ISO Kitchen and Bathroom Total remodel

[lexie's mom]

I finally decided to totally gut both and would love any suggestions, places, etc. to cut the costs a bit.

Thanks,
Stacey

[Twoboos]

I am watching this thread! :D

Most people recommend starting at the gardenweb forums, and browsing on houzz.com (warning, you will lose HOURS of your life on these sites!).

[Mommy2Abby]

If you're handy/do-it-yourself-ers, you can definitely save a lot.

If you are planning to hire others, you can save money by hiring different contractors to do each part.... .HOWEVER, I recommend that you think about very carefully in terms of the cost of the inconvenience to you/time spent dealing and arranging with them, and time you will be out of use of your kitchen and bathroom, etc.... definitely an inconvenience.

We ended up going with a company who does everything (from making cabinets to doing all electrical work / plumbing, tiles, etc.) except the end painting... and to me, the slight premium that I paid them for that was well worth it. My kitchen only took 2 weeks and my master bath took about 3 weeks (due to some more significant changes). But, they worked every day and there wasn't any downtime waiting for contractors, etc., and I didn't have a ton of different guys running through my house all the time. To me, that was worth it.

In terms of specific areas to cut costs, some things to consider:
- Keeping the same layout you have now (so you don't have to re-route electrical, plumbing, etc.)
- Refacing kitchen cabinets instead of replacing (although replacing can allow you to gain more function, etc.)
- Considering lower quality materials for the countertops, flooring, thickness of wood on cabinets, etc.

Good luck!

[crl]

Single best money saving strategy when remodeling a kitchen, IMO: ikea cabinets. Excellent price point, excellent function, variety of good looking options, check out the warranty.

Catherine

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

For bathroom, definitely keep everything in the same spot to save costs.

(We did the opposite of this, naturally. :))

[lexie's mom]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[lexie's mom]

I am watching this thread! :D

Most people recommend starting at the gardenweb forums, and browsing on houzz.com (warning, you will lose HOURS of your life on these sites!).

You were so right, I totally spent hours on houzz and love it!

[jjordan]

If you don't feel handy enough to do any of the work, you can probably still manage some of the demolition to start. That will save you money. Also, if you like to paint (or don't mind painting), then tell them you'll do the painting yourself after everything else is done. If you go this route, my advice is to plan to go ahead and hire a babysitter to get your painting done, otherwise it will drag out. (BTDT!)

[hillview]

Here are the most expensive (in order) areas in our recent kitchen and bath remodels:
Cabinets (middle of the range cabinets)
Counter tops (silstone/quartz)
Appliances
Flooring / backsplash (tile)
General contractor pricing

So these would be the areas I'd shop around and look to get the savings. Painting for example was not a big expense.

With Cabinets I found that the pricing between IKEA and what we ended up with not to be a major difference but with evaluating and getting multiple estimates. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. So it includes disposal of old stuff, installation, ALL the bottoms and tops (in our case we wanted them to go to the ceiling)

Counter tops have a HUGE range. Top of the line granite can be very $$, I've heard of folks who go pick out from scrap and save huge amounts. Quartz was not super cheap but we really like it.

Appliances I found very little range in what I ended up getting (so prices store to store seemed very similar) but there are BIG differences in the appliances themselves (Wolf vs Jenn Air).

Tile I found a 50% difference in similar (not identical) tile from store to store. We saved 50% by shopping around which translated into thousands of dollars.

[lexie's mom]

Here are the most expensive (in order) areas in our recent kitchen and bath remodels:
Cabinets (middle of the range cabinets)
Counter tops (silstone/quartz)
Appliances
Flooring / backsplash (tile)
General contractor pricing

So these would be the areas I'd shop around and look to get the savings. Painting for example was not a big expense.

With Cabinets I found that the pricing between IKEA and what we ended up with not to be a major difference but with evaluating and getting multiple estimates. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. So it includes disposal of old stuff, installation, ALL the bottoms and tops (in our case we wanted them to go to the ceiling)

Counter tops have a HUGE range. Top of the line granite can be very $$, I've heard of folks who go pick out from scrap and save huge amounts. Quartz was not super cheap but we really like it.

Appliances I found very little range in what I ended up getting (so prices store to store seemed very similar) but there are BIG differences in the appliances themselves (Wolf vs Jenn Air).

Tile I found a 50% difference in similar (not identical) tile from store to store. We saved 50% by shopping around which translated into thousands of dollars.

Thanks, it is funny that you mentioned granite...I told DH I wanted a 6 ft granite island. I have champagne taste with a beer wallet! I will check out Quartz.

I looked at IKEA online and wasn't in love so I am happy to hear that other places are comparable.

Now I know to shop around for tile.

Urghhhh this is totally not fun and I am not looking forward to living through the dust. But, thanks everyone for your replies!