If you’re thinking it’s time for a kitchen remodel, the sheer volume of information in design ideas alone can be overwhelming. While design is of course important, there are other important kitchen remodeling questions to think through before you pick the first piece of tile.
4 Questions You Should Ask before Renovating Your Kitchen
We’ve been in the design-build business for quite some time, so we know that planning a kitchen remodel can be stressful and overwhelming for clients. It’s hard to know how to begin a kitchen remodel, let alone understand all the details that go into getting a kitchen remodel right. As a starting point, we’ve compiled four questions you should ask before renovating your kitchen.
What’s your budget for your kitchen remodel?
We listed this question first because it’s the most important. The answer to this question will determine the answers to the remaining questions. So sit down and really plan out this step.
We recommend understanding that no kitchen remodel goes exactly according to plan. Even with the best contractors or the simplest projects, you will almost always encounter something unexpected once you start opening up walls, rerouting plumbing or working with electrical components.
“Unexpected” doesn’t always refer to mechanical or plumbing issues, either. There could be problems with shipping cabinets or hardware or issues with appliance delivery. Unexpected issues in kitchens are typically due to the fact that there are many different moving parts to the project, with different types of specialists, contractors and products (often all sold by different companies) needing to come together within a relatively short amount of time.
Again, a great design builder will do a majority of the project planning and management and will keep things running on time and on budget. But this is why we recommend having an absolute max budget and building in a slight cushion or contingency fund into those numbers. The best thing that can happen is that you have a little money left over after the project is completed to put toward something else. So even if you’re thinking you want something high end, really work through the numbers and give yourself a little wiggle room.
What do you need vs. what do you want for your kitchen remodel?
Once you’ve finalized your budget, ask yourself what you absolutely need in your kitchen versus what do you really want in your kitchen. You may want a pricey porcelain farmhouse sink, but if you need all new wiring and plumbing, you may not have room in your budget for all of the finishes you want.
Want and need also come down to the footprint and square footage of your kitchen. You might want a huge island the whole family can sit around, but you might be constrained by the available space. If you’re not sure what you want versus what you need, we strongly recommend talking to a designer first. They’ll be able to help you manage your expectations early on in the process, and thereby help you stay on budget while still getting everything you need plus a whole lot of what you want.
What’s your overall goal with your kitchen remodel?
This is an important question to think through as well. If you’re hoping to do a kitchen remodel because you plan to move in the future and want to add value to your home, your strategy should change a bit. If you’re in your forever home and want to do a kitchen renovation that will last for the next twenty years, you’ll want to purchase appliances and finishes that you won’t get tired of in five.
This question should also help you think through things like whether or not someone in your house enjoys cooking elaborate meals or hosting holiday dinners. Or whether or not you envision your kitchen as the hub of your home. Or if you simply want a kitchen space that’s functional but doesn’t need to reserve space for entertaining or preparing family dinners. When you know and understand your overall goal for your kitchen, you can plan for a kitchen remodel that suits you, your budget and your lifestyle.
What’s your kitchen remodel timeline?
Our company takes pride in helping our clients get back to “normal life” as quickly as possible after the start of any remodel. But some kitchen remodels take much, much longer than others, especially in older homes or for drastically different floor plans or additions. The average kitchen remodel for our clients is 9-13 weeks, and our remodels typically don’t start for 12-14 weeks after a contract is signed. We ask our clients to factor this time into their overall timeline, and most design-build firms do the same.
If you’re adding simple cosmetic updates to a small galley kitchen, this kind of project will be much shorter than a full gut and footprint update on a large kitchen. Nearly every kitchen remodeling project is going to start in–at minimum–the four to six week time range, while others will be much longer. It all depends on the scope of your project and what your contractor finds when they open up the walls.
A reputable design-build team, however, will give you a timeline estimate that is as close as possible to your ideal timeline. These estimates tend to come with lots of experience and knowledge in the business, so make sure you do your research when choosing your contractor.
These are just a few of the questions you’ll want to start thinking through before you start your kitchen remodel. Feel free to also read lots of reviews of contractors and designers before choosing one. You’ll want this key person or business to be the right fit for your kitchen remodeling project. After all, they will be in your lives and quite literally in your space for the next one to three months, so make sure it makes sense for you, your home and your goals.
Kitchen Renovations in Columbus, Ohio
Dave Fox is an employee owned company who makes our clients our number one priority. We design and build kitchen remodeling projects for our clients in Central Ohio and deliver the best value through exceptional craftsmanship, excellent materials and ethical business practices. Contact us today to learn more and sign up for our newsletter here!