1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Four Day Kitchen Remodel

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I love to challenge myself! I strongly believe that we get better when we push our comfort zones and stretch our limits. If you’re just moving with the crowd, you’re going to arrive at the finish line with the crowd. No thanks.

Dinosaur Bob, my tile assistant
Dinosaur Bob, my tile assistant

I like working in short, intense bursts. I can’t stand it when projects drag on and on. This means that when I start something, my days go from 5am to 10pm in a mad rush to get the project behind me while still putting in at least 8 hours at my normal job.

Over the weekend, I finished the floor tile in two bathrooms. Mrs. 1500 grouted today and sometime tomorrow, we’ll go from having 1 toilet to 3! Happy, happy day!

The grouting has commenced
The grouting has commenced

However, the next project is right around the corner. It’s the kitchen. Our current one is ugly, ugly, ugly. The cabinets are worn out. The tile looks like it belongs in a fast food restaurant. We don’t like the layout. This weekend, everything changes. Starting Friday evening and over the course of the next four days, I’m going to attempt to remodel my kitchen. Here is what I need to do:

  • Take down the old cabinets
  • Take out the old tile
  • Move the gas and refrigerator water line (we’re moving the appliances)
  • Run electricity for under-the-cabinet LED lighting
  • Reconfigure part of one wall so we’ll have a counter-depth refrigerator (I’ll explain this when I do it)
  • Install the new cabinets including building support for the new island
  • Install a new electrical fixture over the island
  • Lay 18″ travertine tiles and grout them
This is what the kitchen looking like the day we bought it.
Yech.

I’ll start Friday night after work and then go all day for the next four days. At the end of every evening, I’ll keep you updated with a recap and post a bunch of pictures so you can see my progress.

I won’t be able to complete everything. The counter-tops will be installed by someone else and I can’t do the back-splash tile until after they’re in. However, the vast majority of work will be behind me if I succeed.

The really cool thing is the money I’ll save. I was talking to a neighbor who was quoted almost $20,000 for just labor for her kitchen remodel. By the time mine is done, even with its nice maple cabinets, granite counter-tops, new appliances and fancy tile, I’ll have spent less than $7,500:

  • Maple cabinets: $2,400
  • Granite counter tops: $2,600
  • Travertine tile: $300
  • Lighting (can lights, island fixture and under cabinet LEDs): $150
  • New refrigerator and oven: $1,400
  • Used (but completely awesome) dishwasher: $50
  • Back-splash tile: $90
  • Miscellaneous stuff: $250

So, tune in late Friday evening for the first update. Wish me luck. Send me beer. And perhaps we’ll work on a project together someday.

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Comments

  1. Love it – you guys are doing your kitchen in 4 days and we’re thinking ours is going to take months to fully finish. Though that includes moving walls, changing ceiling lines, adding windows, and completely changing the layout of the kitchen. But we’re still hoping it’s not insanely expensive to do all ourselves.

    As a side note – how many sqft is your kitchen? That seems like a great price on travertine!
    Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…PoP Balance Sheet – March 2014My Profile

    • The kitchen is about 230 square feet. Not huge, but not tiny either. For some reason, the big 18″ travertine tiles were cheaper than the little 12″ ones at Home Depot.

      You have more work to do, but none of that stuff is terrible.

  3. You’re going to need more than a few beers to get through these four days! Best of luck! Looking forward to the update.

  4. That’s rad! Your post has me reconsidering our long term goal of building cabinets. We have a small space and the savings are not going to be that great, compared to a $2400 budget you have there. Maybe it’s a time to buy, not build…especially since I have no experience with it. Still, at $7500 all in, that’s awesome…we may follow in your footsteps as our kitchen is pretty blech.
    Done by Forty recently posted…Bill and Ted’s Excellent InvestingMy Profile

  5. That’s awesome. I have a kitchen update to plan including painting our builder cabinets white, painting walls and ceiling, adding pendant light over sink, buying window treatment, and replacing back splash. I need to start on it, so I can finish it this summer, but procrastination is getting the best of me. Plus, I need to save up about $1,000 for the transformation. Hopefully, I can buy everything for less, but giving myself room.
    SavvyFinancialLatina recently posted…I’m Automating Some of My Finances In My LifeMy Profile

    • Good luck and hit me up for advice any time.

      I was never a fan of painting cabinets until recently. We’ve seen a couple home where it’s been done and the results were incredible. What a great way to save money!

  6. Can’t wait to see your progress! We did a total overhaul on our kitchen too, practically down to the studs, and it turned out fantastic. We had a rough quote of about $20k, and completed it all ourselves for just under $9k. With my tile and painting skills, and my husbands abilities in carpentry, electrical and plumbing, we did a pretty badass job if you ask me. We’re jacks-of-all-trades, but masters of absolutely nothing. 😉
    Laura aka Mrs Nickels recently posted…How I Feed 5 People for $5 and It Doesn’t Taste Like CrapMy Profile

    • “Wow, I’m impressed! There’s nothing worse than a home renovation project that drags on forever, especially when it’s a room you’re using constantly like your bathroom or kitchen”

      Yep. The kitchen is really important, so I want to get it done ASAP. The fun starts tonight.

  8. I love that your doing the DIY in the kitchen install. I would be the guy volunteering to bring the beer and carry heavy things from time to time. A little Chicago style Half Acre work for you?
    Even Steven recently posted…B-U-D-G-E-T-S Part IIMy Profile

    • Ah, I’ve been wanting to try Half Acre, heard good things.

      Next time you’re in my mountainous state…

  9. We redid the kitchen in our house this winter. We did buy new countertops, but I sanded and re-stained every single kitchen cabinet by hand. It took forever. I actually had to do it in 3 or 4 cabinet segments. My arm felt like it was going to fall off! I’m glad it’s done now and it looks great!
    Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted…I Hate Spam: A RantMy Profile

    • Holly, that is crazy. Kudos to you though for saving a bundle of money. You should enter the pull-up contest at FinCon!

    • “Don’t start drinking until after it’s done.”

      Can’t guarantee that\, but no beer before using the Sawzall. I like my fingers.

  15. Good luck. . .can’t wait to see the end result! This gives us hope for our own do-it-yourself remodel someday 😉