certain things on my Draft Order that were correct (ie some glass doors), yet when the IKEAN did the sales? (don't know what this next order is called but the one you pay for and take down to Pick Up), the glass doors mysteriously turned into wood doors, and an 88" pantry turned into an 80" one. I had several issues like this. Returns explained to me that the IKEAN enters this info in AGAIN (here is where errors can happen). Apparently they're working on making this system more automated.
But you really do need to go over that sales order carefully - and it's terribly hard to read as it's not in cabinet order like the Draft Order is.
Our install got delayed because we didn't have studs in necessary places so check your walls carefully where you plan to put really heavy cabinets - ie the over the fridge cabinet, the tall pullout pantries etc.
We're total novices and cut the Numerar butcher block ourselves. We decided on wood over laminate for the very reason that we were more confident of cutting it. We also chose the Domsjo drop in sink to avoid doing a sink cutout.
Some door styles are not available in the shop and must be ordered - takes about 10-14 days to get them in. Therein started some of our issues. At least 1/3 of our Lidingo doors were damaged, so we'd return them (wait in return line), reorder, wait another 10-14 days etc etc. It's a hassle but no biggie as your kitchen is quite usable, lol even more usable without doors.
I think it's certainly doable. But allow for some things to go wrong, because they will. Moving a dishwasher may or may not be easy - the General Remodeling forum was very helpful when I had questions about moving a sink.
If at all possible I would order in advance of your husband's block of time off--surely you could squeeze in a weekend day ahead of time? That way you could have the basics ready to assemble the very first day your husband is off. Also it may be harder to get someone to do the electrical etc. during that time, so line it up in advance if possible. As Janne notes, there's a real value in getting the frames and internal drawer parts separate from the fronts. You won't be ready for the fronts until the very end, you probably don't have a lot of room to store them, and you might have to wait to get them, depending on your style and local availability. But the basics are the same for every style and you should be able to get them quite quickly. To make this happen you might have to split the order--not sure if this impacts any special deals you're hoping to get. If you can talk to the recommended Ikean for your store in advance, this is the kind of thing to ask about....
If you're going into the store, it'd be better to pick up those cabinet frames then and there if you can. It's easier to return mistakes, otherwise you might be held up waiting for a replacement to come.
Are you saying to buy the frames the first time we go, on 12/7-12/8? The problem with this is we'd need to rent a truck or van, and then what if we get there and decide we're not sure any more about some piece of our plan and can't buy anything then? Then we've wasted the money on the rental. It's awfully risky to buy the stuff without taking the draft order home and reviewing it, both ourselves and online here, don't you think?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Janne
But you really do need to go over that sales order carefully - and it's terribly hard to read as it's not in cabinet order like the Draft Order is.
When do I get to see the sales order? If I order by faxing, do I fax in the draft order, they fax back the sales order, I fax back to them confirming it? And what if I order through IKEA Direct? How does that process work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Janne
Our install got delayed because we didn't have studs in necessary places so check your walls carefully where you plan to put really heavy cabinets - ie the over the fridge cabinet, the tall pullout pantries etc.
I thought that was the point of the suspension rail -- you screw that in to the studs, where ever they are, and then screw the cabs into that, so you don't have to worry about studs lining up with each cabinet. Is this wrong? Our house sucks in terms of studs, so I hope not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Janne
We're total novices and cut the Numerar butcher block ourselves. We decided on wood over laminate for the very reason that we were more confident of cutting it. We also chose the Domsjo drop in sink to avoid doing a sink cutout.
Yeah, we're going to do a drop-in sink, not an undermount, no matter what, due to budget. How much work did you have to put into prepping the wood? I forgot that part in my process timeline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Janne
Some door styles are not available in the shop and must be ordered - takes about 10-14 days to get them in. Therein started some of our issues. At least 1/3 of our Lidingo doors were damaged, so we'd return them (wait in return line), reorder, wait another 10-14 days etc etc. It's a hassle but no biggie as your kitchen is quite usable, lol even more usable without doors.
Yeah, I like the idea of ordering the doors separately from the boxes, afterward. Allows me to save up more money for doors too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Janne
I think it's certainly doable. But allow for some things to go wrong, because they will.
Yes, I'm positive of that. But to confirm -- you think my dates for both ordering and receiving the orders are realistic? Though I'm still not clear on how you recommend I order and pick up, and when. I'd love more feedback from you on this. Thanks!
I would love to order earlier, and I can certainly squeeze in a day to go up there before 12/7, but I can't say that my DH can. He's taking an all-day exam today, otherwise I'd ask him right now! But that's an example of why he probably can't go up any earlier. And if he can't go with me, there's not much point -- I've already seen the stuff once, he never has.
I might have a small chance of convincing him to go up on the Friday after Thanksgiving -- but man, IKEA is crazy enough as it is, I'm not sure I want to see it on Black Friday! Or probably that Saturday either.
I do like the idea of ordering the non-door stuff first. Can you clarify how you see that process going? Do you think I should fax in an order after the trip or order and take away the very same time we go up?
If I were you I'd look at my plans and see which parts are "no matter what we'll need one of these" things... There must be some of those, even if you're still debating where they'll be installed! Buy as many of the frames for these as will fit into your car the first day you drag your husband up there. It will take you MUCH longer to assemble the first couple than it will take you to do all of the rest . Since you'll be getting wall cabs, it makes sense to start with those. Build a regular one (or more than one!) before tackling building a corner cab, if you have any--they tend to be more complex.
I didn't do the fax/review thing so I can't comment on that. You can ask for a draft sorted by cabs so that you can see what you're getting--right there in the store. Then if it's OK, you tell them to place the order and you match the two against one another to check them. That's what I did with my first order. We did things in sections, since Ikea is pretty close to us, and by now I just walk in and order what I want--I just rattle off the parts I'm ready for--doors yes, no, no drawers, five sets of legs please--whatever .
Re. rails and studs: yes, the rails address the stud issue for wall cabs & shallow pantries (you still need studs to take the weight but they don't have to be in an exact location). But the deep pantries don't use the rail: use drywall anchors if you can't find a stud. See http://www.ikeafans.com/forums/got-q...html#post69110
IIRC, Janne had something like two studs in her entire wall.
I would wait until you have everything ready to reinstall before you do the demo- you really don't realize how much you use your kitchen sink until it's sitting in the driveway. We were without kitchen the first time for about a week, and it was terrible.
I would also order the day you go. Could you bring DH one of the doors you know you'll need so that you can go and order and have it be done? I mean, if you get there and find out you don't like drawer bases, you change it to 2 pullouts or one cabinet in the same size. Chances are, you won't know you really don't like it until you live with it for a few weeks anyway (I don't love my drawer base because my wok and the big SS saute pan take up one entire drawer with their handles. I need to either add another pull out or little shelves to stack the others on). As far as the rental van money, you'll probably save close to that amount in gas money.
Ok, I'm still pretty confused, but I think the consensus, at least from the people who have chimed in on this thread, is order and take away the first day we go up. Do I have this right?
We're in central North Carolina and our closest store is Woodbridge, VA, which is about a 4 hour drive away.
I can understand your dh's reluctance to commit until he's seen the display kitchens. Maybe you can go forward on the plan that'll you'll be buying on the first trip and then just buy what you can fit in your car. You can order the rest later. But least you'll have something to start with/get the ball rolling.
We did our small kitchen in stages - first stage was one wall of cabinets - a pantry, over the fridge cabinet and base/upper cabinet. i.e. not the sink/dishwasher wall because you'll want to be using that still. We installed that wall of cabinets and learnt a lot. Second stage we bought the rest of the kitchen. I found this less intimidating than having to finish the whole kitchen in one go. And I could still use my kitchen.
We borrowed a relative's truck for one trip and used my station wagon with roof rack. Base and upper cabinets should fit in a car.
You do need to be sure of some parts of your plan. For example my base cabinet layout was pretty fixed. What aren't you sure about? When I wasn't sure about something, I detailed Option 1, Option 2, Option 3 etc and had it all written out. So if I decided against something, then I had something else to put in it's place.
I'd started my kitchen and still hadn't decided on one wall of upper cabinets. I'm afraid I haven't found the Ikea kitchen staff to be any more knowledgeable than the people on this site. I got better ideas here. The kitchen staff who take your order don't offer a design service. If you're lucky they might suggest things but don't count on it. I also found the Ikea workers gloss over things like studs. They told me not to worry about studs and just use drywall anchors on my pullout pantry. I think I got better/safer advice about that issue here.
Re studs - I had a high, deep pullout pantry - I didn't feel secure with just drywall anchors for that and it wasn't going to hit ANY studs. We ended up opening up the drywall, reinforcing the wall studs and replacing the 1/2" drywall with 1/2" plywood. So the cabinet is screwed to the plywood and the plywood is screwed into the studs well.
Tip: take a digital camera with you and photograph elements of the display kitchen so when you're doing your own you'll remember how it looks assembled and how things fit together.
Ordering - I'm afraid I don't know about faxing orders or IKEA direct. After you confirm the Draft order to your IKean they'll generate the sales order. You then check the sales order. It'd be nice to have some time to go over that - I did feel rushed in the shop - it's complicated, hard to read, the shop is busy, other customers waiting - I felt rushed and it had mistakes in it - some I picked up and others I missed at the time. Can you get to IKEA early, do your draft order, then go off for lunch to the cafeteria and review your Draft order, then go back and do your sales order after lunch?
The Draft Order is a list of your cabinets (the ikean put's a label on each cabinet) - ie 30"Upper Cabinet w Glass Doors and then it lists the parts for that cabinet - frame, rail, door, wooden or glass shelves etc. The sales order lists all the parts for your kitchen but it's not in cabinet order so it might say, 3 12"x24" doors, and then you have to think about if that is correct (which cabinets use these doors, is it the right size etc). You can refer to your Draft order or having a print out of your 2D kitchen layout from the planner is a help - I wrote all the cabinet/door sizes on that layout.
Wood countertop - If you do Waterlox that does need to be worked into your plan. I did 4-6 coats (needs 12-24 hours drying time between coats) and you need to do it before installing the countertops (so you can do sides). I also did 1 coat underneath the section near the sink. I did 6 coats on section near sink, 4 on rest of kitchen. I think Ikea's Behandla can be done after installation (at least that appears to be what the Ikea instructions suggest) but needs to be maintained more frequently. All the Ikea display kitchens have Behandla on them. We had delays with countertops too - it's best to cut first then seal. But I didn't want to cut them until I had the base cabinets in place and could measure again. It's no big deal if you can't get your countertops on right away anyway - the cardboard boxes they come in make good temporary countertops
Hope this helps, it's so confusing when you're starting but once you get going it gets easier/makes more sense.
I think my husband and I just need to decide this weekend, once and for all, what layout we are going to do and when we are going to order it. I'll have a good amount of time with him this weekend to finally talk to him about it in detail. I like the idea of buying whatever we can fit in the car on the first trip -- though it won't be much since we have a Honda Civic. But I also think the idea of renting a van and buying the whole thing is doable as long as we are really organized, and perhaps we'd have to add another day up there. Like, go up Friday night, go to IKEA first thing Saturday morning, generate the draft order that afternoon, take it back to the hotel Saturday night to review and make our own spreadsheet. Then, go back to IKEA first thing Sunday morning with any changes, generate the sales order, and review it against our spreadsheet before placing the order. This might work, right?
Either way, I think we will hold off on buying the doors during this trip, as we won't have a lot of room to store stuff at our house, and it will save us some money up front. And hey, who knows, maybe we'll get a windfall of cash for Christmas and be able to upgrade to nicer doors.
DH has actually seen the Applad White doors -- I got a drawer front for 50 cents in the as-is room at the Bolingbrook store when I went a few weeks ago. But a plain Applad White drawer front doesn't really look like anything, so it's not terribly helpful.
There's one wall of our kitchen that has nothing on it right now, so we can definitely start the process there while disturbing little else in the rest of the kitchen. But, this blank wall isn't going to have much added to it -- either a tall pantry with an adjacent countertop and some open shelving, or a countertop with no tall pantry and just high shelves above. I don't think a tall pantry is the best cabinet to begin with. Especially when we intend to move all the holes back a few inches so we can hang brooms on the inside of the door!
Ok, I'm off to post the three plans to another thread to get input on which layout we should settle on.
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. Since you'll be getting wall cabs, it makes sense to start with those. Build a regular one (or more than one!) before tackling building a corner cab, if you have any--they tend to be more complex.
