Flooring for Your Kitchen

Currently, anything goes concerning kitchen floors in New York. In the old days, there were basically two choices, tile and linoleum. Today, we see hardwood, linoleum, cork, laminate, and many different types and style of linoleum.

Laminate flooring used to get a bad rap, but it is highly improved today. Laminate, actually a "picture" of real wood, will fool quite a few people today, and the layman cannot distinguish between laminate and real hardwood. Laminate is absolutely our # 1 choice for large families and those with pets. Your kids can slop jelly bread on the floor, the dog can overturn it's dish, and your husband can drip paint all over the floor and most laminates will laugh it off. Before you turn you nose up at laminate, go out there and see what's available. You will be pleasantly surprised.

The old stand-by, tile. Most tiles in Brooklyn are either ceramic or porcelain. "Porcelain" does not mean the tile looks like your smooth white toilet. It comes in all the shapes and sizes of any other tile. All you need to know is porcelain is much more durable than terra cotta or ceramic tile and will pass the bowling ball test. If you drop a bowling ball on ceramic tile, several will crack and need to be replaced, where porcelain will probably be just fine. You will find porcelain to be about 25% more expensive than most ceramic tiles though.

Tile cleans up very well with the exception of the grout lines. Grout lines are a stain and dirt magnet. Make sure you double seal your grout lines, and clean and reseal them every 2 or 3 years. Unlike your tile, your grout will eventually absorb stains. Clean grout lines will give the kitchen a very clean and polished feel while grungy grout can be a dark cloud over your kitchen.

We are putting hardwood in both categories because some will work in the kitchen. 3/4 inch hardwood, or engineered hardwood can work just fine in the kitchen in New York if the seams are very tight and you don't mind a few inevitable scratches and nicks. The final word on hardwood is its "hardness." Most hardwoods are compared and ranked against "oak" or "red oak" as a measure of hardness. Make sure you buy a hardwood that is no softer than oak if you have an active family. For example, dog scratches will plague all but the hardest of hardwoods.

Kitchen Islands

If you are looking to do a complete kitchen remodeling for yourself, or for maximum resale value, don't neglect the kitchen island. Once just a place to pull up some stools so the kids could eat before running to the bus, the island and it's function in the kitchen has changed quite a bit in the last 10 years.

In addition to seating 4 (or more), islands today are used to house "luxury" appliances that do not fit in the cabinet structure like a second microwave, second oven, wine refrigerator or even another cooktop. Islands many times are fully wired for electricity and have plumbing for a second sink. The base of an island can be used as a wine rack. The possibilities are almost endless.

We are often asked if the countertop of the island needs to match the existing kitchen countertop in style, or what will be installed as the main kitchen countertop. In most homes I would say it does match, but it really does not have to at all, nor does the material need to be the same. In fact, if you are not going to match them up exactly it's better if it looks like you are not even trying to match them, so using a completely different color and surface is perfectly acceptable. For example, we have seen islands of concrete when the rest of the kitchen countertop is made of granite or another material. We have seen a black island used as a nice "dividing wall" to keep the kids away from a white kitchen.

Islands can "float" as well. Smaller islands used primarily as an aid in cooking or baking can be fitted with wheels and moved around the kitchen as needed to aid in cooking. Whether you consider a floating island will probably depend on what you have installed on the floor now, or plan to install (a soft wood will be nicked and scratched).

For those remodeling and looking for an "open" feel where perhaps the wall or half wall separating the kitchen and the dining room is taken down, a strategically placed kitchen island acts as a subtle room divider mentally separating the kitchen from the dining room but with a much more open feel.

Hiring the Right Kitchen Remodelers

How do you hire the right kitchen remodelers in New York? This is a very hard question to answer. If you do an internet search for remodelers in your area (such as looking for a kitchen remodeler in a specific location such as Brooklyn, NY), your computer screen will be populated with results. In this sea of potential remodelers in your area, how do you know which one is reliable? Should you print out a sheet and randomly pick out one? Should you call 100 people and interview each one to assess who you like the best? With any remodeling project, hiring the right remodeler is essential.

The best way to hire a kitchen remodeler in Brooklyn is to ask your friends and family who they used and if they were happy with their work. This is the best way to assess a remodeler and how they will perform in your house without actually hiring them. Remember to ask questions like is there anything you would do different and what were their strengths and weaknesses. And, the advantage of asking your friends and family is that you can actually go to their kitchen and assess the job the contractor did. You may have different standards of quality then the people you know. What they are unhappy with, you may be thrilled with and vice versa. And, knowing what other people paid for their remodel is great. Many times, when contractors are slow, they will charge less so during the contractor interview process and after an estimate is received, you can compare your estimate to your friends estimate to see if you are getting a fair market price for the remodel job.

If you don't have any friends who recently remodeled their kitchens (or you don't have any friends), then you need to move to stage two of how to hire the right remodeler, which involves the interview process. This takes us back to square one, the dreaded internet search, or, for those less technically savvy, the even more dreaded telephone book search. Put in your local area into your favorite search engine coupled with the words "kitchen remodeler", basically whatever room in your house you are looking to remodel. We are putting a lot of trust in search engines at this point that they will return results relevant to your area. After you have results, we recommend picking at least 5 contractors which means 3-5 estimates depending on who calls you back.

Once you have spoken to the kitchen remodelers and you have scheduled your appointments for them to discuss designs and take estimates of your room, there are a few things to remember to do. First, and most importantly, make sure whoever you hire will not subcontract the job out. You want the person coming to your house to sell being the same person that works in your house. Communication is very important in the remodeling industry. If you have any problems or concerns, it is a great feeling to have the person you already met and have a relationship with on the job to discuss problems or even suggestions as they arise. If your kitchen remodeler is sub contracting work out to people you have never met, chances are they will not perform as well as the master builder whom you initially met.

Kitchen Remodeling For You!

In certain parts of the country, the kitchen has always been the center of life in a home. In other regions, the center of the family's life has moved from the kitchen to the family room or other areas. But today, in virtually all parts of the country, the kitchen has become central again. A kitchen that is both functional and comfortable is now the norm.

Whether you want to remodel your kitchen to make it more functional, more comfortable, more modern, or to provide more space for family life, you can create wonderful changes within most any budget. If you are considering a kitchen remodel to make a house more marketable, the good news is that, according to Realtor Magazine, you can expect to recoup 85-112% of the cost when you sell your home.

A kitchen remodeling project can be as simple as new window and wall treatments, new flooring, or new cabinets. Or you can create the gourmet kitchen/family room that is so popular today.

A simple and relatively inexpensive kitchen remodel might mean new curtains, a fresh coat of paint, new appliances, and new flooring. Hardwood floors are very popular today in the kitchen. The new finishes and coatings on the wood make them as practical in the kitchen as they are in other parts of the house. Ceramic tile is also a very popular flooring option. Tile is easy to clean and durable.

Much entertaining is now done in the kitchen. Preparing a meal can become a time for guests to gather in the kitchen and enjoy conversation. Most kitchens built today will either be open to a family room or they will include a family area at one end of the room. An attached or semi-attached breakfast room is also a popular design. An island that is functional for food preparation and provides a place for people to sit and talk to the cook is also very popular. In fact, one side of the island can be serviceable in food preparation while the other side functions as a casual dining counter.

Do You Need Custom Cabinets?

Custom kitchen cabinets can be a large financial investment, which in today's housing market may not always get you the return on your investment that you would expect. While most home renovations will add value to your house, spending too much money or making your house too personal can actually prevent you from getting your investment back out of your house.

1. Property Value- A kitchen remodel is normally a good financial investment, but your property value and property values around you can have an affect on whether or not custom cabinets are right for you. Your investment should be proportional to the value of your house. Investing over $50,000 into a kitchen or a house that is worth $600,000 make a lot more sense, but putting the same amount into a house that is worth $200,000 may not make a lot of sense.

If your house is in an older community or an area that hasn't started to be redeveloped, a high end kitchen can put your house out of the price range of comparable houses in your area, which means you may not get your investment back. In a situation where your property value is lower than others in your area, custom cabinets may be what you need to increase the value of your house. .

2. Budget- Custom cabinets alone can cost anywhere from $25,000 to as much as $100,000 for a kitchen full of cabinets. With that in mind, you have to consider whether you really need custom cabinets to achieve the kitchen of your dreams, or can you use semi-custom or stock cabinets to achieve a similar look for less. The biggest difference between custom cabinets and stock cabinets is that you can have cabinets built to any size or shape you might need. In most situations, stock cabinets, which traditionally come in 3" increments, can easily fit just about any application.

3. Kitchen Use- Simply put, how often will your kitchen actually get used? In most dual income homes, fewer meals are actually being cooked, and more take and delivered meals are being consumed. With your families lifestyle in mind, a high-end kitchen may not fit your families needs or lifestyle. If you don't plan on actually using your kitchen, do you really have to invest in custom cabinets?

There are plenty of other factors that could affect your decision as to what type of cabinets to buy, but these three should be the biggest factors. In addition, you should consider the time line of your project (since most custom cabinet manufacturers require several months to build the cabinets). If not, there are plenty of other options on the market that can give you the same look, quality, and durability as custom cabinets at a much lower cost.

Choosing the Right Kitchen Cabinets

With the arrival of Spring and Summer, it is time to start thinking about home improvement projects- both interior and exterior. Whether you are looking to restore the victorian look of your home, give it a modern spin, or just update it with current trends, the kitchen is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. New kitchen cabinets can add value to your home and completely change the atmosphere of the room. Whatever kind of cabinets you're looking for, it is important to know the different materials that companies use and the advantages/disadvantages or each.

One of the most popular materials for wood kitchen cabinets is maple. Maple is both durable and versatile. It can be used with many finishes because of its fine, uniform grain. Maple can be painted or stained with ease and can match a variety of kitchens. One of the only downsides of maple is that it tends to yellow in the sun, which isn't a problem if it's painted.

Melamine cabinets are another option. Melamine is a coating that goes over a base material and provides protection against scratches, stains and flames. It comes in a variety of styles- retro, plain white or faux wood grain. How well Melamine will hold up, is really dependent on the material used underneath it, and can vary greatly among manufacturers. The coating doesn't allow moisture into the base material, but if the coating is cracked, melamine cabinets can sag quickly. Otherwise, they are an aesthetically pleasing and relatively durable choice for a kitchen cabinet set.

Metal cabinets are an old style that are making a come back (some say they never lost their popularity). From stainless steel to copper, the variety of metals used in modern kitchen cabinets keeps growing. Stainless steel can appear institutional, but with the right accessories, it can help create a warm and inviting kitchen. Burnished copper and brushed nickel also are two popular finishes on metal cabinets. Metal cabinets can be noisy, so look at all the materials used in the cabinets. Manufacturers often lay the metal over other, less noisy materials such as plywood or pressboard. This takes the noise level down, but can seriously affect durability. As with the Melanie cabinets, the durability of metal cabinets will be affected by the materials used behind the metal sheathing.

Rivaling maple's popularity is oak. Oak is quite durable, but it isn't as versatile as maple because of its distinct look. The distinctive grain of oak lends itself to old-fashioned, country-styled kitchens, but it doesn't match well in modern kitchen styles. Stains and varnishes take to oak very well and can allow its unique grain to really stand out. There are many different colors of oak since it's one of the most common trees in North America.