Paranoid Wives!!

So we're remodeling the kitchen (big time). It's a long project with multiple phases (so we can still live in the house at the same time).

The first phase was to build a full-wall built in hutch, with glass doors (to show off her china and the whole 9 yards). Spent top dollar on the cabinets, all solid Maple. Okay, so we get that built, and it looks great! One piece missing is the granite counter top in the middle, but we can't do that until we get done with Phase 2, the Island. It's a huge island too. (7x9).

Next is phase 2; we build the island. Again, top dollar solid maple cabinets and every option she could ever want...pull out spice drawers, sheet pan racks, garbage can drawers, book shelves...everything. Now we go and buy the granite, but we can't get it measured up yet because we have to do Phase 3 the back counters (where the sink, stove, dishwasher and fridge are).

So the island is a pretty big project. Have to do some re-wiring in the basement and run new electrical circuits to the island before we can fix the cabinets. Okay, no problem, but it takes time. Then there's the leveling the cabinets and getting everything exactly oriented. BTW, it's not just the kitchen; we're also tearing out a load bearing wall between the kitchen and the living room too, plus re-doing all the floors and a whole bunch of other stuff (the house isn't that old either, we had it built in 2006).

It's okay though, I've been in the contracting business for 35 years so I more than know my way around finish carpentry and remodels and home building.

Phase 3 is a little more challenging and has numerous parts where deliveries and sequence is critically important so as not to cripple the function of the kitchen in the process. The stove alone is 4 months out, lead time. Just the sink is going to take 12 weeks to deliver. Then there's all the fixtures, plumbing, HVAC, electrical work, flooring, cabinets, wreck-out, framing, sheet rock and so forth. So we've got a holding point where we have to pause for a few weeks. I can't do any more until we have some time pass to let things get ready for delivery.

In the mean time, I put down some really nice veneer Birch 3/4" A/C plywood on the cabinets for a "temporary" counter top on both the island and the hutch. IT'S JUST TEMPORARY!! Well, of course the counter tops immediately start getting used for all manner of cooking. And the unfinished plywood is starting to get stained and ugly. Okay, so I fix. So I cleaned the counter tops down with a good scrubbing of Murphy's oil soap and they came out awesome. I'm letting them dry out and admiring my handy work and asked the wife to take a look. Wow, she says they look great. (no more nasties on the counter). So then I decided to coat the work surfaces with some Johnson's wax, just to put a water seal on it...again, TEMPORARILY!!. Now I get the furrowed brow look, and the snide remark..."Hey, you know...we're NOT keeping those counters, Bob!!"'

No S#, Sherlock! The counter tops are just TEMPORARY!, and besides that; if I wouldn't have put these temp counter tops down you'd be eating on the F#'ing ...PORCH!! G# Dammit!!

So why am I so pissed? Sometimes you go the extra mile to make something really nice, even if it's temporary, and then you get a ration of S# about it which makes you just want to start breaking S#!! This is her dream kitchen (the one she's wanted all her life), and I'm spending about $150 grand on it...cut me some F#'ing slack already, would ya???

/rant

White people. Lol.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

So why am I so pissed? Sometimes you go the extra mile to make something really nice, even if it's temporary, and then you get a ration of S# about it which makes you just want to start breaking S#!! This is her dream kitchen (the one she's wanted all her life), and I'm spending about $150 grand on it...cut me some F#'ing slack already, would ya???

I'm going to give one for the Sensible Wives team and crack you upside the head Italian Mama style. $150 grand on a KITCHEN? Was that a typo, did you mean $15 grand? Why the hell would anyone spend as much as some houses cost on ONE room? o.O That boggles, I'd call Aug and DB and have them discretely dispose of my husband if he spent that much on only one room in the house, the hell.

a reply to: Nyiah

Well, the kitchen proper isn't costing that much, but there's a whole lot of other stuff going on which all adds up. So no, it's not just one room, but about 3, or about half of the main floor of the house (i.e moving a wall, relocating a fireplace, reframing the living room, re-doing the HVAC, a bunch of electrical work (and more stuff in the basement...moving the main ductwork, relocating the furnace and waterheater to the basement, etc).

Okay, so it's not exactly fair to say the kitchen alone is costing that much.

ETA - BTW, you can't even TOUCH a kitchen for $15 grand!! The kitchen is the single most expensive room in a home (per square foot)!! Master Bathrooms are a distant 2nd! The cabinets in the 1st phase cost over $15 grand alone! The cabinets in the 2nd phase cost $19 grand. That's with no labor, just the material. The granite cost about $19k (and it might even go higher than that, as we had to reserve another slab just in case). (So that's $51k in materials alone!!...before any work gets done!!)

ETA2 - Stove was $9k, HVAC for stove is about $13k...and the list goes on!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Sounds like a beautiful project when all said and done but. . .

Where does the paranoia come in?

ETA

HVAC for stove

Why does the stove need air conditioning?

a reply to: randomtangentsrme

Just got testy about the temporary counter tops...after I busted my nuts on a bunch of other stuff and then put those in just to be nice.

a reply to: randomtangentsrme

The stove doesn't need air conditioning, just ventilation (and lots of it), plus controls. So, technically "V", not HVAC, I just use "HVAC" to refer to mechanical work.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I could get behind heat and venting for a stove. The AC is what got me.
All support to you sir.

This is entire thread is a perfect example of why people hate the US (and those who try to emulate them). Some people have no concept of the value of a dollar, or worse, they do and there is a bigger problem in the picture.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

A wise man once told me "happy wife,Happy life!"



I laughed, then smiled.

Then replied.


"I'm not married.."



Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You are living in a bubble to think you spending as much on remodeling a relatively new home that some of us have paid for an older home and feel fortunate to have it.

I love your posts usually but, you should have left at the money part. Not many can relate.

a reply to: Nyiah
I would love a $150,000 reef tank myself, but would settle for a kitchen. Do you have any idea the wonderful and diverse meal plans you could generate with that kind of kitchen? I mean, I would seek to invite my kids friends families over just to cook for everybody thats what kind of capability you get with that kind of kitchen. You did hear a 7 x 9 island right?? Omg, I bet this guy has all kinds of awesome appliances too. I love appliances.

Can I apply to your minority blessing grant, and just get the granite tops for now?? My cousin has them and they are so damn fine.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: Nyiah
I would love a $150,000 reef tank myself, but would settle for a kitchen. Do you have any idea the wonderful and diverse meal plans you could generate with that kind of kitchen? I mean, I would seek to invite my kids friends families over just to cook for everybody thats what kind of capability you get with that kind of kitchen. You did hear a 7 x 9 island right?? Omg, I bet this guy has all kinds of awesome appliances too. I love appliances.

Can I apply to your minority blessing grant, and just get the granite tops for now?? My cousin has them and they are so damn fine.

Dude, my dad was a remodeling contractor most of my life and there's no reason to spend that much on a kitchen.

Even remodeling his own sprawling kitchen with a slightly smaller island than OP has (a 5x7), he didn't crack $11k in '05 (that's about $15k today) because he didn't go all out, and he didn't go all new, either. His cupboards and counter tops were salvaged from junk yards & refinished by him, his island was refinished by him, his appliances are a mish-mash of trusted old ones and barely used second-hand. It's a wonder what can be done when you know what you're doing with it. It's Better Homes & Gardens in his kitchen, and it didn't cost a 10th of what the OP shelled out. I bet good money if I listed off what OP's doing, dad's going to say he's overpaid by a LOT for all of it.

a reply to: Nyiah
Did you remember to factor in shipping? He lives in quite the rural land. Just driving to a store of any kind is a trip for him. Not to mention it means he does not live in an urban environment that has dozens of independent outfits categorizing to specific parts of a kitchen including materials, which makes shopping for choices quite the bargain.

In Tampa, FL, which is not even that big of a city, every part of that kitchen, every appliance can be serviced by at least a half dozen niche business and at least double that number of general home improvement businesses. That is number by the entities, not even locations and mobile servicing.

Living away from densely populated areas in pristine beauty can have its trade off costs. Shipping prices is one of those trade offs. A lack of competition to lower prices is another heavy one.

But this man has worked his as off to get where he is today and keep his wife satisfied, and by golly I feel that is something worth commending. Plus I am a big fan of fancy kitchens, and I totally want to see pics. You know my mom has always nannied for the wealthier clients in Harbor Island, South Tampa and plenty of waterside homeowners. A perk of that was coming over as a kid to enjoy the amenities.

I always enjoyed the fancy kitchens and their sometimes custom designs. Even saw a kitchen with a fancy reef tank built into it within the island during one of the meetings with the local reef club! He was going for the irony of a reef inside the island oh we all had a good laugh and then ate sushi. wudnt no 7X9 thats for sure, but it was good looking enough.

Listen, I enjoy the little things in life, I do. Sometimes I just stare at lizards fighting with their funny throat thing and the squirrels with their tree wars. But other times, you just gotta indulge when you can.

Props to you FCD, I hope to see pictures of the granite tops and the nice china cabinet wall thing. I would likely line it up with fine mineral geodes and antiques myself.

My father in law did a similar project. Took out a load bearing wall with an outlet, replaced it with a giant wooden beam, remodeled the kitchen, ripped up the in carpet in the entire house to put in tile which looked like wood. (He wishes he had just gone with finished concrete after said and done).

I illegally (unlicensed) redid the wiring for him up in the attic free of charge. It took over 6 months to complete without any contractors but it cost less than 15K overall. You said you spent 9k on a stove. Is it for preparing humans?? You can get a brand new stove fully networked with a damned television screen at Bestbuy for a couple grand.

And who the hell needs solid oak cabinets when they will probably be painted over/stained in the future?

Perhaps I am speaking out of place, as the same man also paid only 1800 dollars to have a dozen eighty foot oak trees removed from the property. To be fair, that is where the wood came from for the beam.

a reply to: Lightdhype
its not illegal if you did it for free. Just a friend offering a favor. My jurisdiction does not mandate that a licensed contractor do the work (some do). As long as it meets the inspection requirements, its a pass.

Remodelling causes stress in relationships. That’s normal.

The cost does seem quite high though, but hey it’s your business what you choose to spend your money on. Perhaps you should have left out the cost because the focus became that, to people who can barely afford to buy a home period these days.

I couldn’t live through a kitchen remodel. My daughter likes to remind me my counters are outdated. Yes they’re ugly but whatever. She’s a realtor so she just thinks in terms of resale value, but I’m not selling it. She is, when I die.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

we have just done ours got a builder in (son in law) grabs my chainsaw and pissed of into the bush out of the road it worked fine

Cinnamon.

originally posted by: Muninn
Cinnamon.

😆😆😆