DIY Life

It's been so long since we started our kitchen remodeling project, I almost forgot to post its completion. Though it's been functionally complete for several weeks, we were waiting on what turned out to be one of those "unexpected expenses" -- a new floor. The old one, much to our dismay, could not be patched.

Though we hired out the big work -- cabinet and counter top installation -- we did a lot of the grunt work ourselves. I wish I had kept a running total on the money we saved, because it was a lot. (Enough to cover the cost of the new floor? I don't know.) After the break, I'll share a summary of the work we put in to save ourselves money on the whole project.

Some of the bigger jobs we did ourselves included:

• ripping out of old cabinets (Probably one area of biggest savings, we accomplished this in three hours, eliminating the nearly $700 charge for the contractors to do it for us.)
• unhooking and moving all appliances, including fridge, stove, dishwasher, and built-in microwave.
• all electrical, including moving and rewiring the stove's outlet and wiring the island
• all plumbing including reinstalling the dishwasher, re-plumbing the sink (from scratch!), and installing a garbage disposal
• walls, including wallpaper removal, repair, and painting

Of course, it would have been hard to do most of that without some very knowledgeable and helpful family members, so we were lucky in that respect. Our next project is a bathroom/laundry room combo, but don't remind my husband... I'm looking forward to some time off!