Order of jobs in kitchen remodel?

[Lew]

I am remodeling my kitchen, and am acting as my own main contractor. This is a pretty large project with new appliances, some changes in wiring, new cabinet doors, new countertop and sink, and new flooring. My question is, What comes first--and what follows?

I was planning to have the electrician rough in the wiring changes, then have the applicances installed--so that the cabinets and the countertop could be measured to the space that would actually exist in the new kitchen. Then the countertop, measure and install the new doors, the flooring, and a final painting.

Someone suggested, however, that the appliances are last--or at least after the flooring, so that the flooring can extend some ways under the appliances.

But this seems dangerous to me. The countertop measurements would have to be made with the assumption that the stove would be exactly the assumed 30 inches, same for the refrigerator. What if the apppliances are off by 1/4 inch?! And the new cabinet doors might be a tad too high--smash! off they come.

But this is my first (and hopefully last) kitchen re-do! What's your experience--or theory-- on what order these different jobs should be scheduled?

[MrAoD]

Oy gevalt.

1.Gut the place to the walls.

1. Gut the walls where you'll be roughing in the plumbing.
2. Plumbing, gas and electric.
3. Sheetrock/patching as necessary.
4. (optional) Prime paint
5. Cabinets, upper
6. Cabinets, lower.

7a. Countertops.

1. Floor covering.
2. Finish carpentry if necessary.
3. Paint.
4. Hook up appliances.

Assumes no base cabinets are freestanding (islands).

Best,

Marc

[B]

Marc's list is pretty good, but do the floor covering after the paint, and then touch up the paint.

-B

[Andrew Koenig]

Yes, that makes more sense. Otherwise the edge of the flooring has to line up with the edge of the appliances exactly.

Floor first, then appliances, then countertop measurements.

[D. Gerasimatos]

You have to decide which appliances you want and then you have the exact measurements.

Dimitri

[AJScott]

(snip)

(snip)

You weren't just going to leave it pretty much bare subfloor under there, were you?

Really, it makes most sense to install your flooring completely beneath the appliances because one of these days you're going to have to pull/roll out those appliances and clean out all the crud that's collected, spilled, and leaked under there, or when it comes time to replace them. If you only ran the flooring to the outside of the appliances or just slightly beneath, you might just end up tearing, breaking off, or pulling up the adjacent visible flooring by catching an edge when you pulled out the appliance -- or worse, not be able to move them out at all because they won't get over the hump, so to speak.

As for your whole project, this is why people spend perfectly good money on contractors. Way too many Murphys lurking about for those who've never done something like this before.

AJS

[MrAoD]

Thanks, B. I'm fairly good at painting so I don't mind the drop cloth masking so I paint last, but some folks prefer to reverse the order. I stressed priming before the cabinets because you want the walls at least sealed before you cover 'em up. Having unsealed and sealed sections of the same piece of drywall is a no-no.

To those who feel the flooring should go down before the base cabinets and appliances,that's contrary to my admittedly limited (LT 10) kitchen remodels.

While you do want your finish flooring under moveable appliances such as freestanding stoves, fridges, etc it's a total waste of money (and unnecessary) to floor under built-ins like DWs or drop-in ranges or cabinetry.

Figure the average drop-in appliance @9 sq ft, and average base cabinet sq. ft-age in a small kitchen @ 60 ft and there's $210 you don't have to spend on materials if your flooring goes for $3/square.

Best,

Marc

[Lew]

Regarding the flooring, there is now sheet vinyl that is bonded to the wood floor. A flooring salesman recommended putting the new flooring directly over the old because when he tries to remove this type of flooring the mastic that left on the wood is so rough it's virtually impossible to smooth it, so they often lay an additional subfloor. That seems worse.

I see your point about flooring after appliances. I'll think about that.

And thanhks for your recommendation about an outside contractor. We've done most of the work by nw, but if we could get one to work by the hour, we might profit in the long run.

Lew