okie boarder's house

Continued progress. Last week and into the he weekend, the framing has been finished and the roof is up. The electrician is now getting started and further work on the plumbing is taking place. If all goes well, we should be sheet rocked and textured by mid to late February, then we start much of the finish work. I'm sure we'll be out working on the house every chance we can get so we progress quickly.

Andy,
Reducing the number of recessed lights is a cost reduction but keep in mind if you compare them to the cost of installing a ceiling hex box and then the cost of a ceiling fixture, the recessed are cheap.

So, we have been working on finalizing the design for the kitchen cabinets and decided to make one change, which was to put the oven stack in a corner. The layout and elevations have been sketched out and looks like we have a pretty good design. Here are some pictures showing the design. Any thoughts or suggestions?









We were actually at the house this weekend doing clean up, and laid out the design to see how it would look an feel.



Pulled the truck in the garage while we were there. Looks like it's going to fit just fine. ;-)

Hmmm, not sure how we would like that layout. Were you thinking between the cooktop and oven stack, or between the cooktop and sink? I'll have to measure it out on site, but by my drawing, we may be right at the 23' threshold.

We've had some discussions on the general layout with a couple friends and family members. While we're bucking the norm a bit, we felt like this layout gave us sort of a two triangle configuration with the island being common to the two triangles. I think islands typically tend to throw a bit of a curve ball in the mix, right?

The cabinets will be custom made, on site, and is one of the tasks we are doing to keep within budget. Our contractor is skilled at finish carpentry and he typically builds the cabinets and trims them out. For our house, we will be working together to build everything out.

Andy,
The work triangle as mentioned is between the frig, range and sink. I scaled your drawing at about 28' including getting around the island. Since the sink has been roughed in you are stuck with it's location but you have plenty of room to work the frig and range in other locations. Keep in mind you need counter space on each side of the range and sink for "set down" areas. Think about a counter depth frig since standard depth sticks out reducing your working isle.

Just an opinion but your contractor may be a skilled cabinet maker but what about his finishing skills? I've seen plenty of on site built cabinets where the finish starts showing it's age in some cases less than 5 years. On site, there is no way a factory finish can be duplicated. I suggest you look at cabinets before making the decision. Linking isn't working and I don't want to do it manually but google Holiday Kitchen and used their dealer finder to see if you have one close to you. I have never seen a better made cabinet. Stay away from the big box stores!!

I noticed Duane mentions stone for counter top. Besides the higher cost, keep in mind it's porous so it can be a microbial breeding ground and is a PITA to maintain. Consider a solid surface.

[I noticed Duane mentions stone for counter top. Besides the higher cost, keep in mind it's porous so it can be a microbial breeding ground and is a PITA to maintain. Consider a solid surface]
Granite??? Pete, maybe you misread my post. Granite is the best top you can buy. IMO

Duane in Indy wrote: We remodeled our kitchen recently and installed a "pot filler" above the stove. Saves a lot of steps to the sink. Also to help with the budget we built our granite counter tops from 24X24 tiles from the TILE SHOP. 5/8" thick granite with almost no chamfer on the edges so you butt them up tight with no grout lines. They have all the inside and outside corners along with the front trim (martels I think). Just a thought. Can post a couple pics if you want. Duane

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you spend for the pot filler? From what I looked at they seem rather expensive. We are planning granite and our contractor worked out a special deal with his stone guy to get us a really good price. What was your price per sq ft with the tiles? Yeah, pics would be great.

Duane in Indy wrote: Pete, maybe you misread my post. Granite is the best top you can buy. IMO

Duane,
Sorry but you haven't done your research.

Okie Boarder wrote: Everything has been roughed in so I'm not sure we can change cooktop or fridge location at this point, either. .

Andy,
It doesn't take much to move NM electric rough ins! Is the exhaust hood roughed through the roof?

I really dont think with that layout the triangle rules apply as you think Pete. the island becomes the place to organize your stuff for the fridge. it is actually in most cases less walking and less use of the regular countertop ares for the transition from stove to fridge and fridge to ovens.
As for a pot filler you should be able still rough it in right now and the faucet for it is probably 250.
I have also seen some old mid century brass outdoor faucets that you can find at architectural salvage places repurposed. bear in mind that wont pass the current lead laws though.
you could also just rough in for it for now with whatever fitting it will require capped off.

I will probably never cook in your house.....but I'm with Pete on this one....I thought the exact same thing when I looked at the plans. Things seem a bit far and stretched out.

Those look like good links...I'll read through them.

Andy,
Check with your contractor who is going to build the cabinets as to what type of hinges he plans on using. I've never liked the "European" types since the doors don't open enough.
Here's what I prefer:



Pull outs in bases and pull out trash bins next to the sink are great features.

Is he going to build traditional face frame with partial overlay doors? The box frame cabinets in my mind have always looked cheap and actually are!

Pete, I've never seen those hinges. They don't look to have any adjustability other than up and down. I'm always open minded to new products, but those look "cheap" to me, and have the potential to sag fairly quick. Are you using the wrong overlay size she using euro hinges. The should open farther than 90 degrees? The adjustment in the euro hinges seems a no brainer to me to use everytime.

Joel,
The hinge pictured is fully adjustable. It's actually a Holiday hinge upgrade. I opted for them in my shop 42" uppers and they don't sag! The max opening top of the line European is 120 degrees. These open to 150 degrees. No, I've never used the wrong overlay! In fact, after seeing these hinges and having the fancy Kreg fixtures, I'll never use a European again!!