Kitchen Upgrades without a big remodel

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[00:00:30] Eric Goranson: I always keep those things around someplace, whether it's in a remodel box that's in your attic or your basement. Just make sure you've got those pieces together so you can track down parts down the road. It's gonna save you a headache. That way you know exactly what you got on your hands and you can work with it.

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[00:01:05] Eric Goranson: Route Quencher. Check out route quencher.com, save some money and have healthier trees. Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, today I wanted to talk about in this hour, cost effective kitchen remodel tips.

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[00:01:49] Eric Goranson: Uh, I was a, still am a certified kitchen designer since 1999 through the National Kitchen of Bath Association. So this is really one of my things that I've done years and years and thousands of thousands of [00:02:00] kitchens over the decades, and it's just something that is always dear to my heart and something that you can do correctly if you take the time and plan it out.

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[00:02:34] Eric Goranson: And I know you're like, wow, it's gonna cost me extra money. Yeah, but you're only gonna do things once. You're not gonna put up a tile backsplash and go, that's not what I was thinking. Now I gotta rip it out and start over. So this can really save you some time and some planning and using their expertise.

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[00:03:09] Eric Goranson: Or health and comfort. Those are kind of the big things, right? You know, value means that you're making it look better. You're adding increased value. People don't walk in if you're gonna put it up for sale and go, wow, that thing needs a badly, needs a kitchen remodel. And then health could be making sure that you have a vent hood that vents outside.

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[00:03:46] Eric Goranson: Some of the biggest mistakes that I've seen recently especially is hiring a contractor to come in and they just duplicate your old design and put in [00:04:00] cabinets in the exact same spot. You know, kitchens, especially if you're over 20 years old, more so even over 30 years old, is we have changed how we shop and the things that we put in our cabinets.

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[00:04:34] Eric Goranson: But you think about it too, even if it's 1960s, we didn't have the Williams Sonoma, the Amazons, all these different things for all the different things that you were cooking in all the different tools that you can use now. And so the countertop appliances, all those things, you know, in the, in the seventies and really eighties, we had microwaves.

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[00:05:12] Eric Goranson: For the next 20 years versus planning how someone maybe planted or a builder didn't plan it. And that's one of the things that I really learned doing multi-family stuff in, you know, high-rises. I was doing these million dollar condos in Bellevue, Washington 15 years ago. It was a high rise Lincoln Square.

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[00:05:55] Eric Goranson: And so if you think about it with a cabinet, uh, a door and [00:06:00] drawer front situation where you've got maybe let's, let's call it two full height doors where you open it up, there's no drawers in this cabinet at all. That's half the price typically as a four drawer cabinet that would be the same size next to it.

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[00:06:36] Eric Goranson: You could store a lot more stuff in there. So really thinking about it. And then one of the biggest mistakes that I see out there, my number one mistake, and this is, this is the house flipper special, right? Where they have 20 year old cabinets, and I don't care if they're made outta solid wood and the plywood, whatever, it doesn't matter if you're looking at it.

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[00:07:15] Eric Goranson: I'm gonna put these quartz countertops in, and next year I'm gonna redo my kitchen. Just know that you're gonna be throwing that money away from the countertops and you're gonna be paying to haul that heavy stuff off. So that's really where the issue is that you need to keep, kind of keep in mind for is that's gonna get really expensive really quick that that five to 10 grand that you just spent on countertops is throw away money.

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[00:07:54] Eric Goranson: So then make sure that you've got that kind of planned out beforehand. That's one of the big problems. I can't [00:08:00] tell you how many times I have seen stuff like that where we had to throw away very expensive countertops because somebody got in a hurry where a house flipper did it. And it was brutal. Hate seeing that stuff get thrown away.

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[00:08:36] Eric Goranson: Now putting a refrigerator in. Making sure that that's gonna fit in the opening, and that's something if you've got an old kitchen that you need to be paying attention to, because you know there's the French door style. You know that where you have the two doors that open up on top and the freezer's down below.

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[00:09:16] Eric Goranson: So that's, that's one headache that you've gotta watch out for. The second is when you have a cooktop and double oven situation or a single oven, making sure that you can fit that in the existing opening. And making sure that's gonna fit into those existing cabinets. And so that's a big one right there.

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[00:09:50] Eric Goranson: so,[00:10:00]

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[00:10:38] Eric Goranson: And you can do that, just head over to around the house online.com and you can find that. Over there if you just head over to the podcast. All right guys. Well, we've been talking about cost effective remodel tips to, uh, be able to upgrade that kitchen without spending a ton of money on it. And of course, in the last segment we're talking about some of the things you should do before you start and the top [00:11:00] mistakes that are made.

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[00:11:31] Eric Goranson: Name your brand right. Because now we're starting to see appliances, depending on how smart you get, communicate and work with all the same apps. So for instance, in my house, I have some lg, I have an LG fridge, I have an LG washer and dryer. I have the LG Styler, I have the lg, um, cordless Robot vac. They all run off of that app.

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[00:12:16] Eric Goranson: Um, I would strongly suggest going with the three different brands in a kitchen. It's not really needed anymore. And I think it's smart to start matching 'em up so those things can communicate together as we go deeper into smart homes. Them being of the same brand is going to be more important, not less, because, uh, you'll start having things using those sensors off there, and that's going to be very important.

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[00:13:06] Eric Goranson: Uh, I work a lot with Baldwin Hardware and so that's a good high quality hardware and I think it's a really good way to go. So check out baldwin.com. They have some great stuff there, but really swapping those out. Now, if you're going to be ca painting cabinets, This is also the time to do it. If you've got, you know, those old maple cabinets or oak or where the finishes coming off, you can go through and take a weekend or two and refinish those cabinets.

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[00:13:57] Eric Goranson: I want that wiped down and get [00:14:00] all the oils in grease. Cause you think about it, that kitchen has had hands and greasy foods cooked in it for maybe 10, 20, 30, 40 years. So your prep is going to be that. Then after that, I want you to, uh, tape off the areas you're not gonna be painting. And then what I wanna do is start sanding that way, that can protect that, and you're gonna sand and scuff all of the finishes.

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[00:14:43] Eric Goranson: This kitchen needs to be like, I'm ready for surgery, clean for this to go well, and then I wanna make sure that you've got the right ventilation, follow all the directions on the finish that you're using. But really the next step would be to come in and spray all of [00:15:00] the cabinets with a sprayer. Now you're gonna go in and hit it with a primer first to make sure that's an adhesion primer.

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[00:15:22] Eric Goranson: It is a big project. You'll spend a weekend prepping. Maybe a long Friday and a long Saturday, and then you're gonna be doing a lot of painting. So if you've got a couple people, you might be able to get it done in a really long three day weekend, but it is a big project for a medium-sized kitchen. And then you're gonna get that primer on sand.

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[00:15:59] Eric Goranson: Do [00:16:00] not put wall paint on there. Find a good cabinet paint. You can get those at the home center. You can go down to your favorite paint store and say, Hey, I want to have a good paint now. Make sure you have extra this paint because this paint is never going to be as durable. Is what you see at the home centers and the new cabinets in there because it's not a baked on finish, but it will look good and then you can go through and get that dialed in.

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[00:16:43] Eric Goranson: Let it be. Let it be what's there. So that way you're good because I tell you what, no matter how hard you try, it is really tough to fill in all the open grain from an open grain wood. So my best advice to you is to embrace that. And make sure that you've got that [00:17:00] dialed in, and then follow the directions on letting it dry.

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[00:17:26] Eric Goranson: That way you can do it. So you'll have that so it's painted. Then you can come in and put the new countertop on. And then the last thing there after the countertop is on is putting the backsplash on. So that's going to be your way of doing this. And then, uh, you know, make sure you've got the proper ventilation.

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[00:18:06] Eric Goranson: The painting goes pretty quick, but you also have all the doors and drawer fronts that are landing that are sitting out there. So you'll have to do one side, let it dry, flip it over to the other side, and then paint everything equally so every piece has finish. All the way around. We'll be talking more kitchen remodeling and kitchen makeover tips.

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[00:19:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the Around The House Show we've been talking about. Cost effective kitchen remodel tips today. Things that you can do around the house to really get that house cleaned up and get it dialed in. That way you've got something that's looking good without doing the whole gut and do kitchen remodel.

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[00:19:41] Eric Goranson: Where I think you have a problem though, is I don't like, I'm not a big cabinet re facer because I think by the time that you pay for refacing to be done, I wish you would've put new cabinets in. So cabinet refacing is not one of my favorite things out there. And there's so many companies that come out and they go, Hey, we're gonna give you a kitchen in a day [00:20:00] or two, or whatever.

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[00:20:20] Eric Goranson: Cuz once you've refaced it, you really can't do much more with it. Many times you can't sit there and paint over the refacing because the paint's gonna release the peel and stick paper that's on the cabinet and at that point, after you've refaced it, it's pretty much time for the dumpster. It's been done.

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[00:20:58] Eric Goranson: And maybe you're gonna be doing new [00:21:00] vinyl, maybe you're gonna refinish the hardwood floors, maybe you're gonna put down new, you know, click lock. Composites, like one of the vinyl planks, luxury vinyl planks and those kind of things. Now, here's the thing, any of the floating floors you don't want to have under anything.

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[00:21:37] Eric Goranson: A slide in range has the, uh, the or free standing range. A slide in range has the controls over the front. There's no back splash on it. A free standing range has the knobs many times that are up on the back, and it's got that back control panel. And of course the, uh, slide in range is much more of a luxury look than the freestanding range.

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[00:22:19] Eric Goranson: You know, maybe they're built in the seventies, sixties, fifties, forties, thirties, keep going, that have have 3, 4, 5 layers of flooring, and you're gonna get to a point at some point. You need to stop and pull it out. Like I had a house in the Seattle area when I was living up there that had four distinct layers.

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[00:22:57] Eric Goranson: So at that point you have to go through and [00:23:00] really rip out all those floors and start over and get it back to the beginning part. Now here's one thing I want you to take a look at. When you're dealing with old vinyl or even some of the old linoleum esque floors, you know, linoleum is a product made, is a, is a linseed oil based product.

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[00:23:50] Eric Goranson: Now you can find asbestos in products even today, but you saw the highest concentrations of it in flooring [00:24:00] from the fifties all the way up into the eighties. They did not outlaw that in the states. They just tried to, uh, warn people about it, but it's what made the floor more durable. So that was the key with that.

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[00:24:31] Eric Goranson: So it's not like it's a sandpaper going around, but as soon as you start scraping it, sanding it, and doing that kind of stuff, if it's over the top of a, of a hardwood floor, that's where you run into the problems. So you need to take into that account how that's gonna be removed so you have a healthy environment around your house.

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[00:25:13] Eric Goranson: That can be a key. The other thing, I like to do that, and let's talk about that for a minute, because again, painting the walls is all about the prep. In a kitchen that hasn't been cleaned in a long time, I really want you to take, uh, a warm sponge and some like dawn dishwasher detergent and some warm water.

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[00:25:54] Eric Goranson: And then in those situations where many times in the sixties, seventies, eighties, and even nineties, they used a higher glasss [00:26:00] finish. I honestly think it's a good time to put a primer on there to make sure that you've got good adhesion, an adhesion primer, and then go ahead and paint. It's also gonna help kind of like seal and lock that up so that paint sticks on there.

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[00:26:31] Eric Goranson: If you have right now that. Incandescent standard light bulbs in your kitchen or fluorescence. Right now, you are leaving so much on the table as far as an enjoyable, beautiful space, and you can replace those can lights with newer L e D ones if you've got you any of those. A lighting upgrade can change the look of that kitchen without doing any of the other updates.[00:27:00]

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[00:27:21] Eric Goranson: I like to see the warm tones in the food, so that's my key. I don't like it to look too sterile of an environment, but having some of that warmer, softer light is nice. And make sure that all of the lights that you're getting in there from your new under cabinet lights to your new can lights are all of the same color temperature.

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[00:27:59] Eric Goranson: You don't have [00:28:00] those hotspots in the kitchen. If you want a nice luxury look, make sure and use a smaller diameter can light and put maybe a few more in and that light will disappear. Instead of having all these bright white, big six inch pucks from the ceiling that are looking down, it gives you a much more enjoyable environment.

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[00:29:01] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about. The most cost effective kitchen remodel tips allow 'em to tear out that entire kitchen. What can you do to gain a little more life out of it?

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[00:29:38] Eric Goranson: In the back catalog about a thousand episodes. So there's a lot there. Some of it is part of the premium membership in the last couple of hundred. You can always get on any podcast player. And for more information about the premium membership, you can just go over to around the house online.com. We've been talking about, uh, cost-effective kitchen remodel tips and kind of getting the, to the end of [00:30:00] this segment here.

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[00:30:26] Eric Goranson: So you'll have to run power of course, but it's low voltage. And if you've got, uh, maybe an extra outlet under the sink that's not switched, you can put it in there and run it with your smartphone and uh, all of a sudden you've got some great under cabinet lighting. And the cool thing is, is they don't use any electricity really.

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[00:31:07] Eric Goranson: Well, we put the new cabinets in, put the pug lights in. This was probably 20 years ago. Those things were so hot it got hot up into that cabinet. So much so it melted the butter in her butter dish. So that's how inefficient those things they were because they created so much extra heat. The LEDs out there don't really do that, but that's, you know, one of the pluses with the new technology out there.

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[00:31:46] Eric Goranson: Sometimes you can run into a plug down there, but you will see that, um, that's the only bad part about having them when you've already got an existing backsplash and not part of a little bit bigger remodel. Now, if you're already doing a backsplash and countertop, then of course run your [00:32:00] wires. Uh, it'll make life so much easier.

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[00:32:24] Eric Goranson: You can also get 'em where they're pre-rolled or preformed, and that's really going down to your home center, grabbing off the ones that are pre-made there or something that's made to order. And that is another good one. Cut the hole for your sink and, uh, holes for the faucet. And, uh, that can be a nice big upgrade when you wanna play with that, that can really get it dialed in for you.

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[00:33:03] Eric Goranson: That laminate is a cost effective way to go and you're not gonna feel bad about it four years later, throwing it in the dumpster. We're trying to reuse it in your garage or something because, uh, Well, you didn't spend that much on it in the first place. It's not like putting granite on a kitchen that's gonna last five years before you're done with it.

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[00:33:42] Eric Goranson: But one thing I wanna remind you is, is that if you're stuck at searching at your home centers for stuff, get outside the box a little bit. If you're looking at home center faucets, those are kind of the entry level faucets out there. And maybe you're not getting the best value out of it. [00:34:00] So take a look at your local plumbing supply store.

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[00:34:24] Eric Goranson: Ferguson is the, uh, largest plumbing wholesaler in the country. So there's a lot of different things that you can get out there. But, uh, you know, there's a lot of also knockoff materials out there as well. I mean, to this day, today, I could sit here and go down to my home center and buy a American standard or Kohler faucet off the shelf.

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[00:35:16] Eric Goranson: So it's always best. I mean, it still happens today. I can't tell you how many of my plumbing store friends have people that come in that need a little part for a faucet. And it wasn't the real brand, it was something that was a knockoff. So it's not any different that you see in people knocking off coach purses or uh, you know, Louis Vuitton and those kind of things.

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[00:35:57] Eric Goranson: What do you mean by cheaper? Maybe if you walk down to your plumbing store, [00:36:00] the wholesaler, you open that take that faucet apart and it's all brass inside. The one from the home center is all plastic. But it might even have the same model number. So these are things to take a look at. Sometimes the toilets that are in the home centers are a lower grade.

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[00:36:40] Eric Goranson: That just means that they've got more plastic in it as well. So really take a look. Know your sources. Get your brands and you know, when he comes to faucets, you get what you pay for. I am not a fan of going into, you know, like Costco and buying faucets and things like that because many times those are one-off things that [00:37:00] are hard to find parts for 'em.

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[00:37:24] Eric Goranson: Nobody wants to do that. So make sure that you know what you're getting and buy the name brand stuff, and unless you're trying to on a severe budget. Stay away from the home center in-house brands. Those are the, the, the house flipper special pieces that just, you know, buy something a little higher quality.

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[00:38:04] Eric Goranson: But it's, you know, another brand, whatever that in-house store brand is, and guess what? They make a different one every three or four years. So trying to find the right repair parts can be tough. And who keeps their paperwork on that to know what the model number is? Who kept all that information? It's rare.

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[00:38:41] Eric Goranson: I always keep those things around someplace, whether it's in a remodel box that's in your attic or your basement. Just make sure you've got those pieces together so you can track down parts down the road. It's gonna save you a headache. That way you know exactly what you got on your hands and you can work with it.

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[00:39:15] Eric Goranson: Stick around for hour Number two, we're gonna do the same for bathrooms just as soon as around the house returns.