Kitchen & Laundry Remodel

Betton Hills, Tallahassee

Kitchen Remodel Overview

Project Goals & Solutions

There were some serious issues with the subfloor in the kitchen. We had Alpha Foundations come out prior to the project to level the floor and address some of them. Unfortunately, they could not address all of them, and we had to do some extensive repairs after the demo was complete.

Removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room was a critical part of improving this kitchen. We also replace the sliding exterior door in the dining room, making it smaller so the kitchen could be expanded, an island added and more cabinets added on the wall opposite the sink.

The orignal range was crammed into the corner, a less than ideal design. The kitchen was large but most of the space was no utilized well. Removing the wall and expanding the kitchen allowed us to fix layout issues, add storage and add counterspace. The new kitchen is bright, open and super functional.

This was a two story house so we had an engineer confirm the wall was not load bearing during the design process. Most of the subflooring issues were around the wall being removed so we were concerned about that as well.

The laundry room remodel was simpler but still involved moving the plumbing, replacing the garage entry door and adding some plugs and switches.

Main Issues With Current Space

The kitchen was large but the space was poorly layed out. The range was crammed in the corner and there was not a lot of storage or counterspace. The look of the kitchen was also outdated.

The laundry room was a hodge podge of different cabinets and not well organized.

Project Goals

Adding storage to the kitchen and laundry and in general making both spaces feel more open and contemporary were the main goals. This couple was planning to retire soon and wanted a kitchen they could enjoy for years to come.

Before Floorplan vs After Floorplans

Laundry Room Remodel After

After the laundry room remodel the room felt more spacious and had a lot more storage and counterspace

Kitchen After Floorplan

After: removing a wall allowed us to expand the kitchen and add a lot more storage and counterspace

Remodel Scope Of Work

The kitchen remodel was what we call a ‘gut renovation with significant layout changes’. We removed a wall, moved plumbing and electrical, and redesigned the entire space. We also repaired some subfloor issues and replaced the back exterior sliding door, which included patching brickwork.

This kitchen really pops with a tri-color cabinet design, Zellige backsplash and gorgeous light accents. The upper cabinets are a clean white and the lowers are “Evergreen Fog”. The island is done in a Alder with a natural finish.

The laundry room remodel was also a gut renovation but with minor layout changes. We moved the plumbing and electric so we could stack the washer dryer and create more storage and counterspace. The huge change in the laundry room is the updated look… the herringbone brick tile, the vertical shiplap on the walls…. it looks fantastic!

Our Favorite Things

Every project has a few things that really make it stand our or were special to the homeowner. Here are our favorites.

Gas stove

Frosted cabinets 

Backsplash carried from kitchen

Project Timeline Challenges & Solutions

There were a few things that were discovered after demo that had to be dealt with, but fortunately, there were fairly simple to resolve.

We knew there were subfloor issues before the project started and we had Alpha Foundations come out to correct them before we started. Unfortunately, there were not able to resolve all of them but we were able to deal with them after demo.

The framing around the back door was rotten and had to be replaced. This was a minor issue since we were installing a new, smaller door anyway so some framing was already being done.

Timeline

Though this was a fairly large project and there were a few surprises the project actually started and finished exactly on time!

• Proposed project start date: April 18th, 2023

•  Actual Project Start Date: April 18th 2023

• Proposed Completion Date: July 18th, 2023

• Actual Completion Date: July 18th, 2023

Kitchen and Laundry Room Remodel Project Costs

Initial Estimate:

At the end our iniital design and budget consult the cost for this project was estimated at $151,305

Fixed price propsoal:

At the end of the design process the final fixed price proposal we presented was for $163,247, about 8% more than the original budget.

Reasons for increase:

• • Labor costs for this project came in about $1000 lower than the original budget
  • The clients made some adjustments to the materail selections. Electing to go with a better cabinets line (a smart choice in our opinion) added about $6,000 to the total. They spent a little less than budgets on plumbing fixtures but more on backsplash tile and lighting.

Change Orders

We don’t like unplanned change orders but in remodeling they are somtimes necessary. It’s why we always recommend having a 5% – 10% contigency fund when doing  a large remodel like this one. 

There were some significant change orders on this project totalling about $10,000, or about 5% of the project total. 

The most significant was for the subfloor framing repair. The subfloor in the kitchen and dining room were in pretty rough shape and some make shift repairs done in years past made things worse. Total cost to repair the floor was about $7000. 

The other major change order was to replace the electric panel. We had to replace and add a few circuits as part of the remodel and there panel was an unusual brand and we could not find breakers for it. So we replaced the panel with a larger one and also added a transfer switch for a future generator. That change order costs about $3000. 

One of the 3D renders we created during design for this project

Materials & Fixtures Used

• Flooring
  • The existing floors were a solid 2.25″ solid oak. We kept most of the flooring and patched it as needed. Tallahassee Floor Finishing did a great job patching and matching the finish

• Other Fixtures and Accessories
  • Fairview Traditional Wall Sconces from Rejuvination 
  • The Dining room light is also from Rejuvination
  • The picture light is the Kenyon 18″ from Circa Lighting
  • Kitchen Faucet is the Delta Broderick and Laundry faucet is the Delta Essa
  • Both kitchen and laundry room sink are workstation sinks from Ruvati

Laundry Room Remodel Overview

Before & After Photos

Before

After