How I stayed busy, got a new kitchen and read 5 books over 26 weekends
Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel March 21, 2014
Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel March 21, 2014
A recent article in Popular Mechanics says that the national average
cost for a minor kitchen remodel is about $18,500, while a major overhaul comes
in at almost $54,000. Better Homes and Gardens reports that the average price of an upscale kitchen
is a staggering $107,973. These numbers might encourage us to do something we
shouldn’t with our 401(k) or kid’s college fund. But when I told my contractor
that I wanted to spend less than $10,000 (including new appliances), he told me
it was possible if I kept my 1980s cabinets and refinished them myself.
Cabinets typically make up
one-third to one-half of the average total kitchen-remodeling budget, according
to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. But there are ways to trim
cabinet costs such as:
- Using
standard-sized stock or RTA (ready-to-assemble) cabinetry. RTA cabinets are finished, pre-drilled
and delivered in a flat pack along with all the hardware needed for
assembly.
- Replacing
cabinet doors, drawer fronts and cabinet moldings, but keeping and refacing
the existing cabinet boxes and framework with veneers.
- Opting
for doorless upper cabinets.
- Adding
new hardware, a few glass inserts, and paint or stain to update the
existing cabinets.
Another option is
illustrated on the cover of the hipster guidebook, “It’s Lonely in the Modern
World”: forgoing upper kitchen cabinets altogether, and just stacking your
dishes on simple shelves.
I decided to strip and
re-stain rather than prime and paint because I preferred the look and warmth of
wood. I refinished some cabinets long ago, and hoped there was new technology
to make the process safer, easier and faster. Like any home-improvement
project, there are multiple ways to go about it, so it took some time to
research and compare methods and materials. Basically, refinishing involves these
seven steps:
1)
Remove hardware and wood trim: Use a drill or screwdriver to remove all the
hinges and pulls, and a taping knife and pry bar to remove the wood trim. I
decided to replace the hardware, but if you are going to reuse it, store pieces
in labeled Ziploc bags until you have time to soak and scrub them clean. Also
label the location and orientation of each drawer and front with painter’s
tape. Mask the surfaces around the cabinet boxes with painter’s tape and cover
the floors and counters where you are working with plastic garbage bags.
WORK WISELY: Stripping is a nasty business. Whether you are stripping oil-based
paint or varnish and stain, spare no expense on protecting your health. Buy thick
rubber gloves, a big box or two of disposable nitrile gloves, eye protection, a
sanding respirator, and a vapor respirator (the serious, $50 kind). Work
outside or with windows and doors wide-open (drought years are optimal in this
case), read all labels and use the appropriate protection whenever you are
using chemicals or sanding, even when working outdoors or with so-called
safe products. Also be conscientious about how you are disposing of all
work materials—many of which don’t belong in your garbage can. For every step
of this process there are products that claim to be safer to use than traditional
solvent-based products, so I suggest reading some online MSDSs (material safety
data sheet) to know all the risks before you choose.
2)
Clean: Remove grease
and dirt from the cabinet and drawer front surfaces with a trisodium phosphate
solution (TSP), and wipe off with a wrung-out sponge. Allow the surfaces to dry
completely. If you’re going to install new hardware that won’t use the same
screw holes, fill in the old holes with wood putty. (If you are going to paint
your cabinets, you don’t need to strip them—a HUGE time-saver. Roll on primer tinted
to match your top coat, allow to dry, then roll on the paint.)
3)
Strip: I used Citrustrip, a bright orange gel that
smells decent enough, worked pretty well, and claims to be non-corrosive, non-toxic
and biodegradable (but still use gloves and a vapor respirator). Paint on with
a cheap brush, allow it to work awhile, then remove with a plastic scraper.
Apply a second time if necessary. Remove any remaining residue with fine steel
wool (.00001) and odorless mineral spirits or pre-stain.
4)
Sand: Using an orbital or finish sander and 150 to 180 grit
sandpaper, sand all surfaces until the bare wood looks uniformly clean and
feels smooth. You may need a stiff brush or detail sander to get into corners
or groves. (I used bamboo skewers.) After sanding, wipe the surfaces with a dry
cloth to ensure all dust is removed.
TAKE A BREAK: Breathe a big sigh of relief (away from any dust and fumes)
because the hardest, most tedious part is over.
I spent about $500 on everything I used to refinish my kitchen cabinets—including replacement hinges, pulls and knobs. Most of the tools can be used again for other home improvement projects. |
One of my favorite aspects of Holly Scrimsher’s remodeled kitchen is her magnetic knife and scissor strips, hung above the sink on her wood laminate walls. |
7)
Replace hardware: If you’re using existing holes and
hardware that fits those holes, this will go fairly quickly. If you are making
changes, use a plastic template to mark the screw holes, so that they are
consistent from cabinet to cabinet. Use a tape measure to find the center of
drawer faces and center the template on that mark. After reattaching the fronts
to the drawers, drill pilot holes before screwing new drawer pulls into place.
REALITY CHECK: Lowe’s website has a helpful refinishing guide with a chart
for determining the type of the existing finish on your cabinets (wax, shellac,
lacquer, water-based, varnish, polyurethane, oil, or paint) in order to use the
proper stripper. At the very end of the guide, in tiny print, they say, “Before
undertaking refinishing, remind yourself that it takes a lot of time and
effort.” In retrospect, I don’t think I read this warning in any of my other
sources, and if I had, it was probably much too subtle to have discouraged me.
Working 2-4 hours a weekend, it took me about 6 MONTHS to complete the cabinets
(with hardware help from my family). But it was worth it, because I saved thousands
of dollars by doing it myself, and my whole kitchen remodeling project would
have been beyond our budget without it.
Tina Baine
For an archive of my columns go to www.tinabaine.blogspot.com
Lisa
Jensen and James Aschbacher’s kitchen is all about those Bermuda Teal cabinets.
“We didn’t want to spend a fortune on either fancy veneers or (ulp) entirely new
cabinets,” says Lisa, so they decided to keep their 1960s plywood cabinets and
power up the color. “We wanted something more fun,” she says. They scrubbed all
the surfaces with a vinegar solution to remove the grime, and James (a
professional artist) then painted all the cabinets “very meticulously” by hand.
“Our friends and other visitors loved the new color instantly,” remembers Lisa.
“During Open Studios, it’s hard to steer people out of the kitchen & back
to the art! I was the only one who had reservations after James finished
painting the first cabinet. An hour later I loved it!” (photo by Lisa Jensen)
With wood (or wood laminate) on every surface, Holly Scrimsher’s kitchen feels like a cozy mountain retreat. Holly, and her grown children Wendy and Jess, spent last summer remodeling the space from floor to ceiling, doing all the work themselves. She says she spent about $3,400 (not including appliances) for the entire project. Her maple-finish cabinets were purchased assembled at Home Depot, replacing old cabinets with about six coats of paint. A seasoned woodworker and all-around handy person, Holly was able to create, customize and improvise whenever necessary, like when she and Wendy used a car jack to hold the upper cabinets up while they fastened them to the wall. After trying vinyl floor tiles as a backsplash/wall covering, she finally decided to use laminate flooring instead for a much more practical and economical version of wood paneling.