Discuss Can I DIY in bits and pieces? on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Can I DIY in bits and pieces? - Need help with planning your remodel? Want a kitchen planner to review your ideas? This is the happenin' spot!.
We'd almost settled on going with a local custom guy and a GC for our remodel because we would really benefit from oddball depths in our smallish kitchen but we dawdled and I just want it done. And I do like the Ikea system. I hate turning my house over to contractors, and we have a deadline (AKA baby due) in mid-March. Funny, I don't mind having the kitchen torn up, but I do mind having guys working in my house day in and out (even though I've never had any but the nicest contractors in the past).
I'm considering a DIY job (hiring out gas/electric), done around our schedule. I'm just not sure this is reasonable. Can I actually do a kitchen like this? It would go something like...
1. Finalize a plan for the darn room
2. Remove appliances gently, demo cabinets, counters, floor
3. Patch walls, paint
4. Get gas and electric in, maybe modernize plumbing
5. Fix subfloor if needed
6. Add cabinets, appliances
7. Do counters, sink
8. Floor, trim, etc.
Permits where appropriate, of course.
Now, is that a proper plan of attack? Can I just stop at any point along there and live out of the microwave and bathroom sink for a while? The only thing I think I couldn't handle is the demo. That is iffy. Sure, I could try yanking down something now as I have done in the past (hubby doesn't care for that habit: "What's under that wallpaper/carpet/drywall?"), but some of these are the solid built-on-site 50s things. So, assuming I can get the hubby to do demo and painting, the rest should just be easy fun stuff, right? And even painting can be postponed. If we just slap cabinets up on pink walls and paint what shows later, it's OK, isn't it? (I'm the better painter and demolisher but I'm trying to avoid fumes and lead and stuff for a few more months.)
Should I run the floor all the way under the cabinets and just do that before cabinets? I'll want it under the range/fridge/
DW
anyway. We're thinking of sheet Marmoleum, which isn't really DIY, or the click stuff, which is.
And if we get in over our heads we can just have someone come in and do it which was the original plan anyway, right? Just be a little embarrassing is all...
Oh, now you remember me! Yeah, I'm the one who can't decide if she can do this or not. I can do any other room. Why does a kitchen scare me? Can I do this (OK, force hubby to do this) in 2 months? Or at least get a usable space in 2 months? How many posts here start off with "can I do this?"? Why have I no confidence in this?
(And anyone know any super good licensed handyman/GC types for demo or Ikea installs in the SF bay area?)
Tell me what to do! Thanks.
DW definitions
DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.
Can I ask you a question? Are you asking if you can do this yourself or if you need a contractor?
I understand your concerns, particularly with a baby on the way. Are your concerns about cost or being able to emotionally handle the remodel with the baby coming? Both?
If you can handle some additional expense, a contractor is certainly the easiest way to go. With a good GC, it will be faster and less painful. If you are concerned that you don't have the time, or possibly the skill set, you are right to identify the things you can do yourselves to keep costs down.
In my book, it's all about your ability to handle chaos and stress. Do you want a new kitchen more than you want the next 3-6 months to be as minimally disruptive as possible? For some people, feeling in control of things is about making change. For others, this would be intolerable, and something better left til after the little one is a bit older.
If I have one piece of advice (and I have more than one piece of advice), don't let the nesting instinct (which is very very real) push you into more than you can handle right now. Again, unless you THRIVE on change, or your kitchen is currently unsanitary, consider waiting. If you must do this, and you can afford a contractor, I advise that path.
On the other hand if you choose to do this yourself right now- WE ARE HERE TO HELP!!!
Goodness. If I could answer all those questions I would have been able to ask a real question instead of that rambling mess I posted!
I can't completely identify my concerns (I'm getting comfortable on the therapist's couch here!). It's not the cost, although savings over the cabinets I was planning on getting would pay for any mistakes I might make.
I don't think it's a nesting thing. I know from prior experience that my "nesting" instinct isn't worth a darn. I've been planning the remodel for a while and I think I'm almost ready to go. It would probably be easier to do before another little one than after...the kitchen isn't unsanitary but it does make me a little insane. And I think a DIY job would be much much less stressful than having someone IN to do it. No hammering at naptime (mine, or I suppose the toddler's), no early mornings, no bad music. Ha! I must be a pain in the rear.
I guess if I could find a GC I was totally comfortable with, I'd go that way. I mean, it really isn't a big project so it's not like my last remodel where I had to get up and greet the gang every day for months. But none of the GCs we've met with have filled me with confidence while showing much interest in our job because it's a small project. "Downgrading" to Ikea might really scare them off!
I floated the idea by hubby a bit ago and he seemed a bit warmer to the idea than last time I floated the idea. He even suggested running the idea by his dad who is pretty handy (and doesn't like our cooking so wouldn't mind eating out for a weekend ). I wouldn't let either of them do detail work without being watched, but I bet they could hang a cabinet plumb.
As for help from this website, I know I can count on y'all! Thanks!
I'm considering a DIY job (hiring out gas/electric), done around our schedule. I'm just not sure this is reasonable. Can I actually do a kitchen like this? It would go something like...
1. Finalize a plan for the darn room
2. Remove appliances gently, demo cabinets, counters, floor
3. Patch walls, paint
4. Get gas and electric in, maybe modernize plumbing
5. Fix subfloor if needed
6. Add cabinets, appliances
7. Do counters, sink
8. Floor, trim, etc.
Permits where appropriate, of course.
Now, is that a proper plan of attack?
Resolve the gas/electric/plumbing before walls/painting. Subfloor and flooring afterwards, appliances after the countertops (though do make sure that there's sufficient space left for them!).
The basic cabinets installation isn't the hardest part ...
- A brad nailer for the backs and cordless screwdriver makes for quick work of the assembly.
- The suspension rails makes these wall cabinets amongst the easiest kitchen cabinet hanging possible.
Quote:
Can I just stop at any point along there and live out of the microwave and bathroom sink for a while?
You will get tired of it really quickly!
If you don't care for the end results of the existing kitchen, demolition is usually the least of anyone's worry. A BFH + crowbars of various sizes makes for pretty quick work.
Noting the steps is a good way to DIY; you're going essentially what a GC does.
As I picture all this ...
After finalizing the plans, having gotten quotes for the work already, and presuming that most of the DIY work is only available on the weekends ...
- A weekend for DIY demo.
- Rerun gas/electric/new plumbing during the following week. Minor stuff would be a day each max.; major stuff factor in 2 days. Cabinets could be ordered this week or early the following week at the latest, depending on your delivery/storage arrangements.
- DIY patch/painting and subfloor repair the following weekend.
- Whether hired or DIY, try to get the flooring done during the week.
- Build cabinets when possible.
- Install cabinets over the weekend, corner out, wall cabinets first. Depending on setup, cover panels might be at this step or part of final work.
- Countertop installation/cutouts over first part of the week, then plumbing for the sink, etc. right afterwards.
- A through work area cleanup, then do appliances/drawers/shelves/doors.
- Final aspects - handles and plinths.
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Thanks for the refinements! It really doesn't seem like that big a deal, does it? It's a small galley, not much changing except the addition of gas. No pot lights, no UC lights, nothing fancy.
Yes, electric before paint--I like to think I would have noticed that before I started...
I don't think plumbing will move. Gas will be a new line but accessible for the poor guy who gets into the crawlspace.
Cabinets will go mostly where they are now so demo doesn't need to be super gentle. The ceiling is pretty good though! Must save that.
Plumbing, gas, electric I can get done during the week. Flooring and cabinet assembly as well.
Is it important to get counters in before appliances just when you have cutouts? I'll get some plans uploaded soon, but we're planning on a slide-in range and sink integrated into the counter. Waiting for the counter fabrication will be the longest step (if we do everything else in a timely manner) but I don't think it'll affect the appliances themselves (maybe dishwasher?).
On a slightly related topic, can Corian be cut with normal household tools to make a temporary counter/sink on top of new cabinets while waiting for the new one?
OK OK ok. I'll get some plans started and start at the beginning. I think we can do this and it sounds like much more fun than having to worry about someone else doing it right.
"From a machinability standpoint, solid-surface material is like very hard medium-density fiberboard, or MDF. Tooling it is a slower process, but with care you can get very smooth results on the first pass. It can also be sanded easily and buffed to a high gloss. A router and a trim saw can handle most of the cuts you’ll need to make to install the countertop. Carbide-tip bits and blades are required.
Although cutting, profiling and drilling solid-surface material isn’t difficult, it is very messy. Whenever possible, do the work outdoors, and use dust extraction to manage the resinous shavings (which will cling to almost any surface). Wearing a particle mask is recommended."
I'll be trashing some old Corian, but if I can (get somebody to) cut it, it ought to be a good temporary counter/sink if I end up having to wait a while for new counters, as long as I don't go with a smaller sink cabinet.
You don't need to tell us the answer, but you need to be very honest with yourself about this- How hardworking and motivated are you to get this done? Do you have enough energy to do it?
Demo is easy- it took us less than 2 hours to destroy our kitchen. It took significantly longer just to have the kitchen parts picked after we bought them. It might have taken that long to load the truck... We did that Labor Day weekend. My kitchen is functional, and has been for months, but, and this is a HUGE but- it is nowhere close to done. Seriously, I don't think a single job has been completed. I still have 2 cabinets to install, 3 floor tiles, the entire backsplash, the edges of the counters, one counter to build, the hole for the soap dispenser, an outlet to move, another outlet/circuit to install, the OTR micro to install, two sets of toekicks (one with a drawer)- I can keep going if you'd like. We'll get it done eventually- but we don't have kids.
). I wouldn't let either of them do detail work without being watched, but I bet they could hang a cabinet plumb. 
